Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

“Her poems soothed her sadness. Gave her strength. Set her free. With the power of her words — and the freedom of her imagination — she tasted spices in foreign lands, and hid inside a flower. She leaned against the sun, dwelt in the house of possibilities,
and rode a carriage to the ends of time.”

 
I’ve a review over at BookPage of Jennifer Berne’s On Wings of Words: The Extraordinary Life of Emily Dickinson (Chronicle, February 2020), illustrated by Becca Stadtlander.

That review is here, and pictured below is a bit more art from the book.

Enjoy!

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It’s the first Sunday of the month (happy March!), which means it’s time to feature a student or debut illustrator here at 7-Imp. Today, I welcome Hanna Cha, whose debut picture book — Tiny Feet Between the Mountains (Simon & Schuster) — was released last Fall. (Pictured above is the book’s title page illustration.)

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How about this beautiful cover? (You can click on it to see a larger version.)

I promise not to go on and on (and on) about the picture book I’m featuring today. It’s a wordless book, and if you can manage to find a copy, it’s best you experience it for yourself anyway. It’s from Geraldo Valério, born in Brazil and now living in Toronto. At the Pond (Groundwood) is a visual feast, as you can see from the three spreads below; find the nearest preschooler and make their day with this one. It should be on shelves next week.

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Julie Fogliano’s newest picture book, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki, is coming to shelves in early March (Atheneum). It’s called My Best Friend, and I hate to even use those initial caps in the title there, because the book has nary a capital letter in it (including in the bios on the jacket flap). The use of all lowercase letters is but one of the ways you are ushered into the world of this book, one where small people rule. Though their exuberance is anything but tiny, they are. They are preschool-aged, it’s safe to say (though they could perhaps be older toddlers). Either way, it’s two young girls, who play outdoors near what appears to be a playground.

I may as well tell you about the book’s fabulous twist ending (picture-book spoiler alert ahead) so that I can talk about it …

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If you are a fan of Edward Gorey’s books, you may be interested in Lori Mortensen’s new picture book biography, Nonsense! The Curious Story of Edward Gorey (Versify), illustrated by Chloe Bristol and coming to shelves in March. Evidently, Gorey would have turned 95 this year.

Mortensen writes in a chummy tone — “Greetings, Dear Reader!” the book opens — with hints of (and tributes to) Gorey’s writing style throughout. She kicks things off in 1925 with Gorey as a child, a “dandy boy who looked out his window, drew sausage-shaped pictures of city-bound trains, and taught himself to read.” She marks his introduction to the books that would eventually change his life — such “quaint and curious” and “dark and disturbing” books as Dracula and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

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“And some don’t have a clue yet that one day they’ll be president.”

I reviewed Kate Messner’s The Next President: The Unexpected Beginnings and Unwritten Future of America’s Presidents (Chronicle), illustrated by Adam Rex and coming to shelves in March, for the Horn Book. And that review has been posted over there. As I wrote in my review, there are picture books aplenty about U.S. presidents, but I recommend you make way for this breath of fresh air. To read the entire review, head here.

Today here at 7-Imp, I have some spreads from the book, and Adam also shares some early sketches. I thank him for sharing.

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I’m breaking my own rules again here at 7-Imp. Normally, I feature illustration students on the first Sunday of each month, but hey, I feel like featuring one day. So I am.

Meet Mel Valentine Vargas! They are, as they will tell you at their site, a Chicago-based Latinx illustrator and comics-creator. Mel, as explained below, is currently attending Columbia College Chicago, studying illustration and animation. Mel likes inking illustrations with brush pen work, and they also enjoy exploring new ways to detail and texture their work digitally.

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Say hello to illustrator Noa Denmon. (That’s her self-portrait above.)

I read a just-released YA novel last week (which, by the way, I highly recommend) — Echo Brown’s Black Girl Unlimited: The Remarkable Story of a Teenage Wizard (Henry Holt, January 2020). I was really taken by the book’s cover art, and when I saw that it was by Noa Denmon, I visited her site and then emailed to see if I could secure her permission to share some of her art. Lucky for me, she said yes. So, today I’ve got a bit of her artwork. Here — isn’t it beautiful? — is the dustjacket of the novel I read:

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“Inshallah you plant gardens filled with sweet fruits.”
(Click spread to enlarge)

 
Want to see some spreads today from Like the Moon Loves the Sky (Chronicle), written by Hena Khan and illustrated by Saffa Khan? Saffa — a printmaker, as well as an illustrator — was born in Pakistan and now lives in Scotland, and I’ve a few of her vividly colored spreads to show off here at 7-Imp today. The book will be on shelves in early March.

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“I wrote Just Like a Mama to celebrate and affirm adopted children. I also wrote it to acknowledge the aunts, grandmothers, and
big sisters who cheerfully care for children not their own.”

Over at Tennessee’s Chapter 16, I talk to author Alice Faye Duncan about her newest picture book, Just Like a Mama (Denene Millner Books, January 2020), illustrated by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow.

My chat with Duncan is here. (Note: Barlow actually visited 7-Imp last year to talk about making the illustrations for this, her debut picture book. That post is here.)

Enjoy!