Violet Books

   

"Like a motion-picture, the whole story was acted before him."
This is the frontispiece for Blanche Elizabeth Wade's The Magic Stone: Rainbow Fairy Stories (New York: George A. Sully & Co., 1917), one of seven plates that play off the "Rainbow" theme, each plate centering around another brilliant color beginning with the purple end of the spectrum. Carlson is best remembered today for his illustrations for Howard Garis's Uncle Wiggily books, & for Carlson's own books which were colorful collections of puzzles for children.

   

"He danced all around outside it seven times."
George Carlson here captures one of the more difficult themes of invisibility in portraying the ghostly castle in the fairy ring. The "green" tale entitled "About the Rewards of Clorophil" reads, "Well, Clorophil ate his invisible dinner; folded up his invisible napkin; rolled it, & put it into his beautiful, invisible sterling silver napkin-ring . . . then he pushed back his invisible chair; rose, & went straight out of the invisible dining-hall to his invisible room on the second invisible floor; & threw himself down upon his invisible bed for a nap -- for even Fairies went to rest once in a while."

   

"The treat, orange lanterns, changing into orange balloons, floated up."
Carlson's use of color is matched by a sense of design that shows a transition point between art nouveau and the art deco periods. This illustration is for the tale entitled "About the Little Limit of the Horizon" & a very special party thrown by the Fairy called Little Limit. The author's continuous plays on words make these literary fairy tales winningly poetic.

   

"There he stood -- alone above all that great, Fairy company -- a pleasant picture in his glowing red."
The little fairy Fireray is one of the brightest in the land. "He went dancing, & leaping, & darting, & prancing to the high platform in the center of this Largest-meadow-that-ever-was. Then, he surprised the whole of that vast Largest-meadow-that-ever-wasful of Fairies by pulling from somewhere or other in his jacket, a small trumpet which he put to his lips."

   

   

 

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