Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Roll out the red carpet: Jon Scieszka is here—wait! That’s right. He’s no longer the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. That title has been handed to the honorable Katherine Paterson. But Jon, you may remember, was the inaugural ambassador, appointed such in 2008 by the Library of Congress. And I can’t help but still envision him with that lovely, stylish sash.

It’s a pleasure to have the acclaimed author and the very funny Jon visit again. (Surely, you all don’t need an introduction? If so, how about I do it simply this way: The True Story of the Three Little Pigs; The Time Warp Trio series; The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Fairy Tales, which got some Caldecott love; and Trucktown. ‘Nough said?) He’s here to talk about his new science fiction book/multimedia project, Spaceheadz, written with Francesco Sedita, but while I have him here, I’m also taking the opportunity to ask him about how Guys Read is faring, about the great and abiding Stinky himself, whether or not we’ll ever be treated to more stories with this dynamic duo, and a few other things. And several folks stopped by to contribute art, since I seem to be physically incapable of doing posts sans illustrations.

First off, Spaceheadz, since you may be scratching your head and thinking, SpaceWHAT? What in the what the?… Well, here’s how it all begins (the cover and interior artwork for the book created by Shane Prigmore):

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I love this post, yet I can’t take credit for the idea.

You all remember 2008’s Hush, Little Dragon (Abrams), written by Boni Ashburn and illustrated by Kelly Murphy, yes? I loved this delightfully subversive, subtly ghoulish little wonder, what the San Francisco Chronicle called “Sweeney Todd for the sandbox set” (it brought “a welcome tartness to mother love,” wrote the Washington Post), in which a mama dragon and her wee dragon settle down for the night (set to the tune of Hush, Little Baby), pondering which of the villagers in their medieval home they will snack upon in the way of a bed-time treat.

Well, Boni has written a sequel, released by Abrams this March, in which we visit the same dragons and village, and this time it’s set to the tune of Over in the Meadow, making this one a counting book, as well. Over at the Castle brings Boni and Kelly together again. And when I asked Boni about visiting 7-Imp to talk about the new title, she had a pretty kickin’ idea, and that would be to ask three other folks the same four questions she answered, in order to bring us unique perspectives on the process of picture-book-making: the illustrator, Kelly Murphy (who rendered this title in acrylic, oil, and gel medium); the editor, Maggie Lehrman; and the art director/book designer, Chad W. Beckerman. I love the idea so much I want to build a wayback machine and actually go to the prom, taking the idea as my date. (Shut up! No, I didn’t go. My contrarian friends and I filmed a horror-movie spoof that night instead, but I digress.) I even think it’d be fun to consider doing similar posts in the future. Kudos to Boni for the idea!

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I feature a lot of illustrators here at 7-Imp, but I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve given something like a full-length interview to an illustrator like Hiroe Nakata, visiting this morning (and pictured here with her young daughter), who creates illustrations almost exclusively for preschoolers. To be sure, she’s illustrated books for older readers, too, but for bright, inviting, sunny art work geared towards the very young, Hiroe won’t let you down.

Publishers Weekly once described Hiroe’s watercolors as “ebullient,” and that pretty much covers it. Title after title, her light-infused watercolors, typically depicting warm, loving families at play, engage the youngest of child readers — or listeners. Hiroe’s illustrated titles are great choices for intimate lap-time reads with wee children.

I invited Hiroe for a breakfast chat to find out how she got started, where she’s been, and what she’s up to now. Her breakfast-of-choice is Eggs Benedict with fries (mmm, I wholeheartedly endorse that), and I’ll bring the strong coffee. I thank her kindly for stopping by.

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Gianna Marino, my 7-Imp visitor this morning, debuted her picture-book work in 2005 in a book Kirkus called a “lively, engaging debut,” Zoopa: An Animal Alphabet (Chronicle Books 2005). Just when you think you’d seen every approach to alphabet books, along came Gianna with a fresh one in this wordless picture book, featuring a bowl of alphabet soup and a colorful menagerie of creatures surrounding it. In Spring of this year, Gianna followed the title up with One Too Many: A Seek & Find Counting Book, also released by Chronicle Books. This one features one flea, bouncing between farm animals, its path traced in a thin silver arc. Kirkus wrote, “Marino’s illlustrations are marvelously striking, positioning animals that are largely black and white, with a bit of sepia, against blue sky (that modulates to pink and then to night) and sandy barnyard,” adding that it’s “a rare counting book with wide appeal.” This nearly wordless title definitely holds some treasures for the eager, observant child reader.

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Almost exactly one year ago, when Mac Barnett and Adam Rex visited the blog, Mac mentioned a book published in 1979, I believe it was—But No Elephants, written and illustrated by Jerry Smath—which Mac said he’d “probably read 4,000 times.” I noticed in the comments that, almost one year later, Smath himself stopped by the post to type:

“Mac,

Thanks for your kind words … now please see some of my other books, and my new illustrations in Lola: A Shrew Story.

Jerry Smath”

Well, it’s taken me a while, but I’ve finally got some of those illustrations to show today, and that’s because the author of that picture book, Ellen Weiss—who has written over 150 children’s titles—is here this morning to talk a bit about not only that book, but another of her new titles, also released this Spring, as well as to discuss what’s next for her. Read the rest of this entry �

Pictured here is the wee baby version of author/illustrator Amy Schwartz. I’m immensely pleased that the grown-up Amy is visiting 7-Imp today, as I’ve been a long-time fan of her picture books and the understated charm and humor of her stories and illustrations. Last November, I wrote a sort of Amy-Schwartz Appreciation one Sunday here at the blog. I’ve said even before that here at 7-Imp that I love the seeming simplicity of both her writing and illustrations, but there’s really a lot going on, including an undeniably strong child-centeredness that, in my experience, makes her books bonafide Kid Magnets. Amy can perfectly capture the details of a child’s world, what they truly care to pay attention to. The book best exemplifying this would be the wonderful What James Likes Best from 2003, which Amy discusses below, though it’s really hard to pick that “best.” So many of her titles perfectly capture the details to which young children attend.

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Some of you may remember around this time last year when author/illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka stopped by to talk about how Lunch Lady, his highly-acclaimed graphic novel series for middle-grade readers, came to be. (And I mean “highly-acclaimed,” as in 2009’s Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute was nominated for a 2010 Eisner Award under the category of “Best Publication for Kids.” Woot!)

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Things are comin’ up very Dan-Santat this week at 7-Imp. You may have seen Tuesday’s post in which Dan shared some of the interior illustrations he created for Andrea Beaty’s middle-grade novel, Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies. This morning, Dan’s sharing a bit more art from that title today, as well as sharing some illustrations from another of his illustrated titles from 2010, Mac Barnett’s newest picture book, which Kirkus calls a “must-have,” Oh No!: (Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World), released by Hyperion this month.

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I’m so pleased to be having some cyber-coffee this morning with author and blogger Andrea Beaty, who is being hypnotized here by murderous galaxy-hopping bunnies, as depicted by illustrator Dan Santat. I’m a super-big fan of Andrea’s picture books, in particular, many of which I’ve covered here previously at 7-Imp, including 2006’s When Giants Come to Play, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes; 2007’s Iggy Peck: Architect, illustrated by David Roberts; 2008’s Doctor Ted, followed by last year’s Firefighter Ted, both illustrated by Pascal Lemaitre; and last year’s Hush, Baby Ghostling, also illustrated by Lemaitre.

But Andrea’s written above and beyond picture books, too. She’s written for middle-grade readers as well. Here’s my 2008 review of Andrea’s Cicada Summer, a beautiful, poignant read. And she’s back this year with a rollickin’ good read for late-elementary/middle-grade readers, released by Amulet Books last month. It’s called Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies, and it’s illustrated by the one and only aforementioned Dan Santat (who might show up again here later this week, so things will be comin’ up very Santat here at 7-Imp, which is an altogether good thing). I love this book, which Booklist aptly describes as a “lighthearted, clever send-up of zany horror conventions” and Publishers Weekly as a “screwy, nonsensical thriller,” as well as a “wholly fun read.”

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I guess it’s been a while since I’ve done one of my illustrator breakfast interviews, but here I am, welcoming illustrator A. G. Ford to the breakfast table this morning. It wasn’t that long ago that I featured some art from his most recent illustrated title, Goal! (Candlewick, April 2010), written by Mina Javaherbin. At that time, I invited A. G. to stop by for an interview, and here it is today. I have to say that it was a pleasure to format this interview and get to know a bit better all the styles in which A. G. has worked.

And this might be a 7-Imp first: He goes so far as to share his favorite breakfast recipe with us: “Because I work out often in the mornings,” he told me, “my breakfast…usually consists of a protein shake and a bagel with cream cheese. My shake is actually quite tasty. Here is the recipe, if you would like to try:

1 cup milk
Half of a banana
1 tablespoon of peanut butter
1 scoop of chocolate protein powder (or Nestle chocolate-flavored powder)
2/3 cup of ice cubes

Blend and drink! It’s faaaaaannnntastic!”

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