Open + Shut: Celebrating the Art of Endpapers

April 19 - November 9, 2025
Central Gallery

Endpapers are the unsung glory of contemporary children’s publishing. Once a purely functional form—sturdy pages glued to the inside of a book’s cardboard covers—endpapers today are often full of wit, surprise, and deep emotion. As one of the first (and last!) visual elements readers encounter when interacting with a book, endpapers set the mood for the story inside. More than 50 works on view, ranging from classics such as Blueberries for Sal and The World of Pooh, to contemporary works by Yas Imamura, Eliza Kinkz, Paloma Valdivia, among others, show how endpapers can extend the main story, offer a conceptual take on a theme or action, or provide additional visual and narrative information.

Curated by Bruce Handy. 

What to Expect 

Original work by more than 30 artists.  

Illustration of mermaids in water.

Jessica Love, Illustration for Julián is a Mermaid (Candlewick). Collection of the artist. © 2018 Jessica Love.

Illustration of map of forest.

E. H. Shepard, Illustration for The World of Pooh by A. A. Milne. Courtesy of Penguin Young Readers Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. © 1957 E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc.

Explore Further
Event
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Join curator Bruce Handy for a tour of Open + Shut: Celebrating the Art of Endpapers.