Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

“‘My name is Viola Swamp,’ said the lady in a scratchy voice.
‘Yipes!’ cried the kids. ‘The Swamp!'”
— From Miss Nelson Is Missing!, originally published in 1977

 
Yesterday over at Kirkus, I wrote about Mark Pett’s newest picture book, The Girl and the Bicycle. That link is here, and next week here at 7-Imp I’ll have some more art from the book.

Today, I write about two very funny picture books, Katy Beebe’s Brother Hugo and the Bear, illustrated by S. D. Schindler, and Dominique Roques’ Sleep Tight, Anna Banana!, illustrated by Alexis Dormal. That link is here. And ditto. Next week at 7-Imp, I’ll have art from both books.

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Today here at 7-Imp, it’s the Swamp. See her up there in all her glory? Since I wrote last week (here) about James Marshall’s three stories of Miss Nelson and her evil twin, Viola Swamp (from 1977, 1982, and 1985), I’m following up with some art from The Miss Nelson Collection, coming from Houghton Mifflin next week.

Enjoy. Read the rest of this entry �

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First Second Books has a really fun blog tour going on, called “My Favorite Thing About Zita the Spacegirl.” You can read about it here and see the long line-up of Zita’s fans. (Yesterday, Mark Siegel wrote about the many reasons he likes this character, one of those being “that Zita is like The Little Prince. Only female and kicks some ass and has a bunch of alien friends she makes along the way.”)

The Zita books were created by writer, artist, and graphic novelist Ben Hatke, and this May readers will see the last of the Zita trilogy, The Return of Zita the Spacegirl. Before that came 2011’s Zita the Spacegirl and 2012’s Legends of Zita the Spacegirl.

I’m happy to be a part of this blog tour, because I love these graphic novels. In fact, you can read why here (2011) and here (2012). Those are 7-Imp visits with Ben in which he shares art and even such things as early sketches (and even some of his other, non-Zita art).

Today, however, I’m handing my site over to my eight-year-old. I don’t normally do this, but she was super eager to contribute, as both she and her sister are HUGELY HUGE fans of the Zita books. I couldn’t possibly count the number of times they’ve read each book. The only reason her older sister isn’t contributing today is ’cause she’s more private, and I think she feels a bit shy about it. But the eight-year-old, after I asked her why she loves Zita, ran off with pen and paper and drew some tributes (and freely gave me permission to post them). Read the rest of this entry �

“Listen to the sea. Sing.”
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Hi, all. Author-illustrator Scott Magoon is visiting 7-Imp today to talk about creating the artwork for his newest picture book, Breathe (Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster, April 2014). This is the story of a young whale, learning independence, while exploring his watery world, and even facing danger — but always with mama whale by his side. Scott, among other things, discusses his color choices below in these digital illustrations, and the colors in the final art (he shares them here without the text in them) are one of my favorite things about this book. It’s a book Kirkus calls in their starred review “richly composed and sweetly appealing — just right for baby storytimes as well as one-to-one sharing.”

I’m gonna get right to it. By this time on a normal day, I’d have done maybe four to five very possible things before lunch, but I’ve got a very unwelcome flu of some sort, and this may be all that I accomplish today. (I crawled to my computer in very distinct stages.) But it’s a good one thing to accomplish — to share some of Scott’s art from this sweet story.

Enjoy. Read the rest of this entry �

Hi, all. I usually feature the work of others here at the ol’ blawg, but today I’m doing something a bit different.

As many of you know, I’ve finished up work on a book that I wrote with Betsy Bird and the late Peter D. Sieruta. It’s called Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Children’s Literature. It will be published in August. Candlewick has made a press release for the book, which includes a Q&A with me and Betsy.

I shared this press release on Facebook and Twitter and other such wild and wacky social media-type places, and I don’t want to annoy the everlovin’ life out of everyone by going on and on about this book. But it occurred to me this week that I hadn’t shared the press release here at 7-Imp. So, that’s what I’m doing today.

It’s here in all its red and white glory.

All throughout the book, we will have cute, fluffy bunnies (you’ll understand why when you read the book), as seen above, and those were created by British illustrator David Roberts, who also did the cover art. (Do check out his website, if you’re so inclined, ’cause you’ll have fun.) Read the rest of this entry �

“Meet me on the lawn, I want to take a picture of you.”
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“Perhaps she stood there so that she could stand still.”
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Last week I wrote here about Maira Kalman and Daniel Handler’s Girls Standing on Lawns, to be published by the Museum of Modern Art in early May.

Pictured above are two paintings from the book.

Ah. Kalman.

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This morning over at Kirkus, I have a tribute to the one. the only. Viola Swamp.

That link is here.

Until Sunday …

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GIRLS STANDING ON LAWNS. Illustrations by Maira Kalman © 2014. Text by Daniel Handler © 2014. Published by The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Paintings used by permission of the publisher.

“Back in the jungle, I know all the jaguars in the study area from their tracks. But one day I come across a completely new track—the biggest male jaguar tracks I have ever seen. I follow the prints for hours. Not wanting to be caught in the jungle at night without a flashlight, I turn around to go back to camp.
There, right behind me, is the jaguar.
He must have been following me!”
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
Last week, I chatted here with Dr. Alan Rabinowitz about his picture book, A Boy and a Jaguar (Houghton Mifflin, May 2014), illustrated by Catia Chien.

For those who’d like to see some art from the book, I share that here today.

Until tomorrow …

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“Slowly you will learn to take care of yourself.”

 
In early May, fans of the work of Claire A. Nivola will be happy to see Star Child hit shelves (Frances Foster Books/Farrar Straus Giroux). It’s an extraordinary, brand-new story from Claire, and I like it a lot. I reviewed this for BookPage, so you can read about it here.

Today, Claire (pictured here) is visiting to talk a bit about the book, and we can also take a look at some of the art from it.

I interviewed Claire here at 7-Imp in 2011, and it remains one of my favorite interviews. To make sense of what we talk about here today (assuming you haven’t already seen, say, an early copy of the book), since it’s an unusual story, be sure to read the review first and then return, if you’re so inclined, for her thoughtful responses.

I’m always happy when she visits 7-Imp, and I thank her for taking the time to do so.

Enjoy.

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Happy Easter and Passover to one and all. You’d think I’d have bunnies for you today, given the Easter holiday anyway, but nope. I’ve got doughnuts. Lots of doughnuts.

Back at the beginning of the month, I chatted with author-illustrator Laurie Keller over at Kirkus about her new chapter book series about Arnie the Doughnut. The first two books in the series are Bowling Alley Bandit, published last year, and Invasion of the Ufonuts, released in February of this year. These are published by Christy Ottaviano Books/Henry Holt and were inspired by Laurie’s beloved 2003 picture book, Arnie the Doughnut. We talked (here) about writing funny books for children, slapstick humor, schools visits, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Today, I follow up with some treats from Laurie. She shares some sketches and, well … she pretty much shows us how she does what she does. And I really appreciate her sharing. It’s fun stuff, and it’s neat to get an inside look at it all.

Without further ado, here’s Laurie …

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This morning over at Kirkus, I take a look at Maira Kalman and Daniel Handler’s Girls Standing on Lawns, to be published by the Museum of Modern Art in early May. It made me want to find my own family photos of girls or women standing on lawns, which are in that piece over at Kirkus. Pictured above is my maternal grandmother.

That column is here today.

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Pictured above is Dr. Alan Rabinowitz. I chatted with him at Kirkus yesterday about his picture book, A Boy and a Jaguar (Houghton Mifflin), illustrated by Cátia Chien and also set to be released in early May. “This story,” Rabinowitz tells me, “is not just about a stuttering boy who studied jaguars, but about all children who feel sad, abused, or misunderstood by the world at large ….” It’s a remarkable story. That Q&A is here.

Until Sunday …

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Photo of Alan Raboniwitz by Steve Winter and used with permission.

 
Last week at Kirkus, I wrote about a handful of new picture books I like. All the talk talk talk is over here in that column, if you missed it last week.

Today, I want to share some art from each book. And, in the case of Emily Gravett, I’ve got a couple of early sketches, too. Above is a thumbnail from one of her sketchbooks. The rest is below.

Enjoy the art.

(Note: The illustrations from Mama Built a Little Nest are sans text. The colors in those also appear here on the screen a bit brighter than they do in the book.)

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