When I think of children's books at Christmas-time, I think of the endearing illustrations by Tasha Tudor. She started her career in illustration with the publication of 'Pumpkin Moonshine', published in 1938. She is now 91, still living in New England, and her family runs the business of selling her books.
Tasha Tudor has illustrated over 100 books. She is also featured by the photographer Richard Brown in the books here on my bookshelf, which document her daily life, from taking care of her nubian goats and chickens, to growing vegetables in her garden.
Another book, "Tasha Tudor's Heirloom Crafts" by Tovah Martin and Richard W. Brown, features all the handmade items that are an integral part of her legendary nineteenth-century lifestyle. She spins flax, dyes wool, weaves on looms, and makes soap, candles and lotions.
Tasha Tudor does all her illustrations from life, from the field studies around her home. All the fantastic floral borders and blossom-packed wreaths that run around the margins of her books are painted with real-life gatherings from the meadows around her house. She has even known to freeze dead birds and mice, to thaw later as a field study!Tasha Tudor uses fresh goat's milk, eggs, and herbs in her cooking. She held tea parties in the afternoons, and held puppet shows for local children. When asked how she first got started in the culinary arts, she responded, "by making mud pies, as a child." Her family carries on this tradition of afternoon teas by hosting special event teas, already sold out, at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Maine in December and February.
She still cooks by a cast iron stove, and cans tomatos and pears in the fall to put away for winter. Potatoes, squash, and carrots are stored in a root cellar. Apples are collected in the autumn and put through a cider press. When she was a child, that was the beverage served at mealtime.Once the gardening season was over, she spent winters illustrating stories, drawing advent calendars, and creating Christmas cards. These are so charming....I hope you will visit her shop, and see what she has to offer during this holiday season.
My favorite is the Sleigh Ride, reprinted from the vintage Tasha Tudor Christmas Card Collection. The interior greeting says: "With warm wishes for the holiday season" Those are my sentiments, exactly.
