Animal Acrobatics

Alice Potter, Harry on Ball

Dorothy Lathrop, The Fairy Circus, 1931

Alice and Martin Provensen, The Golden Circus, 1950

Jerzy Flisak, movie poster, 1965

Carlos Marchiori, Sally Go Round the Sun, 1969, 

via my vintage book collection (in blog form)

Bill Charmatz, The Cat's Whiskers, 1969

William Pène du Bois, Bear Circus, 1971

Bill Peet

The 1975 Childcraft Anual, thanks to Flamenconut

Nicole Claveloux, Animaux étranges, 1993

Ian Falconer, Olivia saves the Circus

Ofra Amit

Kevin Sloan

Julian de Narvaez

Gonçalo Viana

Spider

Yusuke Yonezu

Jennifer Davis

Chamo

Séverin Millet

Joyous Carousel

How ant hurried home, 1967

I discovered the illustrations of Lev Tokmakov a few years ago, 
thanks (unsurprisingly) to 50 Watts, and was recently very pleased to stumble 
upon a large treasury of his children's books on a Russian website. 

 What looks like the Moon, 1961

Tokmakov was a Russian artist born in 1928 who produced lithographs and paintings

 and illustrated almost 300 children's books. His bright, cheerful, witty and graceful illustrations
 graced the pages of books by most of the important authors of Russian children's literature, 

as well as Gianni Rodari and Astrid Lindgren. He also worked on a large number of Russian folk tales,
and other tales from Italy and China. 

Boris Zakhoder, School for Baby Birds, poems for children, 1970

Tokmakov taught for many years illustration at the Russian State Children's Library. 
He believed that it's harder to illustrate children's books than books for adults, 
"because you have to use more life force energy". In 1958 he began to collaborate
 with the famous children's magazine Murzilka, and became one of its best artists. 

Irina Tokmakova, Carousel, poems for children, 1971 

Moldavian folk songs, 1987 

About furry and feathered, 1989 

In his later books, sometimes Tokmakov revisited his subjects using a different technique,
 as you can see from the turtle below. In 2010, the same year he died, he was awarded a special diploma
 for outstanding achievement for his book Amusing walks across Moscow at the Moscow book festival. 
His works are in the collections of numerous museums, including the State Tretyakov Gallery, 
the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and the National Gallery of Bratislava.

As always, I invite my dear Russian readers to correct 

any terribly translated title you find in this post!

WIld Tapestries

Eaux profondes, 1960

Jean Picart le Doux was a French painter, illustrator and one of the most productive tapestry designers

 of the 20th century. He was born in Paris in 1902, the son of painter Charles Picart le Doux,

 and after studying art made his debut in bookbinding and publishing. During the 1930s he turned to advertising 

and graphic design, working in a style influenced by Cassandre and other great French poster artists

 of the time. In 1942 he won the Grand Prix of the theater poster. 

 In 1939 Picart le Doux met Jean Lurçat, the most important figure in the renaissance of French tapestry

 in the early 20th century (blog post to follow). At the time Lurçat had settled in Aubusson

 at the request of the French Ministry of National Education to create a new center for tapestry design

 and production. The two men became close associates, and in 1943 le Doux created his first tapestry cartoons

  for the passenger ship “la Marseillaise”. In 1947, together with Marc Saint-Saëns, they founded

 the Association of Tapestry Cartoon-Painters to promote the revival of tapestry design. 

Le Chalut, 1952 

This group of artists shared the same theories and aesthetics. They believed that tapestries

 should be original works of art rather than copies of paintings. Their works utilized a limited color palette

 and symbolic subject matter. They were conceived for hanging on walls and specific architectural spaces,

 and were often commissioned by the state to be showcased in in embassies, museums, schools and public buildings.

1962

Flore des Tropiques, 1961

Le Chant du Matin, 1965 ca.

Picart le Doux designed over four hundred original tapestries during his lifetime. He also continued

 to work as a commercial artist, and during the 1950s designed a series of posters for the French Tourist Office.

 In 1951 he was one of the founding fathers of ​​the Alliance Graphique Internationale with Jean Colin,

 Jacques Nathan Garamond, Fritz Bühler and Donald Brun, and became the association's first president. 

He also produced lithographs, and Illustrated deluxe editions and artist books by major French authors 

including Jean Cocteau, Verlaine, Baudelaire Apollinaire, and Colette. Picart le Doux had many exhibitions

 throughout his life (he died in 1982), and his works can be found in the collections 

of numerous museums in France and abroad.

Aquarium, lithograph

La Tortue, lithograph, 1962 

Owl from Apollinaire's Bestiaire