I was at a friend’s house recently and she had a book sitting out that caught my eye: The Calico Jungle, by Dahlov Ipcar, published in 1965.
It was one of her favorite books as a child. She kept it and then read it to her own children (now adults).
It’s a quiet bedtime story, about a boy looking at all the “strange and wonderful” animals on the quilt his mother made for him.
It ends as he falls asleep and dreams he is walking through the calico jungle.
This friend of mine is an English teacher as well as a textile artist and quilter. Perhaps this book lies at the root of her adult pursuits? I wonder…
I wish I had seen this book when I was young, but I’m glad to discover it now. I will look for other books by illustrated by Dahlov Ipcar. Perhaps for a future post!
Bonny Becker
Julie Paschkis
Julie Larios
laurakvasnosky
Margaret Chodos-Irvine
Books Around The Table 
Islandport press has some nice links on their site to her work. It’s lovely!
Thank you, Cathy. I will check out that link.
wow that would be a great quilt to recreate!
Yes, wouldn’t it though!
Ipcar is from Maine (Georgetown), and did a lovely book called Lobsterman about, yes, a lobsterrman. She also illustrated Margaret Wise Brown’s The Little Fisherman.
I have been collecting her picture books for years. I love how geometric, yet graceful her work is. I could never afford an actual painting of hers, but the books are a great substitute. Someday I’m going to make my own Calico Jungle quilt.
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