Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

 
That’s what I did last week, that is. On Thanksgiving day at Kirkus, I wrote here about Tomie dePaola’s newest book, a slim and simple ode to gratitude, Look and Be Grateful, released by Holiday House in August.

I’m following up today with two spreads from the book. (And here’s the Horn Book’s recent chat with him.)

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(Click to enlarge)

 
I’ve got a review over at BookPage of Guojing’s The Only Child, released just this week by Schwartz & Wade Books. This is one of the New York Times’ Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2015.

The review is here, and below is some more art from the book.

Enjoy. …

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Author-illustrator Kate Samworth is joining me for a cyber-breakfast today with a big cup of black coffee and, she said, “since it’s a special occasion, an almond croissant.”

Kate’s debut picture book, Aviary Wonders Inc.: Spring Catalog and Instruction Manual, was released last Spring by Clarion and went on to win the 2014 Kirkus Prize in the category of Young Readers’ Literature.

I wrote here at 7-Imp last year about this book (clearly, I was in my Sherlock phase), and here’s an excerpt:

“Now, this is one of the most bizarre picture books I’ve seen in a while, which at the very least brings to my mind this guy exclaiming things like ‘DON’T BE BORING.’ This book definitely has that goin’ for it.

This one is slightly macabre in spots, though I’ve sat here for entirely too long at my keyboard, thinking that ‘macabre’ isn’t precisely the word I want. How about this: The Publishers Weekly review (one starred review of several) calls it ‘unsettling and unforgettable.’ Booklist describes it as ‘original, somewhat disturbing, and wholeheartedly bizarre (but in a good way!).’ Yes, all those things, and I like it. … This is surely one of the most offbeat picture books I’ve seen in recent years.”

The book, a pretend futuristic catalog that sells bird parts so that you can build your own bird (“Renewing the World’s Bird Supply Since 2031”), shows off Kate’s immense talent with oils. Today, she’s here to share some art from the book, as well some early sketches, and she’s also going to talk a bit about what’s next for her. I thank her for visiting.

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“While we were speaking, a horse suddenly rose out of the waves of the sea. …”
(Click to enlarge illustration)

 
Good morning, Imps! Today I’ve got the artwork of author-illustrator and animator Rashin Kheiriyeh (here she is pictured with Lisbeth Zwerger just last month), who was born in Iran and studied graphic design at the University of Tehran, as well as the School of Visual Arts in New York, and now lives in D.C. She has illustrated more than 50 children’s books (in such countries as France, Italy, Iran, the United States, Japan, Germany, Spain, South Korea, China, and India) and has also illustrated for such newspapers as the New York Times and Le Monde diplomatique. She’s the winner of a New Horizon Award from the Bologna Children’s Book Fair and the winner of the Golden Apple Award at the Biennial of Illustration Bratislava (BIB) in Slovakia.

The illustrations featured here today are from The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor, retold by SAID and to be released by NorthSouth Books this coming week (if I have my release-date facts straight). Sinbad’s tale is part of Thousand and One Nights (or, as it’s often referred to, One Thousand and One Nights or Arabian Nights). As this book’s intro notes:

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“I never thought I’d spend so much time re-writing a few sentences.”

 

Yesterday over at Kirkus, I wrote about Tomie dePaola’s slim new book for children, Look and Be Grateful. That is here.

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This morning, I chat with illustrator Keith Negley, pictured here (and quoted above), about his debut picture book, Tough Guys (Have Feelings Too).

Keith’s client list includes such names as The New York Times and The New Yorker, but this is his debut as a children’s book creator.

That Q&A is here.

Happy holidays to all!

Until Sunday …

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Photo of Keith Negley used by his permission.

The Alcorn Homestead & Gallery; Mixed media on paper

 
Pictured above is an image from illustrator and printmaker Stephen Alcorn. It is an allegorical image depicting Alcorn and his wife and two daughters in and around their New York home and studio. Alcorn’s other home, his childhood one, was one that included his father — artist, designer, and children’s book illustrator John Alcorn, who died in 1992. (There’s more information here at 7-Imp about John and his work.)

Stephen is visiting 7-Imp once again today, in an in-his-own-words type of piece, to talk about his work and, specifically, the teaching he’s been doing in beautiful Florence, Italy. Stephen is a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University/School of the Arts. Florence is also where he spent his formative years.

Let’s get right to it. …

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“Yes, but how? Traveling is out of the question!
Cathy is much too weak to go on an expedition.
What to do …? What to do …?
Cathy tries to laugh and tells Eiffel with a wink,
‘You could build us a railway that takes us up to the clouds in a blink.'”
(Click to enlarge)

 
When the New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2015 were recently announced, I noticed Alice Brière-Haquet’s Madame Eiffel: The Love Story of the Eiffel Tower, illustrated by Csil, on the list. Published for English readers this year by Little Gestalten but originally published in French, this book has been sitting in one of many giant stacks of new picture books in my home for a while now, but there’s nothing like the NYT list to make you sit up and pay attention and go pull a book out of its pile.

I can see the pull the book must have had on this year’s judges, especially since the award is given for illustration — and the artwork is elegant, graceful. It’s the story of engineer Gustave Eiffel and his wife, Cathy, “the prettiest girl in Paris.” As the sub-title tells you, it’s a love story. Cathy gets ill, and Eiffel builds the tower in her honor. “Rumor has it that sometimes at night you can see their shadow appear in the street light.”

Here’s what the judges wrote about Csil’s artwork:

With a strict palette of black and white with dabs of light rosy red, Csil’s intricate, lacy pen-and-ink illustrations convey Eiffel’s keen attention to detail, along with the allure of Paris and the high-flying ambition of his tower. The effect is romantic and utterly charming, inviting you to look and look at the pages.

Here are a couple more spreads from the book so that you can see for yourself. …

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Last week at Kirkus, I wrote here about Tom Angleberger’s McToad Mows Tiny Island (Abrams, September 2015), illustrated by John Hendrix. Today, let’s take a peek inside the book. If John Hendrix’s art doesn’t wake you up this morning, I don’t know what will.

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There have been a lot of discussions this week about refugee resettlement in the wake of terrorist attacks across the globe. My column at Kirkus today was prompted by that and some thoughts on responding with compassion — and three older picture books, in particular, that come to my mind. That link is here.

Enjoy John’s art below!

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“‘It is the same thing with you,’ said the Hatter, and here the conversation dropped, and the party sat silent for a minute, while Alice thought over all she could remember about ravens and writing-desks, which wasn’t much.”

 
Today, I’m following up my Q&A last week with Lisbeth Zwerger—be sure to check out the piece Witch Has Turned Child Into an Apple, created when she was five, because I love it!— with some art from the three following Zwerger books:

• L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard Oz, for which Lisbeth originally created the illustrations in 1996 but NorthSouth Books is releasing in a new edition this month;
• Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, for which Lisbeth originally created the illustrations in 2004 but Minedition released in a (mini) new edition last month;
• and Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, for which Lisbeth originally created the illustrations in 1999 but Minedition is also releasing in a mini edition next year.

Enjoy!

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Good morning, Imps. I’ve got another picture book roundtable discussion today, this one with the team behind Roar!, which was released by Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster in October.

Roar!, written by Tammi Sauer, tells the story of a young boy playing imaginatively in his home-made dragon costume. He’s pretty pumped about his big, scary dragon get-up. But then two dragons appear and tell him he’s not actually scary, big, toothy, and fierce. The boy deflates at the news, but then the dragons try to cheer him up — only to realize there are a lot of feats they can’t pull off themselves. All’s well that ends well when the boy comes to realize he’s made some new friends.

Back here in 2013, the book’s illustrator, Liz Starin, visited 7-Imp. (Liz is also one of the blogger’s at the wonderful Pen & Oink.) This is her picture book debut, and I knew I’d want to have her back to the site to talk about it. But she’s not alone, as I said: Tammi’s also here, as well as the book’s designer, Laurent Linn, and its editor, Sylvie Frank. They’re here to talk about the book’s creation.

Let’s get to it. I thank them for visiting. (Note: There’s also a sneak-peek below of new art from James E. Ransome and Vanessa Brantley-Newton.)

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