Going Backwards

I understand the order, even if I don't wholly approve of it. It goes like this: Picture book is written. Picture book is beloved. Picture book is adapted by some well-meaning soul (I'm being generous here) into a gigantic multi-million motion picture with very big stars and very prolific CGI. This is the way of the world, as it has been for thousands of years (give or take).

So what do I do with this? Pixar is about to hedge all their bets on an upcoming rattish film by the name of Ratatouille. Fair enough. But now there are at least two books coming out based on the film and they don't.... well... okay, so they don't look bad.

According to the blog Cartoon Brew, " TOO MANY COOKS is a counting book for preschoolers which is notable because it was illustrated by one of Pixar's in-house artists, Nate Wragg ... WHAT'S COOKING: A COOKBOOK FOR KIDS is technically a cookbook but it looks to have some airy light-hearted illustrations ... No idea who the illustrator is here, but I think it's commendable that they're allowing artists to give their personal takes on these characters instead of following bland licensing guide models."

Boy oh boy. This isn't your standard CGI movie adaptation where they just lift images from the film and then slap some random narration in for kicks. Someone actually looks like they worked on these. Trend? And if so, does it disturb you or relieve you?

Thanks to Children's Illustration for the link.