Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

“All of us should assume that young writers know the particulars of their world better than we know their world.”

 

Today over at Kirkus, I’ve a chat with award-winning author Jack Gantos about his wonderful new book for upper elementary and middle-grade students, Writing Radar: Using Your Journal to Snoop Out and Craft Great Stories (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, August 2017).

That is here.

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Photo above of Jack at the 2017 Eric Carle Honors was taken by Johnny Wolf Photography.

“It was late at night. A noise had woken Anyaugo. …”
— From Nnedi Okorafor’s Chicken in the Kitchen, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini
(Click to enlarge spread)

 

“”The only thing they didn’t lose was each other.”
— From Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl’s Sleep Well, Siba & Siba,
illustrated by Sandra van Doorn
(Click to enlarge spread)

 

— From Xu Bing’s Look! What Do You See?:
An Art Puzzle Book of American & Chinese Songs,
illustrated by Becca Stadtlander
(Click to enlarge spread)

 

“When he went fishing with his middle-sized fishing rod, he managed to catch the most middle-sized fish in the lake, which he put into his middle-sized basket.”
— From Susanna Isern’s Middle Bear, illustrated by Manon Gauthier
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
Last week, I wrote here at Kirkus about new picture books with an international flair, including Nnedi Okorafor’s Chicken in the Kitchen (Lantana, September 2017), illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini; Xu Bing’s Look! What Do You See?: An Art Puzzle Book of American & Chinese Songs (Viking, November 2017), illustrated by Becca Stadtlander; Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl’s Sleep Well, Siba & Saba (Lantana, October 2017), illustrated by Sandra van Doorn; and Susanna Isern’s Middle Bear (Kids Can Press, October 2017), illustrated by Manon Gauthier.

I’m following up today with some art from each book.

Enjoy!

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“Barney was supersmart, with a thick swish of black hair that stuck straight up and out like the brim of a baseball cap. April thought Barney was a dapper dresser, which is not an easy thing to be when you wear a khaki Lumberjanes uniform every day. Barney was one of the only scouts who wore their uniform every day, because they liked the crispness of the uniform shirt, and the buttons and the kerchief.”

 
Here’s a bit of art from Brooklyn Allen to follow up my Kirkus Q&A last week with Mariko Tamaki about Lumerjanes: Unicorn Power! (Amulet, October 2017).

Enjoy!

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“CHARGE!”
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
I’ve got a BookPage review of Mac Barnett’s The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse (Candlewick, October 2017), illustrated by Jon Klassen. It’s so good. That is here.

Here today at 7-Imp are a few spreads.

Enjoy!

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“Between two windows, there could be a phone,
used for good ideas.”
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
You all are going to think I’m lazy today, but hear me out.

I’m showing you two spreads from one of my favorite picture books this year, Julia Denos’s Windows (Candlewick, October 2017), illustrated by E. B. Goodale. (This, in fact, is Goodale’s debut.) Oh, how I love it. However, I’m not going to tell you right now why I like it, because that is to-come.

As mentioned previously, I’ve joined the team over at the Horn Book’s Calling Caldecott this year. We are in the swing of things and writing about all kinds of wonderful picture books — and have been for several weeks now. I not only know that we’re going to cover Windows, but I may be the one writing about it. So, I’ll wait for that — but did want to mark the book’s publication this coming week and give you a peek inside.

For now, if you want to read more, I’ll send you to the Kirkus review, which is here.

And more on this book from me later, whether it’s in a couple of months or early 2018. (We will still be blogging at Calling Caldecott in January.)

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Today over at Kirkus, I’ve got some picture books that are from all over the map. One is pictured above.

That is here.

Next week here at 7-Imp, I’ll follow up with some art from each book.

Love the Lumberjanes as much as I do? Then you may be interested in my Q&A over at Kirkus today with Mariko Tamaki, pictured above, who has adapted the award-winning comic books series to a novel for middle-grade readers, complete with spot illustrations by Brooke Allen. Lumberjanes: Unicorn Power! is on shelves now from Amulet Books.

That Q&A is here.

Enjoy!

First image: An early sketch;
Second image: A final spread (“I didn’t look up. I didn’t look down.
I just kept climbing. One step at a time …”)
Click second image to enlarge

 
I’ve got a review over at BookPage of Dan Santat’s After the Fall (Roaring Brook Press, October 2017). That is here.

Here at 7-Imp, Dan shares some preliminary, behind-the-scenes images (when the book, as you can see, was in third-person). After that are a few more final spreads from the book.

Enjoy!

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“I figure out how to make clothes that are better for life on an island.”
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
I’ve got a review over at BookPage this month of what is one of my favorite 2017 picture books, if not my very favorite — Peter Sís’s Robinson (Scholastic, September 2017). JUST LOOK AT THOSE COLORS ABOVE!

You can read about it here at their site, and today at 7-Imp I’ve got a bit of art from the book.

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— From Julie Falatko’s Snappsy the Alligator and His Best Friend Forever (Probably),
illustrated by Tim Miller

 

“Dring-dring, dring-dring!
Chirri and Chirra have wonderful dreams that night.”
— From Kaya Doi’s Chirri & Chirra: The Snowy Day
(Click to enlarge image)

 

— From Laurel Snyder’s Charlie & Mouse & Grumpy,
illustrated by Emily Hughes

 


— From Bethan Woollvin’s Rapunzel

 

“When it gets dark, Kuma-Kuma Chan listens to the … stars.”
— From Kazue Takahashi’s Kuma-Kuma Chan’s Travels
(Click to see spread in its entirety)

 
Over at Kirkus today, I’ve got activism on the mind.

That is here.

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Last week, I wrote here about the return this Fall of some beloved picture book characters. I’m following up today with some art from those books, which include Kazue Takahashi’s Kuma-Kuma Chan’s Travels (Museyon, October 2017); Laurel Snyder’s Charlie & Mouse & Grumpy (Chronicle, October 2017), illustrated by Emily Hughes; Bethan Woollvin’s Rapunzel (Peachtree, October 2017); Julie Falatko’s Snappsy the Alligator and His Best Friend Forever (Probably) (Viking, October 2017), illustrated by Tim Miller; and Kaya Doi’s Chirri & Chirra: The Snowy Day (Enchanted Lion, October 2017).

Enjoy! Read the rest of this entry »