Long before I had kids I was collecting the award-wining, colorfully illustrated, and whimsically written books of Maira Kalman.

Maira Kalman "Ooh-La-La (Max in Love)"

If you know Maira you love her work. If you don’t know Maira, chances are you may actually know her work without realizing it. Her drawings appear on covers of the New Yorker,

Maira Kalman New Yorker cover March 14, 2005

"New Yorkistan" cover with Rick Meyerowitz (Dec 10, 2001) The bestselling cover in the magazine's history

are often seen in the New York Times,

Maira Kalman New York Times Magazine

and she authored the yearlong NY Times blog “And the Pursuit of Happiness” which explored the meaning of American democracy.

Maira Kalman – And The Pursuit of Happiness blog – NYTimes.com

If you still aren’t intrigued (how could you NOT be?), Maira also illustrated the unlikely classic “The Elements of Style” by William Strunk and E.B. White, and the list of her work goes on and on.

from "Elements of Style"

from "Elements of Style"

An exhibit of Maira Kalman’s work just opened at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. “Maira Kalman: Various Illuminations (of a Crazy World)” shows a broad range of Kalman’s artwork and more. If you are anywhere near San Francisco this summer or fall, stop by and soak up as much Maira Kalman as you can. Your life will be better for it, I promise.