Think back to high school–now skip past the horrific fashion trends and the the scarring (“life ending”) moments in the cafeteria–go to English. Are you there? Remember your cold, clinical, desk and the offensive drawings scrawled all over the top of it? Great. You’ve just finished reading The Scarlet Letter and it’s time to start a new novel. Your middle aged teacher (you were never lucky enough to get the young, cool, teacher who didn’t believe in grades and taught class outside) brings in an old copy paper box and then another, and another…“three copy paper boxes?!” you wonder what you could possibly be reading that takes up that much space. “Class,” the teacher says as he slams the last box on your desk, “take a copy of Herman Melville’s ‘Moby Dick’ and pass the rest back.” Moby Dick was a death sentence, a 537 page “thriller” that revolved around an insane man and his obsession with a whale. How could this possibly be required? What “nugget of knowledge” is this going to impart?…..

That was the year I discovered “Spark Notes.”

If you had asked me yesterday, if I would ever attempt to read Moby Dick again–I would have cringed at the thought. That was before I found about this amazing, self-taught, artist and his incredible undertaking: an illustration for each page of Moby Dick. Matt Kish’s illustrations are contemporary, eye catching and convey the tone of the book perfectly. Not to be mistaken for a graphic novel version of the classic–these illustrations loosely go along with what is happening in the book, but in an emotional way–not a literal way. Here are some of my favorites:

These beautiful illustrations were bound into a book and can be bought here. I never thought I’d say this–but Moby Dick (in pictures) would make a great holiday gift.