Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New Jersey

Re: Modifying Copyrighted Illustrations Into a New Work

It sounds like you are trying to create a derivative work. One of the bundle of rights that copyright holders possess is the right to create derivative works. Thus, in most cases, it will be necessary to obtain the proper permissions prior to creating your work. Please note that not all "transformations" infringe on the right to create derivative works. Don't hesitate to email if you have additional questions.

Re: Modifying Copyrighted Illustrations Into a New Work

Assumeing the illustrations are not in the public domain but are existing copyrights, the simple answer is no, you cannot do that without the copyright owner's permission. It doesn't really matter if you use the book pages themselves or copy them. The only way out of this is to get permission of the copyright owner. Now as a practical matter, you may change the illustrations so much they are unrecognizable and you get away with it (You are not sued). But it would still be copyright infringement, without permission.