Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

 
One of my favorite picture books of 2016 thus far is Lane Smith’s There Is a Tribe of Kids (Roaring Brook, May 2016). I’ve got a review of it over at BookPage. That is here.

Today, Lane shares some early studies and sketches, as well as some final art from the book.

Enjoy!

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Several weeks ago at Kirkus, I wrote here about Brianne Farley’s new picture book, Secret Tree Fort, published by Candlewick just last month. When I write about picture books over at Kirkus, I always like to follow up with art about a week later here at 7-Imp. I can’t write about picture books without also sharing art; it’s a compulsion. But then I got to talking to Brianne, pictured above in her home state of Michigan, about visiting for a full-on breakfast interview, instead of just sharing a few spreads. And here we are today: She’s joining me for a cyber-breakfast — her choice, which is a small cup of strong coffee, yogurt, and granola with fruit. “Or sometimes Grape-Nuts instead of granola,” she told me. “I’m 100 years old.” I’m down with that. I’ll be 100 years old with her. Grape-Nuts it is.

The guy pictured just above here on the left, who makes me laugh, is from Secret Tree Fort. I’d tell you all about how entertaining that book is, but you can also just visit the aforementioned Kirkus link, where I went on about it. And I had a lot of fun with this interview. I like seeing Brianne’s art and can’t wait to see what she does next. She also makes me laugh, and I hope one day we have a very real, non-cyber breakfast in person.

Should I say something overreaching here about how you should join me in this treehouse of an interview? Climb up the ladder and I’ve got the s’mores inside? Nah, let’s just get right to it. Enjoy ALL THE ART!

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I joined a few other children’s lit folks over at Slate Magazine to discuss children’s books that celebrate motherhood. Click on the image above to see the gallery of titles.

Until tomorrow …

 
It’s the first Sunday of the month, which means that here in 7-Imp Land I take a look at the work of an up-and-coming illustrator. Today, instead of a student, I’ve got a debut author-illustrator. David Litchfield’s new book, The Bear and the Piano (Clarion), was evidently inspired (in part) by the White Stripes’ song “Little Room.” It was published in the U.K. last year but arrived on U.S. shelves at the beginning of this month.

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This morning over at Kirkus, I write about three new engaging picture books for the preschool set. That is here.

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Last week, I wrote here about Bethan Woollvin’s Little Red (Peachtree, April 2016), and I’m following up today with some spreads from the book.

Enjoy!

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“The renewed interest in work I did so long ago is both wonderful and disconcerting; it brings back a different person, a young artist juggling a career and motherhood, as passionately immersed in visual expression as I later became in sound production.”

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Over at Kirkus today, I talk to author-illustrator Helen Borten, pictured here, who left children’s literature in the early 1970s to launch an award-winning career in broadcast journalism and producing.

Thanks to Flying Eye Books, her picture books will be reprinted, the first in a series, next month.

That chat is here.

Until tomorrow …

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Photo of Helen Borten used by permission of Flying Eye Books.

 

“In the heart of a gray city, there lived a girl who loved to doodle, draw, color, and paint. Every time she saw a blank piece of paper, Mira thought to herself, Hmm, maybe . . . And because of this, her room was filled with color and
her heart was filled with joy.”
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
I’m taking a moment today to share some artwork from F. Isabel Campoy’s and Theresa Howell’s Maybe Something Beautiful: How Art Transformed a Neighborhood (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, April 2016). The book is illustrated by award-winning artist Rafael López, but he is also the subject of the story. Based on a true story, it’s the tale of a girl, named Mira, who lights up a gray city with color after she shares her art with community members. Handing out art to everyone she passes, her city becomes “less gray—but not much.” But the next day she meets a man with “a pocket full of paintbrushes,” who sees “[m]aybe . . . something beautiful.” Mira joins him to paint murals in the city, and eventually nearly the entire town joins in to help and bring the town to life with color, art, and creativity.

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(Click to enlarge)

 
I’ve got a tiny peek today inside Kaori Takahashi’s Knock! Knock!, published by Tara Books this month and with text from Gita Wolf. Tiny, as in just two little illustrations, but if you want more information, you can head over to my BookPage review of the book. As you’ll read there, this is a story that quite literally unfolds (clear some space when you read it) to tell the story of a young girl in search of her toy bear.

That review is here.

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— From Bob Raczka’s Wet Cement
(Click to enlarge)

 

— From What Does It Mean to Be an Entrepreneur?


 
Today over at Kirkus, I write about Bethan Woollvin’s debut picture book, Little Red (Peachtree, April 2016). That is here, and next week I’ll have some art from it here at 7-Imp.

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Last week at Kirkus, I talked here to Emma D. Dryden, and I wrote here about Bob Raczka’s new poetry collection. In this follow-up post today, I have some images from Bob’s Wet Cement: A Mix of Concrete Poems (Roaring Brook, March 2016), and some of Ken Min’s illustrations from Rana DiOrio’s and Emma’s What Does It Mean to Be an Entrepreneur? (Little Pickle Press, January 2016).

Until Sunday …

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Over at BookPage, I’ve got a review of Paris Up, Up and Away (Thames & Hudson, April 2016) from French illustrator and paper and textile designer Hélène Druvert.

That is here. (Or you can just click on the snippet above.)

Until tomorrow …