On view at Naples Art Institute from May 11 through August 11, 2024

Children’s books serve a dual purpose - to entertain and educate young readers, while also reflecting the historical context and values of their time. Childhood Classics showcases the illustrations and illustrators behind these timeless stories, from early 20th-century pen and ink drawings by Sarah Noble Ives, to modern digital creations like those by Mo Willems.

Featured are original artworks from Dr. Seuss, Maurice Sendak’s Wild Things, and Garth Williams’ Stuart Little, alongside contributions from classic illustrators such as Rosemary Wells, Richard Scarry, Arnold Lobel, and Hilary Knight. Beloved characters like Babar, Eloise, and The Cat in the Hat come to life in this whimsical exploration of children’s literature history.

Childhood Classics: 100 Years of Children’s Book Illustration was curated from the collection of Lois Sarkisian and Lee Cohen, co-founders of Every Picture Tells A Story. For over a quarter of a century, this innovative and influential gallery has featured original art from children’s books. Sarkisian and Cohen have collected, written about, and lectured on illustration art at institutions such as UCLA, Harvard University, and many other schools and museums across North America. In 2014, they established the online gallery Art Kandy, where they continue to introduce classic and contemporary illustrators to new generations.