NOTE: The Central Library parking lot will be closed Friday, June 23 through Sunday, June 25 for repairs. We appreciate your patience.

Children's Room Art

Early in 1990, KPL received a grant from the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation to transform the Children's Room. With that gift, the library commissioned several artists to spark our imaginations with original artwork. Author/illustrator David Small painted a pillar with nursery rhyme characters. Artist Dee Durkee sculpted Jack and his beanstalk. Architect Michael Dunn designed the castle entrance to the Story Room. Jamie Rife created three vibrant stained glass windows. Storybook characters surround the pillar painted by Barbara Thiery Buysee. Framed artwork hangs throughout the room, from the newest paper painting by Denise Fleming in 2005 to the “picture-letter” created in 1881 by a young Lucy Fitch who later wrote and illustrated 24 very popular books about twins.

Johnny Appleseed
Fairy Story
Title Unknown
Untitled
Sleeping Beauty
Hunting the White Cow
Girl Reading
Boy Reading
Humpty Dumpty
Imogene Reading in Bed
Childhood Scenes
Mother Goose
Sleeping Beauty with Prince
Imogene Reading
Pillar Design
Images from The Wind in the Willows
Images from Alice in Wonderland
Yellowstone Falls and Us
Johnny Appleseed

1. Johnny Appleseed

Print from Johnny Appleseed: A Tall Tale Retold and Illustrated by Steven Kellogg, 1988.

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Fairy Story

2. Fairy Story

An original lithograph by artist Wanda Gag, 1937.

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Title Unknown

3. Title Unknown

Children by a stream, Kate Greenaway

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Untitled

4. Untitled

Rabbit created by Denise Fleming during her presentation at the annual Children's Literature Seminar, 2006.

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Sleeping Beauty

5. Sleeping Beauty

Original silhouette created by Arthur Rackham. Given to Kalamazoo Public Library by Louise Singley, March 28, 1946.

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Hunting the White Cow

6. Hunting the White Cow

Original illustration created for Hunting the White Cow by Wendy Anderson Halperin.

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Girl Reading

7. Girl Reading

Original sketch given to children's librarian Mary Calletto Rife by Wendy Anderson Halperin, 1997.

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Boy Reading

8. Boy Reading

Original sketch given to children's librarian Mary Calletto Rife by Wendy Anderson Halperin, 1997.

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Humpty Dumpty

9. Humpty Dumpty

Watercolor by David Small, detail painted for commission to decorate pillars in Children's Room.

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Imogene Reading in Bed

10. Imogene Reading in Bed

Original watercolor painted by David Small, a gift to celebrate 100th anniversary of Children's Services at Kalamazoo Public Library.

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Childhood Scenes

11. Childhood Scenes

Original picture letter created by Lucy A. Fitch in 1881 of pleasurable scenes from her childhood in Kalamazoo. As an adult, Lucy Fitch Perkins wrote and illustrated a very popular series of childrens books about twins, several of which are still in print.

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Mother Goose

12. Mother Goose

Original pen and ink created by Corwin Rife as a bookplate for the Louise Singley collection.

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Sleeping Beauty with Prince

13. Sleeping Beauty with Prince

Original silhouette created by Arthur Rackham. Given to Kalamazoo Public Library by Louise Singley, March 28, 1946.

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Imogene Reading

14. Imogene Reading

Original pen and ink created by David Small, commissioned to celebrate 100th anniversary of Children's Services at Kalamazoo Public Library.

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Pillar Design

15. Pillar Design

Painted by Barbara Thiery Buysee, winner of a competition to design a pillar in the Children's Room. Characters spring from the books The Secret Garden, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, The Black Stallion, Treasure Island, Uncle Remus, The Wind in the Willows, Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, and the poetry of Langston Hughes.

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Images from The Wind in the Willows

16. Images from The Wind in the Willows

Images from The Wind in the Willows painted by Todd Zimmerman, third place winner in a competition to design a pillar in the Children's Room.

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Images from Alice in Wonderland

17. Images from Alice in Wonderland

Images from Alice in Wonderland painted by Conrad Kaufman, third place winner in a competition to design a pillar in the Children's Room.

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Yellowstone Falls and Us

18. Yellowstone Falls and Us

Yellowstone Falls and Us by Olive Fell, hand-printed by the artist. Give by Louise Singley to Kalamazoo Public Library on March 28, 1946. 

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