I awoke to find a new interview in Cordella Magazine with The Innocence Mission‘s Karen Peris, in which she talks about the band’s history, recent work, and future plans (including plans for new albums!)

She also says this, which made me stop and think:

As a reader of poems, I have most often been touched by poems that are visual, that get at something true, but leave a lot of space for the reader to imagine and connect. So that is always my goal for what I write, in spite of how unattainable it may seem.

Recently, I’ve been looking at a lot of photography of undersea life. Anne has a magnificent book of vivid imagery of creatures no sci-fi movie could have imagined, and they are sparking new storytelling ideas for me. Somehow it doesn’t surprise me that Peris’s evocative lyrics are inspired by image-focused poetry. Pictures speak more powerfully than messages. 

She then goes on to talk about her favorite picture books:

Laura Carlin and Beatrice Alemagna are two illustrators I love. One daydream I have is to make a children’s book, so I work on that sometimes.

That has me asking a question I don’t think I’ve ever asked at Looking Closer: What are your favorite children’s books when it comes to illustrations? Share some recommendations in the Comments, and I’ll come back later this week with some recommendations of my own.

In the meantime, here’s Karen singing a song that conjures all kinds of images from my childhood of reading and dreaming…

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