Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

See that little girl above and the look on her face? That is not only how I feel in the mornings before I’ve had the life-blood that is coffee (apparently, I’m a cliché of a coffee-drinker), but it’s also what happens when you have a pet raptor and they wake you up very early and reject the breakfast you put out for them.

And this young girl would know. Or well … she hopes to know. Her story, George O’Connor’s If I Had a Raptor (Candlewick, May 2014), is written entirely in this subjunctive mood (“if I had a raptor …” — not when). That is, we never find out if she actually gets one (though who knew raptors were so similar to cats in every way?).

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Last week over at Kirkus, I chatted briefly (here) with author and comics writer Loïc Dauvillier about his new graphic novel for children, Hidden: A Child’s Story of the Holocaust, first published overseas in 2012 and coming here from First Second this April. (It was translated into English by Alexis Siegel.)

Today, I follow up with some art. The book was illustrated by Marc Lizano and Greg Salsedo (comics colorist).

Until tomorrow …

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Over at BookPage today is my review of Carole Boston Weatherford’s Sugar Hill: Harlem’s Historic Neighborhood, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. This is a February release from Albert Whitman & Company. To read more about the book, just head on over there today. Here’s the link.

And I really want to, as always, share some art from the book, too, so with big thanks to R. Gregory Christie, here are some early samples and final art from the book. Please note: As always, the colors as they appear on your screen might be just a tad bit off from how they appear in the book. Also, these spreads do not include the playful, colorful font that ended up in the final version of the book.

Enjoy the art … Read the rest of this entry �

Whew. I’ve had my work cut out for me this week, given a big honkin’ book deadline.

But I’m nearing the finish line. I really am!

Today at Kirkus, I write about two new picture books (nonfiction’y in nature, but technically fiction — “nonfiction’y” is a precise term, don’t you know?).

And those would be Cindy Jenson-Elliott’s Weeds Find a Way, illustrated by Carolyn Fisher, and Clotilde Perrin’s At the Same Moment Around the World.

Perrin’s beautiful cover is pictured here.

That column is here.

Next week here at 7-Imp, I’ll try to have art from both.

Until Sunday …

(Wow, this post really emphasizes what a tall thing Perrin’s book is. As someone who cares very much about my site’s design, this is making me kind of twitchy, but I’m done talking. Use the remaining white space here to fill in your own thoughts. Carry on, then.)

Hi, all.

You’re really gonna click on the image above and see that cardboard up close, right?

I recently reviewed Sam Zuppardi’s The Nowhere Box (Candlewick, November 2013) for the fine folks at BookPage. This is Sam’s debut picture book.

And, since you all know I get kind of twitchy when I don’t share art from the books about which I write, I’m following up here today at 7-Imp with some art from Zuppardi himself (pictured right). He has also sent along some early sketches and dummies from the book.

My book review is here at BookPage’s site (I give them seven points for the name they gave my review, “He’s a Real Nowhere Man”), and below are some more images from Sam.

I thank him for sharing.

Enjoy! Read the rest of this entry �

Since I wrote here last week at Kirkus about a new collection of fairy tales from The Brothers Grimm, illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger and published by Minedition—it’s called Tales from the Brothers Grimm, and it’s beautiful—I’ve got some art from it today.

But I’ve got another treat.

Also from Minedition this December will be The Brothers Grimm’s Hansel and Gretel, illustrated by Sybille Schenker and adapted by Martin West. Now, to read about it, you can go here to Kirkus‘ starred review. (Yes, I’m kickin’ it over to them, ’cause I have a giant stack of work giving me the skunk eye.) They call it nothing less than “gorgeous” and “sumptuous.” It really is both things, more of a coffee-table book than one you want to give, say, a toddler — given things like its thick cover stitching, die cuts, and vellum pages. The stark, black silhouettes throughout the book set a splendidly eerie tone, and the highly-patterned color illustrations that appear (not pictured below) are striking. Below is some art from that book, too.

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I don’t know about you, but I could look at the illustrations of Lauren Castillo all day. So, I’m happy this morning to have some artwork from her here at 7-Imp.

Last week, I chatted over at Kirkus with author Kate Banks, whose latest picture book was illustrated by Lauren — City Cat, released by Frances Foster Books/Farrar Straus Giroux just this week. So, more on the book and my chat with Kate is here, but today I follow up with Lauren, who is sharing (in her words) “a little of everything: cat studies, on-location drawings, early sketchbook studies, some reference inspiration, final sketches, and final art.”

Incidentally, Lauren has also blogged about this book. She took a trip to Europe in 2009 to “gather inspiration through sketches and photographs.” Here are those posts. (Here also is the book’s trailer.)

Enjoy the art, and many thanks to Lauren for sharing. Read the rest of this entry �

Guess what I did in October?

1. I bungee jumped from the skid of a helicopter into the caldera of a raging volcano, coming within over 500 feet of a pool of molten lava.
2. I decided to take the month off from blogging, and all the posts you saw here were really composed by my clone, ’cause I’m like THAT with a super smart clone scientist.
3. I completely forgot about my 7-Imp first-of-the-month student illustrator feature and just skipped October altogether.

Yep, it’s the third one, though I didn’t even make the first one up. (You can evidently pay over $10,000 to do that in Chilé.)

So, on the first Sunday of each month here at 7-Imp, I feature either student illustrators or illustrators brand-spankin’-new to the field, and I just completely blanked on the first Sunday of October — though, to be sure, it was a treat to see the work of Ingrid Godon.

But guess what else? I am more than making up for it today with the work of Dasha Tolstikova, who graduated just last year from the School of Visual Art’s Master’s program in illustration. Here she is — and with lots more of her art. I thank her for visiting.

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Yesterday at Kirkus, I chatted with Mr. Moonbot himself, William Joyce, pictured here. He is up to all kinds of mischief—or at least cataloging it—in his new picture book, The Mischievians.

And he is very serious about his work, as you will read.

That chat is here.

Today, I’ve got some thoughts on an exceptional new board book from designer and illustrator Yusuke Yonezu. It’s called We Love Each Other.

I don’t title my own columns over there, but the editor who did gave this one just the right name: Comfort and Warmth in Shapes.

That is here.

Next week here at 7-Imp, I’ll have art from both books.

Until Sunday …

Photo of William Joyce by Tony Reans and used with permission.

Mordicai Gerstein’s newest picture book, published by Little, Brown, will be released next week. This morning over at Kirkus, I weigh in on that one. It’s called The First Drawing, and that column is here.

Yesterday, I chatted here with picture book author Amy Hest about her newest Charley picture book, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, When Charley Met Grampa, to be released next week from Candlewick. (Remember last year’s book about Charley and Henry?) Next week here at 7-Imp, I’ll have some art from When Charley Met Grampa.

Last week at Kirkus, I wrote about Jeanette Winter’s Henri’s Scissors (Beach Lane/Simon and Schuster, August 2013). If you missed it, that link is here, and pictured above is a spread from the book.

Until Sunday …

HENRI’S SCISSORS. Copyright © 2013 by Jeanette Winter. Illustration used with permission of Beach Lane Books, New York.