Scribble

Scribble by Deborah Freedman is about a pair of sisters and their drawings. The older sister loves to draw princesses and has a very set opinion on how drawings should be done. The younger sister prefers cats and is a little freer with how she draws — basically she scribbles.

But it's through the drawings that we get to know the girls. See the cat and the princess form a friendship across their papers and together they make something useful of the left behind scribble.

This book reminded me of Picture Purrfect Kittens by Erika Tatihara and Masuru Misobuti but with an artistic style that's similar to Crocket Johnson's Harold and the Purple Crayon books.

A sisterly squabble sends the younger one (and their cat) into their artwork, where Emma's "scribble kitty" wishes to save Lucie's Princess Aurora, and Emma helps by untangling her scribble on Lucie's picture. Two drastically different art styles are employed, one for the sisters and their cat and one for their drawings (Lucie's on pink paper, Emma's on yellow). Panels with air frames give way to full-bleed art, then return to panels at the end. (Plenty of "meaty middle" here.)

See also: Terrible Horses by Raymond Antrobus

Caldecott contender for sure! This story about 2 sisters drawing pictures is a classic. The older sister loves to draw princesses with elaborate stories, but the little sister is a pre-schooler, so she still draws "scribbles". Lucie, the little sister, follows her drawing of Scribble the cat into the drawing.