Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

“‘Let’s find gold,’ said Anna.
‘That would be dangerous and difficult,’ said Crocodile.
‘Good!’ said Anna. ‘Let’s go!'”
— From How to Find Gold

 

“This is Badger. And this is Tiger.
They really are best friends.”
— From Tiger and Badger
(Click to enlarge spread)

 

“They know their A-B-Cs and 1-2-3s. . . .”
— From Bunny Dreams
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
Today at Kirkus, I’ve got some thoughts on Jo Ellen Bogart’s beautiful The White Cat and the Monk (Groundwood, March 2016), illustrated by Sydney Smith. That is here today.

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Last week, I wrote here about three picture books — Viviane Schwarz’s How to Find Gold (Candlewick, March 2016); Emily Jenkins’ Tiger and Badger, illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay (Candlewick, February 2016); and Peter McCarty’s Bunny Dreams (Henry Holt, January 2016). Below is a bit more art from each one.

(Sorry about the gutter lines in the McCarty art. Just pretend it’s not there!)

Enjoy!

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“The theater lights dim. The music begins. The curtain rises. The dancers glide onstage. Gracefully they bend, and swirl, and leap. Emma watches every move.
She can feel every lift of the dancers’ arms, every step and pause.”
(Click each to enlarge)

 
Last week, I chatted with author-illustrator Barbara McClintock over at Kirkus about her newest picture book, Emma and Julia Love Ballet (Scholastic, February 2016). That Q&A is here, and today Barbara visits to share some art and research images.

Enjoy!

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“… Yes, they said, that youngster Roosevelt is going to do big stuff—
exactly like his famous, older cousin, President Ted.”
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
Illustrator Larry Day is in 7-Imp Land today to talk about creating the artwork for Suzanne Tripp Jurmain’s new picture book (Dial, January 2016), Nice Work, Franklin!. The book—which kicks off the story of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency by emphasizing how much he idolized his cousin, President Theodore Roosevelt—is a lively account of FDR’s challenges and successes as President. Jurmain brings readers an accessible text filled with engaging anecdotes about FDR’s life.

Larry, who has illustrated many books about American history, talks here today about the artwork, what a Wolff pencil is, and why he likes illustrating nonfiction in general.

Enjoy!

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“Don’t I look like a living painting? …”
(Click to enlarge and read text)

 
Next month will see the U.S. publication of a book called Strange Trees: And the Stories Behind Them, written by Bernadette Pourquié and illustrated by Cécile Gambini (Princeton Architectural Press). It was a book first published in France, evidently the winner of the Prix Versailles Lire Au Jardin. The Kirkus review calls it a “charmingly illustrated but odd French import.”

The book features sixteen real but unusual trees, who speak directly to the reader in a first-person voice. There’s the cocoa tree, which Pourquié calls the “Chocolate Tree” and gives you cocoa paste; the Davidia or “Ghost Tree” (with its white leaves that “look like lightweight white sheets floating on the breeze”), pictured below; the multicolored Mindanao Gum Tree or “Rainbow Tree,” pictured above; and more. Each tree “speaks” in a chatty, accessible voice and is accompanied on the right side of each page by a full-page illustration. (I’ve got some of them featured below, but please do click on each one to see the text, as well as the ornate borders of each spread.)

The book lacks sources or any sort of backmatter — and, if you’re interested to read it, the full Kirkus review is here. (It’s the only professional review I could find and, I think, captures the book well.) I wanted to share a bit of art from the book today; they are vividly illustrated paintings, some with a magical quality all their own.

Enjoy.

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“soon we will go to the beach / where we will swim /
and eat plums and peanut butter sandwiches …”

 
This morning over at Kirkus, I’ve got a small picture book round-up. That is here.

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Last week, I wrote here about Julie Fogliano’s first poetry collection, When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for All Seasons (Neal Porter/Roaring Brook, March 2016), illustrated by Julie Morstad. Today, I’m following up with some paintings from the book, which Julie M. sent. They are sans text.

Enjoy!

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“When my sister was in college near Minneapolis, she took me to see the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. This was the first professional dance performance I’d ever seen. I was hesitant and had no idea what to expect. The magnificent Judith Jamison was the featured dance soloist. She dominated the stage, creating shapes and patterns. Judith performed the solo dance — Cry, a 15-minute homage to black women, choreographed by Alvin Ailey for his mother and for Judith. Judith expressed grief, loss, redemption, and joy as eloquently as any novelist. I loved dance from that moment on. I’d wanted to make a book honoring my sister and her love of dance for a long time. And that profound first introduction to dance has left a fascination with Judith Jamison and her artistry.”

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Over at Kirkus today, I talk to author-illustrator Barbara McClintock, pictured above, about her newest book, Emma and Julia Love Ballet (Scholastic, February 2016). That chat is here.

I’ll have some art from it at 7-Imp next week in a follow-up post.

Until tomorrow …

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Photo of Barbara used by her permission.

 
Here’s a short post about Shane Peacock’s The Artist and Me, illustrated by Sophie Casson and coming to shelves next month (Owlkids Books). Strikingly, this is how it opens:

In the beautiful countryside in southern France near the town of Arles long ago, I used to do an ugly thing.

The narrator here, we learn as the story progresses, is an older adult looking back on his childhood. He remembers tormenting the local “crazy man” with “wild red hair,” Vincent Van Gogh. The boy, and everyone he knew, mocked the penniless artist. The man recalls the taunts and how and why they targeted him. He recalls how he’d always teased him in a crowd (“since that is what cowards do”). He remembers the artist saying, “I must tell the truth,” yet telling himself that the man was merely crazy. Sometimes, the man recalls, he’d watch Van Gogh work, quietly and when no one else was around. In truth, he possessed a fascination for his artwork and the artist’s maverick spirit. Towards the close of the book, he recalls how he once snuck right up behind the artist as he painted a wheat field. (Wheat Field with Crows is, indeed, believed to be Van Gogh’s last painting.) The boy was amazed and “terrified. My knees went weak. … And for an instant the world was bigger and brighter than it had ever been.” Van Gogh turned to him and offered him his painting, but the boy ran. Read the rest of this entry �

“But I’m all right.
The snow covers me like a fleecy blanket.”
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
Okay, you all. Before Spring officially gets here, I must take some time to tell you about Yuki Kaneko’s Into the Snow, illustrated by Masamitsu Saito and released by Enchanted Lion Books last month. This is a book that captures the glee and exhilaration of a beautiful day of play in the snow. It’s captured with such exuberance — the textured artwork (rendered via oil pastels, gouache, acrylics, and colored pencil) nearly leaps off the page and pulses with an infectious energy.

A young boy wakes to see the snow from his window and bundles up to head outside. He feels the snow, finds an icicle, and heads to the top of a hill for a sled ride. He barrels down the hill, and his joy (and probably a fair share of fear) at this moment are captured in four dynamic spreads. His mother comes for him, and he heads home — to hot chocolate, no less.

The colors here pop off the page — bright blues, warm greens and oranges, vivid yellows. Saito’s lines are delightful, particularly as the boy sleds down the hill; they’re a swirling jumble of movement and speed. The whole book is a snapshot in time for the boy, perfectly capturing the joyous parts of Winter.

Let me just show you what I mean with a few more spreads. Enjoy!

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Today over at Kirkus, I write about the new poetry collection from Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Julie Morstad. That is here.

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Last week, I wrote here about a new series of books (Owlkids) from author Sara O’Leary and illustrated by Karen Klassen. You Are One will be on shelves this month; You are Two comes in the Fall; and You Are Three will publish next year. Today, I’ve got some of Klassen’s art from the first two books.

I’ll close with Klassen’s lovely self-portrait and a portrait of O’Leary she did.

Enjoy!

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Do you remember reading here, 7-Impers, all about Kate Berube? When I posted that back in 2013, she was not yet published. That is, incidentally, one of my very favorites of the up-and-coming illustrator posts.

Well, Kate’s debut picture book is out. I’ve got a review (it’s here) at BookPage. It’s called Hannah and Sugar and was released by Abrams this month. As a follow-up, Kate visits today to talk about the book and share early images and art, etc. “Generally,” she says, “I will draw and draw and draw a character until I find one that strikes me. This [pictured left] was that drawing for Hannah.”

Let’s get right to it. I thank Kate for sharing. I really enjoyed reading her thoughts and, especially, seeing her preliminary images. (And I can’t wait to see what she does next.)

 
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