Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

“She taught people how to observe birds in nature. They saw that the more common types of birds were just as fascinating as the rare ones.
Shhhhhhh! Listen. What are they saying?”
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Andrea D’Aquino’s She Heard the Birds (Princeton Architectural Press, October 2021) captures the life and scientific contributions of ornithologist Florence Merriam Bailey — and also reminds readers to stop, be still, look up, and see the birds.

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Kathi Appelt’s newest middle-grade novel, Once Upon a Camel, is the epic story of a camel, some baby kestrels, and the immense power of stories. I had the opportunity to chat with Kathi about this book over at Chapter 16. Our chat is here.

The novel is illustrated by Eric Rohmann. Check out that striking cover above.

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David Bowles has written more than one book about Mexican Americans whose lives center around borders, but now he’s penned his first picture book about the topic. My Two Border Towns (Kokila, September 2021), illustrated by Erika Meza, is tender, honest, and unforgettable.

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I’ve a review over at BookPage of Julie Morstad’s newest picture book, Time Is a Flower (Tundra, September 2021).

That review is here, and below are some spreads.

Enjoy!

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Earlier this week over at the Horn Book’s Calling Caldecott, we featured a Q&A with Caldecott Medalist Michaela Goade and asked her what her year has been like. Micheala won the 2021 Medal for We Are Water Protectors, written by Carole Lindstrom.

That Q&A is here. We are grateful she took the time to talk to us.

[Michaela’s photo credit: Sydney Akagi.]

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I’ve a review over at BookPage of Jarrett Dapier’s Mr. Watson’s Chickens, illustrated by Andrea Tsurumi. This book is just what you didn’t know you needed until now!

That review is here, and below are some spreads.

Enjoy!

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One of Henkes’s house sketches in watercolor and colored pencil

 
It was my pleasure to review for the Horn Book the latest picture book from Kevin Henkes. It’s called A House (Greenwillow, September 2021), and that review is here.

Here at 7-Imp today, Henkes shares some early sketches, as well as a few images that served as inspiration for this book. I thank him for sharing.

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Please forgive me for skipping picture-book art today, but I’m taking a moment to share, here at 7-Imp, that we have kicked things off over at the Horn Book’s Calling Caldecott, a place to visit for anyone out there who enjoys geeking out over picture books and illustration.

Our kick-off post, which is here, was this past week. And to keep following along — we have some very talented guest posters lined up to write about some spectacular books — Calling Caldecott is here, always there, in cyberspace.

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“‘Ama and Poobah,’ shouts Ada. ‘The fog’s gone. I can see the stars!
Wow! Come look. Come look.'”
(Click spread to enlarge)

 
I’ve got a chat over at Tennessee’s Chapter 16 with author and physicist Alan Lightman and illustrator Susanna Chapman. Lightman wrote, along with Olga Pastuchiv, Ada and the Galaxies (September 2021), illustrated by Susanna. It’s the first children’s book in the inaugural list from MIT Kids Press, an imprint formed in 2020 between the university and Candlewick Press.

That Q&A is here.

And here at 7-Imp, I have a few spreads — and an illustration study (some shells from Susanna). As you will read in the Q&A, the illustrations for this book incorporate images of the Milky Way taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Enjoy!

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“Can I disappear with you? …”
(Click spread to enlarge and read text in its entirety)

 
Sour Cakes (Owlkids, October 2021), written by Karen Krossing (her picture book debut) and illustrated by Anna Kwan, is an ode to sibling relationships and how, in particular, a sibling can lift you up when you are in the stormiest, heaviest of moods.

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