M. Sasek

I am quite fortunate because my mother-in-law is a complete bibliophile. Granted, we don't really share books because it's easiest for us to read them in our native tongues. However, I appreciate the wealth of knowledge that she is and the fact that Stefan grew up with books surrounding him (this has made him more tolerant of my ever expanding book collection).

A couple years ago I started collecting the books of Miroslav Sasek. Some of the most beautiful illustrations and sweet city portraits can be found in these wonderful children's books.

Another reason I feel such a connection to M. Sasek is because he adopted Munich as his hometown, I love thinking about him walking these very streets. I'd be very curious to know more about his life here, although not much is known other than he died in 1980 and had one son. You can read a bit more about him here.

The great news is that his 18 'This is....' books are being reproduced. While the old copies from 1959-1974 can be acquired through old library sales and book shops handling antiquities, I enjoy being able to order them and have a replica of the original without the hunt.

The down side is while it looks as though the entire collection is being reproduced, I am still waiting to hear when 'This is Munich' will hit the shelves. I have to remind myself to patient. Thank you Rizzoli for republishing these phenomenal books.

There is also a slideshow of his illustrations that is worth checking out.

Simply stunning!