Little Boy Blue
What, Me, Dozing? - Just Resting My Eyes
The book in which this woodcut illustration is published, by children's
book illustrator Philip Reed, won a Caldecott Honor citation in 1964.
Reed was well known and respected for his detailed color wood engravings
for children's books. 1
Here, Reed depicts Little Boy Blue as an older child laborer. In contrast
to the soft focus and dreamy quality of so many of the illustrations of
nursery rhymes, Reed's woodcut is sharp and leads the viewer's gaze directly
to the sleeping Boy Blue. This sharp focus of the woodcut seems to offer
a less sentimental view of the sleeping boy. We see only one of his stray
sheep gazing at the sleeping shepherd, as if for guidance. Little Boy
Blue is holding on to his horn as if he just dropped off without realizing
it.
1 Philip Reed Papers, 1935-1964. Finding Aid. University of Minnesota Libraries, Children’s Literature Research Collection. Retrieved November 16, 2002, from http://special.lib.umn.edu/findaid/html/clrc/clrc0180.html
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