Mister Penny's Race Horse (1956) and
Mister Penny's Circus (1961), published more than two decades later, continue the series and demonstrate the accuracy of detail that resulted from Ets's careful research. To prepare for
Mr. Penny's Circus, for example, Ets spent a summer at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin and at the Circus World Museum in Baraboo sketching illustrations for her book. With
Mister Penny Ets developed a method--paper batik--she would repeat in other books, including
Mr. T. W. Anthony Woo (1951). She used a resist of gel made from gum arabic and water. When the ink dried, she placed the drawing under a shower of lukewarm water until the gel washed away. This method allowed the economy of one-color printing and yet provided an unusual texture and vitality for her illustrations.
The Story of a Baby (1939), Ets's second book, was a breakthrough in sex education. Few books recording pre-and postnatal development existed for children when The Story of a Baby was published. In preparation for this factual book, Ets sketched drawings from an exhibit of human embryos at the 1933 Chicago Worlds Fair.
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