The Day the Pictures Disappeared: Cinderella

YOU are the illustrator of this story!

When Miss Mayda enters her library one morning to discover that all the illustrations have disappeared from the books, she frantically calls on the best artists she knows for help: children. Your talents, creativity, and ingenuity are also needed! Help Miss Mayda and the library of Providence Town by being the illustrator of a clever adaptation of the classic tale, Cinderella.

Part coloring book, part illustrate-your-own story, The Day the Pictures Disappeared is perfect for both the budding artist and literary enthusiast.

NOTE: This book is intended for use with crayons, colored pencils, pastels and other dry media. Wet media such as markers and paint may bleed through the paper.

When I was very young, my mom took me to the library. I came home with a book with black and white outlined illustrations. I remember thinking how sad it was that the illustrations had no colors. To me it looked like a coloring book just waiting to be filled in by a talented and advantageous young artist. I decided I was that artist and that I’d do the library and it’s patrons a favor by beautifying the book in full color. I grabbed my crayons and set to work.

I remember being happy with how well it turned out. My mother, however, was not happy. Neither was the librarian. My mother was made to purchase the book and, in punishment, it was locked away from my view, never to be seen again.

I was fully grown and the experience all but forgotten when I happened upon that book. I anxiously turned the pages and was instantly aghast. The coloring was all done in orange scribbles with no reverence for the lines. I could see why no one had appreciated the job I’d done, and yet, I had to smile at the young girl who’d been so proud of her work.

Pablo Picasso said, “Every child is an artist. The trouble is staying an artist when you grow up.” This book is for artists. For, in this story, all are invited to not only color in the illustrations, but to supply them completely from their own imagination when they disappear.