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Stories of Kansas and the Great Plains
Marion Kundiger's original watercolors for
Izzie of Fergus Falls - A Minnesota Childhood of the 1880s (2008)
Izzie paintings copyright Marion S. Kundiger. 
Drawings copyright Marion S. Kundiger & Jerri Garretson.  All rights reserved.
There are now two versions of Marion Kundiger's "Izzie" in print.

The first, Izzie - Growing Up on the Plains in the 1880s
,
published by Ravenstone Press in 1998, has black-and-white ink drawings and photographs as illustrations and the text was rewritten and edited in to thirteen separate stories, though it remained true to the original stories told by "Izzie" and interpreted by Marion, her daughter.  We originally put small versions of her watercolors here online so that others could enjoy them during the years when only the line drawing version was in print.

When Izzie - Growing Up on the Plains in the 1880s was published in 1998, it celebrated Marion Kundiger's 80th birthday and Izzie's 120th birthday.  How we wish she had still been alive to see it!

Now the second version, Izzie of Fergus Falls - A Minnesota Childhood of the 1880s, published in 2008, features Marion's original six-chapter text for Izzie in which a little girl asks her grandmother about her childhood.  She used her mother (the grown-up "Izzie," now a grandmother herself) as the model for the grandmother and a picture of her as a child for the little girl.  Together they looked at a photo album.

This new version celebrates Marion Kundiger's 90th birthday and Izzie's 130th and at last features Marion's vibrant watercolors.

Below are two samples of the B&W line drawings and corresponding watercolors.
Marion and "grandma"
First Grade - black and white drawing
Starting School

This is Izzie's first day of school.  When she began first grade, her big brother, Ben, just took her to the first grade classroom and shoved her in!
 

Sometimes the layout of the 1998 book required reversing a picture.

First grade - watercolor
Waiting for Santa - black and white drawing
Waiting for Santa

Izzie's brothers loved to play tricks on her.  They told her if she wasn't in bed when Santa came, he wouldn't even STOP at their house!
 

To see all the Izzie watercolors, click on "Next" below.

Waiting for Santa, watercolor
Next Page page of illustrations - Click Here
Izzie Shop on CafePress
Purchase lovely items featuring Marion Kundiger's Izzie watercolor paintings

Purchase Izzie of Fergus Falls online direct from lulu.com
Available in hardcover or perfectbound softcover

More about Izzie and her family
Marion Kundiger's original watercolors for Izzie - Growing Up on the Plains in the 1880s
Izzie's family album - photos from the past
Izzie's cookbook
Teacher Resources for Izzie - Growing Up on the Plains in the 1880s
Fun for Kids - 1880s activities
Marion S. Kundiger
Jerri Garretson
Izzie themes - links
Links to Fergus Falls, Minnesota websites - Izzie's home town

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Last updated on August 6, 2008