Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

This morning over at Kirkus, I’ve got a Q&A with author/illustrator Sean Qualls, pictured here, about his latest picture book, Lullaby (For a Black Mother).

Lullaby (For a Black Mother) is a picture book adaptation of a Langston Hughes poem, originally published in 1932.

I asked Sean about what it was like to illustrate such a project, as well as what’s next for him.

Next week here at 7-Imp, I’ll follow up, as always, with some spreads from the book.

The Q&A is here.

Until tomorrow …

(Photo credit: Angela Qualls.)

If you haven’t seen Molly Idle’s newest wordless picture book—Flora and the Flamingo (Chronicle, February 2013), pictured above—and you are a true blue picture book fan, you should take a look, especially if you like to see an illustrator show you how line and movement can tell a story. (The book also includes flaps—see here for a demonstration—which really seem to serve a purpose and aren’t just there for kicks and grins.) If you don’t believe me, check out these review excerpts: Kirkus, for one, praises Idle’s “[c]ourageous use of white space” and the “flowing, musical quality of the illustrations” (“one can almost hear the 3/4 beat of a waltz in the background,” the review adds); Publishers Weekly calls it “seamless and dynamic visual storytelling”; and in her detailed review Betsy Bird called it no less than a “perfect amalgamation of wordless storytelling,” noting its “likable (or at least understandable) characters, and an artistic sensibility that will make you forget its unique formatting and remind you only of the classic picture book days of yore.” Read the rest of this entry �

“‘Wait for me!’ says Bear.”
(Click image to enlarge)

Last week at Kirkus, I chatted it up with author/illustrator Sergio Ruzzier (ooh, he’s updated his website all spiffy-like) about his two newest picture books, Bear and Bee (Hyperion, March 2013) and Eve Bunting’s Have You Seen My New Blue Socks? (Clarion, March 2013). That Q&A is here, if you’re interested, and today I follow up with some art and early sketches and dummy images from Sergio — with some words from him about how he went about building these picture book spreads. I thank him for sharing.

Let’s get to it … Read the rest of this entry �

There are certain children’s books I hold dear as a parent, ones that are closely associated with my own daughters’ preschool years. Olivier Dunrea’s children’s books are among them, particularly his international bestselling series of books for very young children, the Gossie & Friends series, books which have been translated into more than twenty-five languages. My children delighted in these stories, which began in 2002, and I never tired of reading them as a parent. The series is very near completion. When finished, “there will be a gaggle of thirteen diverse and spirited goslings,” says Olivier, who has been making children’s books since 1982 and who is pictured here with Gabe. These small, square books are full of stories sweet, but never saccharine, unassuming, and pleasingly offbeat. “Dunrea’s tales are simply wrought and rendered,” Kirkus has written, “with the ink and watercolor illustrations capturing the quaint, whimsical charm of the stories. Situated against stark white backgrounds, the bright-hued vignettes communicate an abundance of expression in a few deft strokes.”

And that right there nails it for me: the simplicity of these tales, which get right to the humor and spunk of preschoolers, all laid out with such grace and with what looks like such little effort. (Undoubtedly, it takes a great deal of work.) The clean, uncluttered artwork, the bright primary hues, the assured lines, and the engaging, entertaining story lines appeal directly to very young children. “Gossie’s rural world is reassuringly child-sized, clear, and contained,” writes School Library Journal. Dunrea’s work in these books, both the writing and the artwork, could be a case study, I dare say, for those illustrators setting out to successfully create books for preschool-aged children. Or, as Publishers Weekly once wrote, “With diminutive heroes who assert a budding independence, these tales demonstrate once again how well their creator knows his audience.” Next month will see the release of the latest in the series, Jasper & Joop (Houghton Mifflin), though pictured above is the oh-so playful and reluctant napper, Gideon. Read the rest of this entry �

Today over at Kirkus, I chat with Herman Parish. Herman is the nephew of Peggy Parish, the creator of the character Amelia Bedelia. Greenwillow/HarperCollins recently reissued Amelia’s first-ever tale, Amelia Bedelia, pictured below, published in 1963 and illustrated by Fritz Siebel. This 50th anniversary edition is filled with back matter about Parish and Siebel and the book’s creation, even including images of the book in its dummy stage. (I’ll have more on that next week here at 7-Imp).

The Q&A is here today. Enjoy.

“That’s right—Clara. She calls out from the front of the hall.
The crowd lifts her to the stage, where she shouts in Yiddish:
‘I have no further patience for a talk—I move that we go on a general strike!’
And she starts the largest walkout of women workers in U.S. history.”
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
[Friday note: This post has been edited to add some thoughts from Melissa on each picture book. “When I look at these images and think about these people, their passion, drive and determination,” Melissa told me, “I can’t believe my great good fortune to dive into their lives. I hope kids will feel the same way.”]

Last week over at Kirkus, I had a chat with author/illustrator Melissa Sweet about her latest projects. Those include Michelle Markel’s Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909, just released by Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins (a spread is pictured very tippy-top), and Jen Bryant’s A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin (also pictured above), released by Knopf in January.

That Q&A is here. You’ll see that I also asked her a bit about Susan Hood’s Spike, the Mixed-up Monster, released last Fall by Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books, since it was recently named a Highly Commended honor book for the 2013 Charlotte Zolotow Award. (Pictured left is an actual axolotl, which Melissa describes as “preposterously cute.”) And I also mentioned Alicia Potter’s Mrs. Harkness and the Panda, another 2012 title (Knopf), the fascinating picture book biography of socialite explorer Ruth Harkness, who brought back the first live panda to the United States. (Such a beautiful book, even if I gave my copy away to my eight-year-old’s classmate, who loves pandas. How could I not? I never got around in 2012 to blogging about this book, but better late then never. I mean, really. The book’s final spread, which is toward the bottom of this post, the one with a photo of Mrs. Harkness’ back and the panda? That spread was one of my 2012 favorites. I’m so happy it’s here at 7-Imp today.)

All that’s to say that today I have art from each of these books, even one of Melissa’s sketches from Spike. I thank her for sharing, and I hope you all enjoy it. Read the rest of this entry �

Some “early workings of style” from
Paul Schmid’s upcoming Oliver and his Alligator

Author/illustrator Paul Schmid has visited 7-Imp a couple times in the past, but I welcome him back today for seven questions over breakfast. Paul has three forthcoming picture books in 2013 (there could even be more), and—lucky for me—I saw some early copies of each.

Find your favorite toddler or preschooler for sharing Perfectly Percy, to be released this week by HarperCollins. (If the web links I’m seeing are correct, that one is released today, which I didn’t even plan, but I guess my timing is lucky.) This book answers the question of precisely what happens when a porcupine has a deep love of balloons. Oh yes, balloons. The sturm und drang of Percy’s predicament is both funny and sweet, while never saccharine. And his solution? Just right. As with many of his previous books, Paul delivers here with soft pastels, endearing characters, and confident line work in a story that will resonate with very young children.

Following Percy’s tale this year will be Randall de Sève’s Peanut & Fifi Have A Ball, also aimed at the youngest of picture book listeners and to be released this April from Dial. This well-crafted tale nails a particular predicament of siblings, and Paul talks a bit below about his thoughts behind his illustration choices. Read the rest of this entry �

 
See that video? Those are outtakes from my attempt with author/illustrator Stephen Savage (pictured left with Trinka in his studio) to do a video interview. He had the great idea of doing a breakfast interview with video or iPhone cameras—just me and him, back and forth—but you can see how well that went. At least we had fun with finger puppets and Play-Doh.

We eventually gave up the idea of a video chat, but I found all our old videos last night, all our failed attempts, and created this, not really knowing what I was doing at all with the movie-making software, as you can tell by the absence of good things like music and smooth transitions. (When our back-and-forth questions and answers were done, had we actually pulled it off, Stephen—who knows what he’s doing with video—was to create the video interview.) The choppy, clumsy nature of what I made above shows you one of the reasons we never pulled it off. One day. One day, I say, I’ll learn all about makin’ movies. Watch your back, Scorsese.

But, hey, it was really fun chatting with him face-to-face for a while there. Plus, as a friend said, it’s impressive how we get nothing accomplished in the nearly four-minutes of footage. Also, it’s seriously fun to witness Stephen’s changing hairstyles here.

Stephen’s here this morning instead for the old-fashioned, regular breakfast interview at the 7-Imp salon. His timing is good, given that he has a new illustrated title out. Lauren Thompson’s Polar Bear Morning was just released by Scholastic this month, and it’s the follow-up to 2004’s Polar Bear Night (also by Lauren), which was one of the New York Times’ Best Illustrated Books of the Year. Polar Bear Morning has already been met with a starred review from Kirkus, who praises its “clever composition,” noting that the “deceptive simplicity of the playful graphic design masks great sophistication.” Indeed. What they said.

It’s good to have Stephen here, given that at the release of 2011’s Where’s Walrus? (Scholastic), which he both wrote and illustrated, I was hankerin’ for him to visit over coffee. (Turns out that simply “coffee” is his breakfast-of-choice, too.) If somehow you missed this acclaimed book in 2011 … well, there are some spreads from it featured below. It’s a visually delightful, “incongruously silly” (The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books) keeper. Last year’s Little Tug (Neal Porter/Roaring Brook) was also a visual treat; as you can see with the art he shares in today’s interview, Stephen has a background in editorial illustration, and his crisp, bold artwork is well-suited to the big, round eyes of the youngest of readers.

See what I mean? See these beautiful spreads from Polar Bear Morning, rendered via linoleum block printing? Read the rest of this entry �

It’s time to look back, dear Imps, on what happened at 7-Imp during 2012 and look at who graced the site with their presence—all with my buddy here, Alfred—simply because I am a hopeless nerd, who enjoys recaps. As I’ve said during the past couple of years, including during 2011’s recap, this is fun to me. Also, it satisfies the tremendous picture book junkie in me.

Since 7-Imp is devoted to contemporary illustration—with a particular focus on picture books—these end-of-year recaps can be an awful lot like looking back at the state of picture books during a given year, even though I certainly didn’t have the time to cover every book I wanted to discuss. I’m not promising any kind of analysis or commentary here on picture book-dom in 2012, by any means. I just like to kick back and see who has visited and what insightful things they had to say, as well as look at some wonderful illustrations. Besides, I don’t consider 7-Imp a review blog. There are lots of other blogs who are very good at that. As I write at this page of the site, I like to think of it as a sort of literary salon where authors and illustrators stop by, after getting a cup of cyber-coffee, to share their craft — and where illustrators wake us up with art.

All of that is also one way of saying, as I did last year: This long post is good for browsing, especially if you like to see picture book art.

And, because I occasionally like to give the 7-Imp platform over to student illustrators or up-and-coming illustrators, you’ll see more experienced authors and illustrators, even the award-winning ones, sharing space here with the illustrators of the future … future … future. [Say that with an echo.] I think it’s a) important to give newbies the spotlight and b) it’s fun, too.

If I take a look at what was new to 7-Imp in 2012—before we look at who visited, that is, and all kinds of artwork—I run the risk of actually sounding organized, which I’m not. Or as if I’m someone who blogs 40 hours a week, which I’m also not. Since blogging comes after my children, the work-that-pays, and other things that allow me to have a life, I’m kind of scattered, have no real 7-Imp Action Plans, and you should just see my system of organization (chicken-scratch-scrawled Post-it notes stuck all over my very messy desk).

(This is precisely what I said last year, but it bears repeating. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, that is Frank Viva’s rodent up above from September’s A Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse. I rather covet his winter hat there.)

But … let me give this a shot anyway, an attempt to ponder what was new in 2012: Read the rest of this entry �

Poor Santa. Looks like he’s having a rough time.

That illustration comes from Richard Curtis’ The Empty Stocking, illustrated by Rebecca Cobb, who is visiting for breakfast this morning. “My favourite breakfast,” she told me, “is a banana and some toast, and I don’t like tea or coffee, but I do like the comforting idea of a warm drink, so I always drink hot water instead.” I gotta have my coffee, but I like the way she thinks. Comforting, indeed. I’m setting out some hot water for her and my own coffee mug.

If Rebecca’s name isn’t familiar to you, that’s because she lives and works in the UK. But you all know I like to see what illustrators across the big, wide pond are doing.

Rebecca has both written and illustrated some of her own titles and has also collaborated with authors such as Helen Dunmore and UK Children’s Laureate Julia Donaldson. Rebecca’s Missing Mummy, a picture book about the death of a young boy’s mother, was shortlisted for the 2012 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal.

I thank her for visiting this morning and sharing her art. Let’s get right to it.

Read the rest of this entry �