Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Early drawings
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Title page art for Roar Like a Dandelion

 
Sergio Ruzzier’s newest book is a special one. Granted, I always like to see what he’s up to in the world of picture books, but Roar Like a Dandelion (Harper, October 2019) is a text from the legendary author Ruth Krauss, who penned over 30 books for children and died in 1993. This is a text that hasn’t seen the light of day until now. (You can read more about that here.) As scholar and author Philip Nel wrote in this post that I highly recommend you read: “For the first time in 32 years, there is a new book by Ruth Krauss!” That exclamation mark is warranted.

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“Mindy’s FAVORITELEVISION / sits upon a ladder. /
She watches the SILLIESTUPIDESTUFF — / it doesn’t seem to matter.”

 
Today, I’ve a visit from poet and illustrator Calef Brown, who talks about his latest book, Up Verses Down: Poems, Paintings, and Serious Nonsense (Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt, June 2019), as well as the book that came before it in 2015 — Hypnotize a Tiger: Poems About Just About Everything. He discusses why he sees them as companion books; what they have to do with The Tao of Physics and miniature paintings; and how Twitter can spawn a poem. Or two.

I always like to see what Calef, the “inveterate punster” (as Kirkus has called him), is up to. I thank him for visiting today.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.)

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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!

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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.

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“‘Maybe it’s weird for you, but not for me. …'”

 
Over at Kirkus today, it’s moths and natural selection and adaptation and gorgeous art.

That is here.

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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.

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