Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

“The various bad odors, smells, and aromas that occasionally befoul your home
are almost always the work of the Stinkers.”
(Click image to enlarge and see spread in its entirety)

 
Hmm … Can’t find my mug. Could be a little household thief.

Last week at Kirkus, I chatted with William Joyce about his newest picture book, The Mischievians (Atheneum, October 2013). That is here, and today I’ve got a bit of art from the book.

Since this book is a catalog of everyday “things that make mischief, make mayhem, [and] make noise” (think: lost homework, missing keys, that kind of thing), Joyce has been inviting children on his recent book tour to create their own dastardly creatures of mayhem. He shared a few of those with me today (from Hunter’s Creek Elementary in Houston, Texas), and they are posted here as well. Here’s one, The Eye-Stealer. He—you guessed it—steals eyeballs (AIEE!), and he was discovered by a young scientist, named Blake. Keep your eyes peeled for The Eye-Stealer, I say.

 
Enjoy the rest. (There’s a bit more art from the book below, as well as three more child-created Mischievians.) Read the rest of this entry �

“Mahalia and the crowd of thousands cheered. The people who had come to hear Martin on that day were moved to more than a single amen. It was AMEN TIMES TEN!”

 
I love this spread so much. It floors me. It’s one of my favorite picture book illustrations from this year. The color! The energy! The life and joy in it …

This is from Andrea Davis Pinkney’s Martin & Mahalia: His Words, Her Song, illustrated by Brian Pinkney (Little, Brown, July 2013).

Last week, I chatted at Kirkus with Andrea about this collaboration, as well as a couple of other topics. That is here. Below is some more art from the book.

Enjoy. Read the rest of this entry �

Pictured above is Matt Phelan’s rendition of author/illustrator Greg Pizzoli, who’s visiting me for breakfast today (and whose human version is pictured left). “I turned 30 in January,” Greg told me, “and my wife had some friends and family draw portraits of me for a book she made. It was called ’30 Portraits of Greg.'” So, Greg didn’t send all of those portraits for our chat this morning, but he did send some. Since they’re too fun to pass up, I’m including a few more below, scattered hither and thither.

Greg saw his picture book debut this year (more below on how he took that road to publication). The Watermelon Seed was released by Disney-Hyperion in May, and it tells the story of one very worrisome crocodile dealing with what the Publishers Weekly review called a “[c]lassic kid fear.” (This is an “expert debut,” they also noted.) He’s swallowed a seed, and anxiety-ridden children the world over will find humor in the crocodile’s fraught facial expressions. (Vines could grow out of his ears after all.) Using bright colors, screenprints, and hand lettering, Pizzoli lays out a smartly-designed book (co-designed with Joann Hill), which was met with positive reviews all-around.

When I asked Greg about breakfast, he told me that coffee is always first. Ah. An illustrator after my own heart. “The tofu scramble with a side of potatoes and a biscuit from Sam’s Morning Glory is my favorite breakfast in Philly,” he added. “They make their own ketchup.” I’ll get the coffee brewing, and then maybe we can think about tofu scrambles for later.

I thank him for visiting today, sharing lots of artwork, and letting us know what is next for him.

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“…Our publishing community needs more people of color working in publishing houses at all levels and in all departments to 1) hire people of color; 2) mentor and retain those people; 3) acquire books; 4) get behind books and nurture the talent that creates them so they’re encouraged to keep writing and illustrating. It’s that simple. But it’s not easy.”

* * *

This morning over at Kirkus, I chat with Andrea Davis Pinkney about her research for Martin & Mahalia, collaborating with Brian, the state of so-called multicultural books, and more. That link is here.

For those who want to see some art from this, her newest picture book, there’s a beautiful spread from Brian over at the column this morning, and next week here at 7-Imp, I’ll have some more of his spreads from this book.

Until tomorrow …

From “Sleep Charm”: “This bed is the perfect bed. / Sink into its healing /
cloud-softness, / cheek against cool pillow-white. /
Forget anything you ever wanted, / hoped, or feared. …”

 
Last week, I chatted here at Kirkus with author and poet Joyce Sidman about her newest poetry collection, What the Heart Knows: Chants, Charms & Blessings (Houghton Mifflin), to be released in early October. The book is illustrated by two-time Caldecott Honor recipient Pamela Zagarenski.

Today here at 7-Imp, I’ve got two spreads from the book (including the poems), as well as some details from some of Pamela’s paintings. I thank Pamela for sharing them.

Also below is one question for Joyce I didn’t have room for in last week’s column, as well as a trailer for the book, which features even more of Pamela’s artwork.

*[This post’s title comes from “Song of Bravery,” one of my favorite poems in the collection: “…But here I go— / bones clicking quietly together, / blood flowing dutifully / from heart to hands and back again— / here I go, stepping out / through the door / of my own shadow: / into the glare of the arena / to face the lions.”]

Enjoy. Read the rest of this entry �

It’s a pleasure to welcome illustrator John Parra to 7-Imp this morning. Parra’s bright folk-art-esque illustrations, rendered via acrylics on wood and often reflecting Mexican heritage and culture, have appeared in a handful of picture books since 2005, all listed below. This year readers saw his artwork in Roseanne Greenfield Thong’s Round is a Tortilla, released by Chronicle Books in March.

“At home,” John tells me, “my breakfast-of-choice is Honey Bunches of Oats cereal with Bustelo coffee in the morning. On the weekends my wife, Maria, makes great eggs and pancakes. When I’m visiting family in San Diego, a good bowl of pesole soup in the morning will do wonders, but the best breakfast I ever had was three or four years ago at a diner in Pomona, California. A good friend, Mark, took my wife and me to it. We all ordered the recommended egg and shrimp omelet that was filled with delicious cheese, avocado and salsa. It sounds simple but was truly sublime to taste.”

Do I get to pick? I would love to try the pesole soup, so we’ll have the cyber-soup for this cyber-breakfast. (But also the Bustelo coffee! Must have the coffee.)

Let’s get right to it, ’cause John shares lots of art this morning.

I thank him for visiting.

Read the rest of this entry �

I promise I have a few words to say, but first I want to show you eight different illustrations (before I show you even more art after I say my few words).

Here goes:

“Look! A RAINBOW!!!”
— Illustration from Liniers’ The Big Wet Balloon

“Women whisper on the corner, veiled head to toe
in malafa, color of lime and mango.
More than all the gold on a bride’s crown,
you want a malafa so you can be a lady too.”
— From Kelly Cunnane’s Deep in the Sahara, illustrated by Hoda Hadadi
(Click to enlarge)

Illustration from Ame Dyckman’s Tea Party Rules, illustrated by K. G. Campbell

Spread (without the text) from Don Brown’s The Great American Dust Bowl:
“Storms could blow for days and be immediately followed by another and another, making for unrelenting blows for weeks on end. Raging, grit-filled winds shattered windows and scoured the paint off houses and cars. Trains derailed.
Telephone poles were knocked to the ground.”
(Click to enlarge spread)

From McSweeney’s The Goods: Volume 1
(Click to enlarge)

“He swayed, he frowned, he tilted forward …”
— From Bob Graham’s The Silver Button
(Click to enlarge spread slightly)

“The monkey felt himself being squeezed very tightly. It was his first hug.
‘I’m going to call you Rico!’ said the boy.
Rico hugged the boy back and put his head on the boy’s shoulder.”
Illustration from Fiona Rempt’s Rico the Brave Sock Monkey,
illustrated by Noëlle Smit

Spread (without the text) from Sue Fliess’ Robots, Robots Everywhere!,
illustrated by Bob Staake:
“Robots spin and race and run. / Robots, robots—I want one!”
(Click to enlarge spread)

Why am I showing you all these today?

Last week at Kirkus, I wrote about Seven Lovely Fall 2013 Picture Book Surprises. That’s ’cause my eyes were big, and I didn’t want to write about just one book. That link is here, and today I have art (more below) from each book. Authors Kelly Cunnane and Ame Dyckman also share a few words about their picture books.

[IMPORTANT NOTE: The colors are a bit off in the illustrations from Rico the Brave Sock Monkey. They are translating a bit too brightly here on the computer screen. If I can somehow fix that later, I will do so.]

Enjoy! Read the rest of this entry �

“The more I learned about how the machines worked, the more interesting they became to me—in the same way that a puzzle can become more interesting as you begin to solve it. And the more I thought about and read about and then saw the landscape through which the transcontinental line traveled, the more amazed I became. Some of that landscape is beautiful and frightening in its openness, emptiness, grandeur. I remember cruising along state Route 233 in Nevada, absolutely alone, and imagining what it would have been like to be out there, building that line in 1869.”

That’s Brian Floca, pictured here, on his beautiful new picture book, Locomotive (Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books, September 2013). Today over at Kirkus, we talk about his research. That link is here.

* * * * * * *

Photo of Brian Floca used with permission of the publisher.

(Click to enlarge)

Last week at Kirkus, I wrote here about Mordicai Gerstein’s newest picture book, The First Drawing, a book that is magical in more ways than one.

Mordicai is visiting this morning to chat a bit about this book, as well as share some early sketches—I really love the sketch above, opening this post—and to provide a brief peek at the picture book he released earlier this year (April), How to Bicycle to the Moon to Plant Sunflowers.

I thank him for stopping by. Let’s get to it.

* * *

Jules: I wrote in my column that I think this is such a wonderful topic for a picture book. Can you talk about how this premise came to you, the genesis of this particular story?

Read the rest of this entry �

Author/illustrator Kristi Valiant is visiting this morning to elaborate on the point she makes in the above sketch. I love that. Who ever said making a picture book was quick or easy?

Valiant’s newest picture book, which she both wrote and illustrated, is called Penguin Cha-Cha (Random House, August 2013). The Kirkus review calls it a “humorous romp,” while School Library Journal describes it as a “sweet zoo fantasy” and a great one-on-one read, this lively story of a group of dancing penguins at the zoo and one very determined girl, who has caught them in the act.

Let’s get right to Kristi and the art and sketches she’s shared today. I thank her for visiting.

Read the rest of this entry �