BLUEBERRY GIRL is a recently released hardcover book featuring Charles Vess illustrating a short poem written a while back by Neil Gaiman for a then-pregnant friend of his. The poem itself isn't too bad, not nearly as mawkishly sentimental as I'd expected, though getting close at times (and I'm sure in certain moods I'd think it went over that line). I was more interested in it for the illustrations by Charles Vess, as it's been a while since I've seen anything major new from him. Not surprisingly, some gorgeous work in here. There's not really a story, so it's just painted images of what the poem evokes, young girls exploring various gentle fantasy realms, accompanied by hosts of animals of all sorts. It's always great to see this much Vess work in one place, and so well produced.
The video below has Gaiman reading the full text of the poem, along with some rather oddly animated segments of some of the Vess illustrations. The quality doesn't nearly do justice to Vess' art, of course, but the text actually works better read out loud.
Anyway, well worth taking a look at, and probably a good gift for a mother expecting a baby girl in the near future if she's a fantasy fan.
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