The Paper-Flower Tree
By (Author) Jacqueline Ayer
Enchanted Lion Books
Enchanted Lion Books
22nd June 2017
20th June 2017
United States
Children
Fiction
Hardback
40
Width 254mm, Height 196mm
A passing old peddler gives a little girl a seed to grow a paper flower tree, and though the other villagers scoff, her faith is rewarded. This is a beautiful book, set in a lush and colorful Thailand, about a community and a girl whose dreams become reality.
Jacqueline Ayer was a Jamaican-American, born in New York City in 1930. She began her education at the Art Students League in New York, proceeded by time spent at Syracuse University and the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. Ayer was a head fashion designer in London for many years and created more than 10 childrens books, for which she was awarded a Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators.
"The book captures, in a way that is completely devoid of any sentimentality, the persistent, stubborn hope of young children. ...Ayer brings Thailand to vivid life, and Enchanted Lion has put great care and consideration, as they always do, into the books reproduction. Youre going to want to hold a copy in hand to feel the cover and pages and take in Ayers artwork."Julie Danielson, Kirkus Reviews "Blocks of color, and fine lines alternating with crosshatching and patches of rough pencil, give a mystical feeling to this lovely tale from Southeast Asia."Meghan Cox Gurdon, The Wall Street Journal
The daughter of Edward and Thelma Brandford, Jacqueline grew up in the Bronx at the Coops, a co-operative built for garment workers. She went to Music and Art High School, followed by Syracuse University. She continued her studies in Paris which led to work as an assistant fashion illustrator. From there she was introduced to Christian Dior and the Vogue Editor M. de Brunhoff, which lead to work as a fashion illustrator for Vogue and Bonwit Teller in New York. Her marriage to Fred Ayer led to a move to Thailand, where she wrote and illustrated childrens books and started the fashion company Design Thai, supported by the Rockefeller Foundation. In later life she worked in India for craft and textile development under Indira Gandhi and in New York and London, designing home furnishings for companies including Bloomingdales and Conran.