Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

I haven’t posted about Nashville Kidlit Drink Nights in a while. We meet once a month (first Tuesday of each month, beginning at 6:30), and I just figured everyone assumed that, not to mention we have our own ways of communicating about these things. But here I am, touching base quickly all publicly at the blog, with two quick announcements regarding May’s upcoming Drink Night — for any new folks who may be interested in joining us.

This month, we will meet at a new location. We’re no longer at the wonderful Boscos in Hillsboro Village. Last month, we tried the Tavern on 1904 Broadway instead, and it worked out well, so we’ll be there again next week, the first Tuesday of May.

Secondly, this month, we’re going to blatantly copy the upcoming New York City Kidlit Drink Night (since they had such a smart idea) and take donations—a suggested $5, but any amount will do, even if only one dollar—to benefit Reading is Fundamental. Since a bill was recently signed that eliminated funding for RIF, the nation’s largest organization providing free books and literacy resources for children, this cut means that they need folks’ support now more than ever.

So, see you there, I hope:

Thanks to all of you who played along at this post. Looks like folks were timid about choosing winning captions, so I’ll (somehow) do that soon and post winners early next week. Pinky promise. This weekend is all filled up, but I shall do it soon. (Generally disorganized here. Forgive me?)

Thanks again to those who played. And, if anyone still wants to contribute, go crazy.

{I know, I know. The post title might be causing headaches, but it’s all I’ve got.}

Sometimes I can hardly keep up on Facebook. As everyone knows, there’s a lot of chatter over there. That’s the point. Occasionally, it gets so loud that I just bow out for a bit.

But today I didn’t. I was part of a Facebook conversation that has resulted in what author Tammi Sauer (pictured above) and I have dubbed National Handlebar Moustache Appreciation Day. That’s tomorrow. You didn’t know? Right. ‘Cause we made it up. (I’ve checked. I don’t think it actually exists.) March 30th is now National Handlebar Moustache Appreciation Day, at least in our own easily-entertained worlds. ‘Cause moustaches of such striking shape and length deserve their own day, yes?

Well, they do, but really here’s why tomorrow is National Handlebar Moustache Appreciation Day. It went a little something like this:

1) Tammi notes on Facebook that her family had just gotten their carpets cleaned by a redhead with a handlebar moustache.

2) I pop in with, Dude. I think you need to write a picture book involving him. (“Dude” may or may not have been actually muttered. I like to pretend I don’t use it as often as I do. I’m supposed to be grown-up and stuff, not to mention I’m currently writing a book and should practice being articulate.) I also wonder who could best illustrate handlebar moustaches, and I type as much.

3) Author/illustrator Dan Santat (pictured below with his clone, who seems to have issues these days) pops in with the notion that, when Tammi said “redhead,” he imagined a female and wondered why she was sporting a fake handlebar moustache atop her lip. He’s just hard-wired to visualize weird stuff, he says. (I think that, as a picture book illustrator, this is lucky for us, but I digress.)

4) So, I proclaim: DAN IT IS! At this point, mind you, it’s just a hypothetical illustration, and I’m just being Facebook-jokey.

5) Illustrator Ward Jenkins (pictured left) comes in with an “ahem, ahem. Portland is Hipster Central with more handlebar moustaches than you can shake a stick at.”

6) Dan challenges Jenkins to a draw. Witty banter ensues. I do a few finger snaps and head rolls from the sideline and tell them, should they actually do this, I’ll post both illustrations at 7-Imp and have a vote-off for the best one.

7) Tammi declares, “may the hairiest illustrator win!” Many painfully bad puns about hair are thrown around (I may or may not be guilty of some), and fake gun sounds are typed. The duel is on.

And. [Drum roll.] The results are pictured at the top of the post. Dan clearly still had a female in mind, Ward opted for a literal interpretation of “handlebar,” and I laughed till my sides hurt.

However, instead of turning this into a competition, here’s what I’ve decided to do and where you come in, dear readers, should you want to play along: Read the rest of this entry �

I never thought I’d say this, but there’s a first time for everything, I suppose: I am now on Twitter. I am doing this solely to announce blog posts and my weekly Kirkus columns. And to do my part to better follow others’ announcements in the realm of children’s literature. I can tell you right now, though I’m willing to be proven wrong, that I expect I won’t be terrifically active over there. I’ll merely be sharing links about children’s books. Here and there. Now and then.

I guess I never officially announced, too, that I’m also on Facebook and use it to mostly—but not always—link back to 7-Imp posts and jibber-jabber about children’s lit. If you’d like to better keep up with 7-Imp that way, the info you need is on this page of the site.

So, back to Twitter: Come find me @SevenImp, if you’re so inclined. I’m new to this. Humor me. And help me if I stumble? Merci.

{Quick Early Morning Update: Looks like my first column is already up. It’s here.}

I wasn’t sure when Kirkus was going to announce this, but it’s clearly already up at their site, so I’ll share it here as well:

I’ll be writing weekly columns over at Kirkus Reviews — for the new Kirkus Book Blogger Network, that is. My columns will be all about children’s lit and a lot like what I do here at 7-Imp, but just … well, more economically-worded. (Yes, here I can jibber-jabber to my heart’s content, but I’ll have actual word limits there, which is always a good exercise for me.)

I’m very excited. Incidentally, this doesn’t mean an end to 7-Imp or any such thing. Just a different venue for me, I suppose. Come join me? Here’s the info all about the gig and my fellow bloggers in many categories. I’ll give a hoot and a holler (that’s a technical term, if you live in the South) when my first column goes up.

I’m excited. Nervous. Excited. And nervous.

(And That Picture over there? Gah. Clearly, I had to take a picture of myself with a cell phone camera. I’m RIGHT UP IN YOUR FACE, aren’t I? I should have just gone ahead and thrown in a “mwah!” in a speech balloon, since my noggin is just so THERE. Also, the sci-fi/fantasy blogger added “he also likes bagels” at the end of his bio. I like him already. I should have said something about coffee. I want a do-over.)

See you over at Kirkus, too, I hope. If you’re so inclined to stop by, that is. I will make note here of columns that are published over there, and it should be weekly.

And, because I am certain I don’t say it enough, thanks for visiting 7-Imp, for joining me in the conversation about children’s lit. You folks are my people.

Okay, I’ll insert a real hypno-spiral to urge you to come…

A quick reminder to those in the Southeast (or even those farther away who are willing to hop on one of those zippy-quick jet plane dealios) that there’s still time to register for The University of Tennessee’s Center for Children’s and Young Adult Literature’s one-day children’s lit conference on Saturday, April 2nd. Below is a poster for the event with all the info you need (click to enlarge), or you can go here to read more. I’ll be there, as I’ll have the honor of introducing Richard Michelson. And I will want to meet you—yes, you—if you just come along for the fun. (Right, I may not know you, but it’s a safe bet that if you read 7-Imp, you and I share an interest in children’s lit, and we can meet and gab. I’m thinkin’ serial killers aren’t making a habit of coming here for Sunday kicks, so sure, let’s chat it up.)

Jack Gantos, Rich Michelson, Steven Withrow: A good time will be had, as evidenced below. Plus, words cannot adequately express what good, smart people run the Center for Children’s and Young Adult Literature and public library over there in Knoxville. See you there, I hope.

And see you tomorrow here at 7-Imp to meet Etienne Delessert, if you’re so inclined. Until then…

{Clearly, I need some intervention sometimes when it comes to post titles.}

I don’t tend to cover news here at 7-Imp. If I had more time to blog, I think I’d have fun rounding stuff up, but for now I leave that to the experts. You want the latest in children’s lit happenings from every perspective? Betsy pretty much rocks it with her Fusenews. I also like to hit 100 Scope Notes for some buzz. Or Read Roger for the no-nonsense buzz. Jen Robinson and Scrub-a-Dub-Tub and Rasco From RIF are absolutely who you want to go hang with for literacy-related round-ups. And there are many, many more, but you get my point. I don’t do it. I go to them and others for the low-down.

This morning, however, I wanted to share a few picture-book or illustration-related links that have come to my attention lately. I can’t help but feel the need to gab about them: Read the rest of this entry �

I want to add, now that I got that Caldecott yawp’ing out of me, congratulations to all of today’s winners in all categories.

Just because I want to celebrate with more art, here’s a previously-featured illustration from Seeds of Change (Lee & Low Books, April 2010), written by Jen Cullerton Johnson and illustrated by Sonia Lynn Sadler, who was named the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent (Illustrator) Award winner. (To see more, visit this August 2010 post.)

The Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book is Gary Golio’s vibrant picture book biography of the young Jimi Hendrix, Jimi Sounds Like a Rainbow (Clarion Books, October 2010), illustrated by Javaka Steptoe. You can visit this December 2010 post for more illustrations from that title.

Okay, seriously. To the work-that-pays…

All images posted with permission of publishers and recycled from earlier posts.

I can hardly contain my excitement, you all! The ALA Youth Media Awards were just announced, and I was particularly excited about the Caldecott. Read the rest of this entry �

This festive new-year illustration comes from David Ezra Stein. If he got a certain award or honor award in a couple of weeks that has to do with the best illustrated children’s books of the year, I’d not be at all surprised. I could get behind that.

Happy 2011 to all . . .

Image copyright © 2010 by David Ezra Stein. Reproduced by permission of the illustrator.