Friso Henstra is beyond cool

Earlier this year I found a group of 1960's to 1970's books being sold in a lot; most of them were publications of Parent's Magazine Press, most of them being extremely well-kept.  In it was a copy of The Silver Whistle by Jay Williams and illustrated by Friso Henstra.  Oh. My. God.  I didn't think I'd ever find an illustrator from that era who drew me in the way the Golden Age illustrators do.  

Henstra began his career as a cartoonist, but when he illustrated a book for Jay Williams, his career took off.  The style he was using in the 1960's and early 1970's  is much like the animations that Terry Gilliam of Monty Python did in the same time frame:

 

Friso Henstra, from The Silver Whistle

Terry Gilliam's creations for the opening credits of Monty Python's Flying Circus:

Let me diverge from Henstra love for a moment to marvel at Gilliam's work and how he is the godfather of steampunk.  

I could spend more time talking about the Williams/Henstra collaboration and other authors who used Henstra as their illustrator, but another blogger has done a much nicer job of putting that information together, so do check out Authors and Illustrators and the entries on Henstra.  

Read it and get hooked!