Singable Picture Books Illustrated by Hilary Knight

Posted by: Sing Books with Emily on: August 20, 2010

In: Heartfelt Musings | Singable Book Title
Leave a Comment

A Firefly in a Fir Tree (A Carol for Mice)
Traditional Tune
Words Adapted by Hilary Knight
Illustrated by Hilary Knight

Hilary Knight’s ABC
Traditional Tune
Words by Hilary Knight
Illustrated by Hilary Knight

The Twelve Days of Christmas
Traditional Words and Tune
Illustrated by Hilary Knight

OKLAHOMA – Vocal Selection
Words by Oscar Hammerstein II
Music by Richard Rodgers
Cover Illustration by Hilary Knight

Side by Side (Poems to Read Together)
Traditional Words and Tunes
Collected by Lee Bennett Hopkins
Illustrated by Hilary Knight

The Owl and the Pussycat (Hilary Knight’s)
Words by Edward Lear
Words Adapted by Hilary Knight
Music by Douglas Colby
Illustrated by Hilary Knight

Hilary Knight’s Mother Goose
Traditional Words and Tunes
Illustrated by Hilary Knight

Happy Birthday
Traditional Words and Tunes
Poems Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins
Illustrated by Hilary Knight

An excellent list of books illustrated by Hilary Knight, here:
http://www.knight.pagebooks.net/

Hilary Knight’s pictures are an indelible part of my life.

When I was a kid, my mother was buyer for L.S. Ayers, a department store in Indianapolis, Indiana. This was the mid-1980′s when retail was king and the store sent my mother to New York City for what seemed like a week out of every month. She came home with stories of the Big Apple, which almost always included a trip the Plaza Hotel for a drink or lunch or tea in the Palm Court or the Oak Room and to visit with Hilary Knight’s portrait of Eloise.

Summer 2010, my very own Eloise G. at the Plaza
with Eloise at the Plaza (painted by Hilary Knight)

My mother got a copy of “Eloise at Christmastime” when she was a girl and it certainly inspired her love of New York, which in turn inspired mine.

Hilary Knight is the illustrator of many wonderful Singable Picture Books.

He is probably most famous, however, for illustrating the books about Eloise, a 6-year-old girl who lives at the Plaza with her Nanny and pets and who generally drives grown-ups around her crazy! Eloise, the character, was created by the great artist Kay Thompson.

(Kay Thompson in her famous night club act. Andy Williams and his brothers were her back-up singers!!)

The Plaza Hotel does wonderful things to honor Eloise and her creators. They’ve just opened an Eloise Suite (designed by the wonderfully outrageous Betsey Johnson) where you can stay (empty your bank account) with your family and spend the night.

(The Plaza Hotel in New York City)

The Plaza recently posted a video on of Hilary Knight, sitting in front of his iconic portrait of Eloise which hangs just outside the Plaza’s equally iconic Palm Court restaurant, telling the story of how Eloise came to be.

To see the video (and the Plaza’s wonderful Eloise offerings), just click here and scroll down to play the video:
http://www.theplaza.com/family/

Click here for a terrific site about Eloise:
http://www.eloisewebsite.com/index.html

Eloise, the Song

Words and Music by Kay Thompson

Another YouTube, this one by live performers singing in the Eloise Shop at the Plaza Hotel:

Click here for a transcript of the lyrics, wonderful!
http://www.eloisewebsite.com/eloise_song.htm

Dear Mr. Knight!
Please make a book of this song!!
Love, Eloise and her mom, Emily

A wiki about Hilary Knight here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilary_Knight

A wiki about Kay Thompson here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kay_Thompson

My mom said to me once, “If you ever have a little girl, you should name her Eloise.” Unfortunately my mom did not survive to meet her, but I’m sure my mom would have been pleased to know we did exactly as she suggested.

My grandmother Penny was a 2nd grade teacher (at John Strange Elementary School in Indianapolis) for 30 years, and she read many wonderful books to my sister and I when we were young. I particularly loved the hilarious cures for bad behavior in the MRS. PIGGLE WIGGLE books (written by Betty McDonald and illustrated by Hilary Knight).

And I remember my grandmother (who I called Penny) frequently opening Peg Bracken’s “I Hate to Cook Book,”

Illustrated by Hilary Knight, which I enjoy opening myself these days!