Key Characteristic #3: Love for Folktales, Fantastical Elements and Whimsy

The Dillons have a great affection for illustrating folktales full of whimsy and fantastical elements. It is almost as if their illustrations do not want to stay on the page, but instead want to float and fly off of the page, so fantastical are they.

From "The Girl Who Spun Gold," an African variation of Rumpelstiltskin, to their famous "Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears," the Dillons have illustrated many folktales.

The Girl Who Spun Gold

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears

Here is a reading at the White House Easter Egg Roll of "Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears."

This video is a reading of "The Goblin and The Empty Chair" with the Dillons' illustrations. This reading is particularly magical and transporting. While watching it, the viewer feels caught up in the book trailer-like illustrations and transported to a fantastical, whimsical world of folktales. The goblin is reinterpreted from a frightening character to a do-gooder character that helps a family.

The Dillons' folktale illustrations have truly added to the diversity of children's literature. Thanks to them, many African-American children can identify with and see themselves as Rapunzel, Moses, kings and queens, where they could not before.