Thursday, October 17th, 2019
It’s a pleasure to have a visit today from internationally acclaimed author-illustrator Peter Sís, whose work is currently on exhibit at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.
Thursday, October 10th, 2019
Author-illustrator Elisha Cooper visits 7-Imp today to talk about the making of the case for his newest picture book, River (Orchard, October 2019). The final case is pictured above. I love love love what he shares below and particularly like that he focuses (very specifically) on the thought and care that goes into the making of a picture book cover.
Tuesday, October 8th, 2019
Author-illustrator Matt Forsythe visits today to share some early images from his newest picture book, Pokko and the Drum (Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster, October 2019) — his first book as both author and illustrator. (AND with a fabulous opening line: “The biggest mistake Pokko’s parents ever made was giving her a drum.”) I’ve also got some final spreads to share from this droll and beautiful book, one that I love so much and one that looks a lot like … well, like Arnold Lobel meets the Over the Garden Wall universe in a bar and buys it a drink.
Monday, September 30th, 2019
Early next year, Denene Millner’s imprint at Simon & Schuster will publish Alice Faye Duncan’s Just Like a Mama, a picture book about a young girl (Carol Olivia Clementine) whose caretaker (Mama Rose) is someone, as the book description notes, whose blood is not her blood — but who loves the girl as fiercely and lovingly as a biological mother.
The book’s illustrator is Charnelle Pinkney Barlow, a debut artist. If her middle name sounds a wee bit familiar, well … she explains that below. Charnelle visits 7-Imp today to share some of her vivid artwork and to talk a bit about her work. I thank her for visiting.
Wednesday, September 11th, 2019
Author and comics artist Lucy Knisley has written (and drawn) candidly about many stages of her life — her childhood as the daughter of a chef and gourmet (Relish, published in 2012); her trip abroad to Europe/Scandinavia as a single woman (An Age of License: A Travelogue, published in 2014); her marriage to her partner (Something New: Tales From a Makeshift Bride, published in 2016); and more. And I’m there, so totally there, for these comics memoirs; I hope she continues to document every stage of her life. (As someone there now myself, I’ll be eager to read her take on middle age’hood.)
Friday, August 30th, 2019
Over at Kirkus today, I’ve got a chat with author-illustrator Cece Bell about her new Chick and Brain beginning reader series. The first book, on shelves next week, is called Smell My Foot!, which is a very funny book. Expect howls of laughter from the beginning readers you know.
If you want to read our chat, you can head here.
Below, I have some early sketches from Cece, as well as some final art (and other fun stuff). I thank her for sharing!
Sunday, August 25th, 2019
This past week, Tennessee’s Chapter 16 posted a Q&A I did with author Derrick Barnes, who will be at Nashville’s Southern Festival of Books this October. He talks to me about his newest picture book — The King of Kindergarten (Nancy Paulsen Books, July 2019), illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton — as well as the success of last year’s award-winning Crown. You can click on the image above to head to our chat.
Friday, June 7th, 2019
That is here.
Last week, I wrote here about K-Fai Steele’s first book as both author and illustrator — A Normal Pig (Balzer + Bray, June 2019). Today, K-Fai talks a bit about the book, shares some early sketches (and a couple of deleted scenes), and shares some final art from the book. I thank her for visiting.
Wednesday, April 17th, 2019
Over at Tennessee’s Chapter 16, I have a chat with author Kerry Madden-Lunsford, whose new picture book is called Ernestine’s Milky Way (Schwartz & Wade, March 2019) and is illustrated by Emily Sutton. You can give me a picture book set in the Great Smoky Mountains any day.
The interview is over here at the wonderful Chapter 16 site, and here at 7-Imp today I have some of Emily’s spreads from the book.
Enjoy!
Thursday, March 21st, 2019
Over at Tennessee’s own Chapter 16 today, I’ve got a Q&A with author Shauna LaVoy Reynolds about her debut picture book, Poetree (Dial, March 2019), illustrated by Shahrzad Maydani.
That Q&A is here, and here today at 7-Imp are some spreads from the book.
Enjoy!
