The 5 books Barbara Reid would love to illustrate

Barbara Reid is theaward-winningauthor andillustrator ofmore than a dozen books for children, includingincludingPicture a TreeandSing a Song of Mother Goose.Her latest book,Picturethe Sky,explores the beauty in the sky above us.

• Why Barbara Reid decided to make the background the star ofPicture the Sky

Picture The Skywasa finalist for the2018 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award. The $50,000 prize is the richest for Canadian kids literature awarded annually to the creators of one book for readers up to the age of 12.

Usingplasticine,Reidcreatestextured and colourful illustrations.Here are some of the books she wouldlove to model in clay.

The Summer Bookby Tove Jansson

"Tove Jansson is the author and illustrator of the fabulous Moomintroll books for children and wise grownups. In this short novel,Jansson captures the essence of a summer spent in nature, and comes as close to figuring out the meaning of life as anything I've read. In The Summer Book, a six-year-old girl and her grandmother spend a summer on an island in the Gulf of Finland. Together they hike the coastline, build bark boats, create a miniature village, weather storms and care for each other as best they can. Their conversations touch on love, life and death, from the perspective of one who is just beginning her life and one who is nearing the end. There is no sentimentality, and plenty of wisdom. The ramshackle cabin and the rugged nature around them have as much character as the humans. Anyone who has spent a summer near the water in Canada will feel at home in this world. I would love to illustrate this book with drawings in a sketch book style, just for the opportunity to return to this tiny perfect island."

The Tigerby John Vaillant

"Set in a Russia's remote far east, this book tells the story of a battle for survival between a man-eating tiger and Yuri Trush, the lead tracker charged with hunting the tiger down before it can kill again. The book is packed with detail and has been compared to a Siberian Moby-Dick. I loved the slow build up of tension and was rooting for both man and beast. The contrast between the harsh frozen landscape and the violent life force of the tiger would be a treat to illustrate in a bold graphic style. Imagine the whites, blacks, blues and slashes of orange!"

The Wild Swansby Hans Christian Andersen

"I love the weirdness of all of Andersen's stories (and skim past the religious content as much as possible). He creates worlds that are fantastic, but his matter of fact manner of telling the tales makes them completely real. The emotions are very human, but the drama is larger than life. It would be a dream to create a piece for each story in a collection. The Wild Swans is one of my favourites because the imagery is so vivid: 11 enchanted swans carrying their sister Elise over a stormy sea; Elise gathering stinging nettles in a haunted graveyard at midnight; the last-minute breaking of the spell that restores the brothers to human form. And a true Andersen touch: one brother left with a swan's wing for an arm. Illustrating this story would be like designing an opera with sets, costumes and lighting. Magical!"

The Night Gardenerby Jonathan Auxier

"This gothic horror story for kids has it all: abandoned siblings forced to work in a creepy mansion whose inhabitants live under a curse, a terrifying night visitor anda sinister tree with a mind of its own. I love the existing cover and black and white interior artwork by Patrick Arrasmith; the wood-cut style perfectly suits the old-fashioned setting of the story. I would have picked this book up as a kid based on the cover alone. But if a luxury edition with a mix of full-colour pages and line drawings is ever considered, I would put my hand up. The gloomy palette, nighttime lighting and gnarly twisted tree limbs just scream plasticine."

The Hidden Life of Treesby Peter Wohlleben

"Because: Trees! Science!"