Picture Book Monday: Moon Dog by Helen Ward and Wayne Anderson

The Man in the Moon lives peacefully with his Moon Dog. The moon is usually a nice and quiet place, but from time to time some nasty and loud visitors arrive with their fairy bus, to disturb its tranquillity. The Man in the Moon knows how annoying these visitors are, so anytime they arrive, he shuts himself in his living room, sits on his comfortable armchair and read some good books, imagining to be somewhere else.
But Moon Dog is curious, he is eager for adventures and the visitors seem like such an interesting crowd. So, one night, when the Man in the Moon is snoozing on his armchair, Moon dog sneaks out the back door and joins the loud fairies. At first he has a great time. The fairies build him a pair of mechanical wings so he can follow them around. Then they cuddle him, they tickle him and they make him laugh. Moon Dog loves playing with them and he forgets all about the Man in the Moon. But these are nasty fairies and they’re up to no good…

It seems like I tend to like Helen Ward’s work, and I might feature another one of her picture books sometimes, one which she actually illustrated herself. But this time I’m drawn to Moon Dog mainly for Wayne Anderson.
His illustrations look like they are made of the stuff of dreams. They are ethereal, as if sprinkled with stardust. They’re soft as a cloud and enchanting like the best fairy tales.
I’m never tired of looking at them, they make me smile all the time.
Luckily for those who are not familiar with his work, Anderson has a lovely website with a fairly big gallery of illustrations, which you can browse in awe: www.wayneandersonart.com
And this is the Moon Dog page: http://www.wayneandersonart.com/gallery4.html

Anderson illustrated the Dragonology series, even though you can admire his dragons in his gallery better, as they’re pretty small in the books. Apparently he is a dragon lovers because most of his illustrations have dragons as the main subject.
I can’t wait for the Dragon Machine to arrive in the shop, and possibly review it here. Same for his illustrated version of The Wizard of Oz.
I might even have a Wayne Anderson section in the shop, because all his books are simply beautiful.
His work shows exactly what I mean when I say that picture books are Art. Just look for yourself.