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Just like music, art evokes various emotions within us. Some makes us feel happy. Others make us a bit sad. And there are those that leave us all warm and fuzzy inside. Vintage children’s book illustrations often stir up nostalgia. They transport us back to our days as little carefree humans. A time when looking at the pictures was sometimes even better than the words of the fairytale.

The sadderlizards Insta account has over 300 thousand followers. It’s the perfect place to go if you feel like traveling back to your cozy nights of bedtime stories. But still want to relate to the illustrations as a grown adult. There's a gallery of adorable art, each with a relatable meme to melt your heart. Bored Panda has put together a list of our favorites. Keep scrolling and don't forget to upvote yours.

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UncleJohn3000
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Seems like the word 'booknut' could be played well here, but I'm a little squirrely.

Beak Hookage
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My trick is to always keep a book next to the toilet. Every visit I read some more, and when I finish the book I replace it with another one.

G A
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

At least 20 unread books, 30 unwatched films and 15 unheard CDs, plus Prime Video, Sky and Netflix. Almost feels like a chore.

OneWithRatsAndKefir
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Too true. I currently have a few Sherlock Holmes books, the Odyssey, the Illiad, a couple of comics, the Art of War, various fantasy-history books from Skyrim and a graphic novel of 1984.

Nykky
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's why libraries exist. You save money, they get money, even if you don't read the books. Go to your public library. Support them. Enjoy them. Before they're gone.

Kezza
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have journey to the west... have ALL the books even the ones soley about sun wu kong, I'm 4 chapters into the first book... there's like 7 all massive

Lene
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

One of my big goals for next year is to read all the books I have that I haven't read yet. I think it's about 50 or so books. Lol.

Roan The Demon Kitty
Community Member
1 month ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

yep. (even when I was in hospital for over a week I still managed to accumulate several new books... xD)

Tina Marie
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Now if this were a yarn craft, not only is it me, but I'm going to need a bigger tree

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Imagine a world without story book illustrations. Our childhoods might have been a bit boring. The pictures bring the words to life. They inspire, educate and keep little minds engaged. Children’s book illustrations have evolved a lot over the years. They took off in the 19th century, when children’s literature became a genre of its own.

Back then, the pictures were first carved into wooden blocks. And those were then transferred onto the pages of the book. Sometimes they were coloured in by hand, adding even more "life" to the stories.

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It was during this time that the Grimms’ Fairy Tales were brought to life. Childhood classics like “Cinderella”, “Hansel and Gretel” and "Snow White" remain popular more than 200 years later. They're still being translated into different languages, and adapted into plays and films around the world.

Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm published the first set of stories in 1812. You might be surprised to know that they weren't actually written for children. According to the National Library of Scotland, 'Kinder- und Hausmärchen', as the first volume was originally called, was aimed more at scholars. It contained 86 fairy tales.

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The Grimms started collecting fairy tales "in the hope of discovering some essential truths about the cultural heritage of the common people," reads the library's site. They later edited the stories to make them more child friendly. And thanks to the brothers, we saw the emergence of children's literature. The collection has since been translated into more than 160 languages.

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The original Grimm Brothers' books were meant to teach important morals about life and contained common themes about family and society structures during that time. The lessons were often told through exaggerated portrayals of beauty, violence, poverty and wealth. Which is why some of the adaptations have done away with negative stereotypes and outdated ideas about what is wrong and what is right.

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"The mothers, step mothers and women in general are often greedy and willing to do heinous things to achieve wealth and beauty," reads this 2016 research paper titled The Grimm Fairy Tales: An Analysis of Family and Society. "The fathers, although they mean well for their family, are very weak and submissive and thus make mistakes that often have grave consequences. As a result of the conflicts from the parental figures, the children are always the ones who suffer.”

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The 19th century also brought us the whimsical tale of “Alice in Wonderland”. It’s another classic that continues to captivate children and adults alike, centuries later. The original book was titled “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. It was written by Lewis Carroll and published in 1865.

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The fairy tale and characters were brought to life with illustrations by British artist John Tenniel. “Tenniel’s precise and imaginative drawings perfectly captured the whimsical nature of Carroll’s story, creating a visual world that has become synonymous with the beloved tale,” reads this blog post by a U.K children's book illustration company. To this day, people talk about (and dress up as) Alice, the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts and the White Rabbit.

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