The Eskimo Book

The Eskimo, a 15-page scrapbook, has long been sold off on Etsy, but I find the book so endearing I wanted to include it here. There is no name or age given, but it is said to be made as a class project in the 1930s, rendered with construction paper, crayon, pencil, and ink. A close look at the hand-cut letters on the cover reveals some clever production handwork, as it appears this young student folded some of the symmetrical letters (The H, E and O) in half before cutting them out. I'm not sure what the intention of the four cornerpieces were, however the choice of the muted color palette perfectly suits a book on the Eskimo, as in theory, these monochromatic colors typify the landscape of the frozen North. I think the standout image of the entire book is by far, the 3-legged black polar bear silouette. It's a stunning design—almost postmodern in concept with it's simplicity—though my guess it was copied from a photo. None-the-less, it was very perceptive to willingly illustrate a polar bear in black on white, which is contrary to our very notion of one, but it works beautifully. I hope the teacher gave this kid an A+ on this book. It is well-deserved.

To see more kids book art, checkout the former Letterology links on The Story of Paper and the original AutoFaceBook.