Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

“Until I am older, I can only have a stick insect. ‘And Sadie and Ratz, don’t forget,’ says Dad. Sadie and Ratz aren’t animals. ‘But they behave like wild beasts,’ says Dad.”

 
This morning over at Kirkus, I write about Polly Horvath’s new novel, Mr. and Mrs. Bunny — Detectives Extraordinaire! Who else has read this very funny book? Raise your hand, please. And come talk to me about it.

That link is here today.

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Last week, I wrote about Sonya Hartnett’s new early chapter book for young readers, Sadie and Ratz, scheduled to be released by Candlewick at the end of this month. Remarkably good, this book. That link is here. I just now figured out that it was originally published in 2008 (in Australia, I’m guessing), something I had failed to notice when I penned that column. So, what we have here, lucky us, is the first U.S. Edition. (Smart Candlewick.)

And Ann James’ charcoal drawings for the book? Well, as I wrote last week, they are striking—you can see for yourself with the images I’m sharing today—and they perfectly capture the emotional impulses of Hartnett’s story. They are reminiscent to me of early Sendak art, which is fitting for what I find to be a very Sendakian tale.

Enjoy the art. Read the rest of this entry �

Yes, I pulled out my very favorite mugs this morning (the blue ones) and my cow-shaped dish for pouring cream for one of my favorite author/illustrators—as in, her books made me want to study children’s literature, no kidding—Maira Kalman, pictured right with Pete. Joining me in the chat this morning is the one and only Jama Kim Rattigan, whom I adore and whose blog, Jama’s Alphabet Soup, brings cheer to this world. In my world, Jama is “Mrs. B.” (She’s Mrs. Blueteaberrry—that’s with three “r”s, to be precise—and I’m “Mrs. Bottlecap.” Long story.)

Jama and I have wanted to have a cyber-chat with Ms. Kalman for a long time now and actually tried years ago — but to no avail. So, stubborn as we are and being that we are huge fans of her work, we tried again. And here we are today. Jama tells me that Maira’s books made her want to write, and as I already noted, I fell in love with her books so hard and fast (starting with the first Max book) that it led me to other picture books by other folks and more of her books, of course, and her previous books and so on and so on, and before I knew it, I was getting a Master’s in Library Science just so I could take those children’s lit courses and learn more about picture books.

So, yes. Jama and I both have Maira Kalman to thank for bringing those particular joys to our lives. We thank her for taking the time to visit today and for answering the questions we composed together. (Mrs. B. came up with all the good questions.) Jama has the same interview responses (but, most likely, different images) up at her site today. (You really want to go read Jama’s introduction to the interview—I’m waving my hypno-spiral in your face—given that she perfectly nails the charms of Maira’s books.) Read the rest of this entry �

To say that designer and author/illustrator Chris Haughton (Ireland-born, but now living in London) has a no-nonsense artistic style all his own would be an understatement.

Back in January at Kirkus, I wrote about Haughton’s latest picture book, Oh No, George!, released by Candlewick this month. Haughton’s debut picture book was called Little Owl Lost (Candlewick, 2010), and—as I wrote in that Kirkus column—in both books, his digital illustrations are very stylized. These are child-like shapes, minimal backgrounds, quirky characters with ginormous eyes and a limited palette, all initially created with pencil.

And his books make me laugh. Read the rest of this entry �

“They had a kind of shed made to put us in . . . {the} kind of shed you make for your stock in winter time . . . Oh, how we did suffer with cold.
There was no wood, and the snow was waist-deep . . .”(Click to see entire illustration with the text)

This morning, I’m visiting the wonderful blog, Kidlit Celebrates Women’s History Month, a site commemorating the month designated to paying tribute to the generations of women whose efforts across many fields have benefited our world. Bloggers from what is called the kidlitosphere, or the community of bloggers specializing in children’s and young adult literature, are contributing, as well as authors (or folks who are both authors and bloggers).

Today’s my day to write something, and I’m so happy they asked me to contribute. I’ve got a Q & A over there with author/illustrator Deborah Kogan Ray about her upcoming (May) picture book from Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Frances Foster Books, Paiute Princess: The Story of Sarah Winnemucca. Read the rest of this entry �

Anyone else seen Jeanette Winter’s newest picture book? My, it’s lovely.

Kali’s Song, released by Schwartz & Wade Books just last week (and already met with starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly), is rendered in acrylics and pen and ink, using handmade paper. As always, I’ve got more art from it to share with you below, since the art says it all.

I don’t want to give too much away about this minimalist story, but I’ll summarize by saying that it’s about a boy, who lived “thousands and thousands and thousands of years ago,” who grows up to be a shaman. His mother is an artist, painting on the cave walls. But, seeing as how our characters here are cave people, she’s also a hunter, along with his father.

After being told to go practice shooting arrows, Kali heads out to do so, but at night, when resting, he plucks the strings on his bows to create music. “That night, the sounds from Kali’s bow filled his dreams with peace.”

And, again, I don’t want to give it all away, but what I’ve summarized so far captures the book’s major themes — peace and the power of art to bring it about. Read the rest of this entry �

“YES! Brownie drives back home.”
(Early sketch and final art)
(Click second image to embiggen)

This morning over at Kirkus, I write about the new chapter book for very young readers, Sadie and Ratz, by one of my favorite authors for older people, Sonya Hartnett (interviewed here at 7-Imp in 2007, during the 7-Imp era in which images were tragically small).

Just as soon as I finished this book, I turned around to write about it, because—as I note over at Kirkus—all chapter books for young children should be this good. The link is here this morning, if you’re so inclined to go read about it.

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Last week at Kirkus, I wrote about Cynthia Rylant’s and Brian Biggs’ Brownie & Pearl series (eight books published by Beach Lane Books), seeing as how I was feeling very all-caps about the fact that I’d never seen it (“WHERE HAS THIS SERIES BEEN ALL MY LIFE ANYWAY?” is how that went.) Yep. I was late in getting to it, and I think it’s such a great series in many ways for young children.

I featured Brian Biggs fairly recently here at 7-Imp, but now he’s back, ’cause I just gotta show some early sketches and final art (note: the final art is sans text) from this series. Here’s what Brian had to tell me about some of the early sketches you’ll see below:

When I first read the manuscripts, it was not clear that Brownie and Pearl were a girl and a cat. I thought, in fact, that they were both cats. So, imagine my surprise when I sent a batch of character sketches to my agent and he calls me up and says, “erm, um, Brownie is a girl.”

So, ha ha. You know.

Brian Biggs. He makes me laugh. (Also, show young fans of this series the early cat sketches below, explaining that Biggs initially had Brownie in mind as a cat, and you’ll get lots of loud, happy laughs. I know this for a fact.)

And I really love Brian’t art. Let’s get right to it then… Read the rest of this entry �

It’s not easy, I’m sure, to make picture books that are entirely reliant on visual storytelling, featuring no dialogue whatsoever. But Gregory Rogers certainly makes it look easy.

For those not familiar with Rogers, he’s Australian and was awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1995. For many years, he worked as a graphic designer before turning to illustration.

His newest book, The Hero of Little Street (to be released at the end of this month, though originally published in 2009 in Australia), is the third title in what Roaring Brook calls “the Boy Bear series.” The first two titles feature a young boy whose wayward soccer ball sends him on time-traveling escapades, what Publishers Weekly once called rambunctious silent comedies (or, if you’re Kirkus describing the new title in the series, a “wordless metafictive adventure”). For the first book, The Boy, The Bear, The Baron, The Bard (2007), he ends up on the stage of Shakespeare’s Globe theatre, and in the second book, Midsummer Knight (also 2007), Rogers brought back the same cast of characters, this time for a romp through an Elizabethan fairy world, to put it simply, and this time with the Bear as a swashbuckling soldier. (The American covers are pictured here below, though all were first published in Australia.)

Read the rest of this entry �

“The couple so longed for a child that one day the man cried,
‘I want a son even if he’s half a hedgehog!'”
(Click to see entire spread)

“Rolling your belly like a tide, / sweeping the little fish aside, /
billow and swell of midnight blue, / you’re as grand as a planet / passing through.”
— From “Blue Whale”

I’ve got my best coffee mug out this morning for author Kate Coombs, who has two new picture book releases this year. The first release (January, Atheneum) is the re-telling of a classic Grimm tale, called Hans My Hedgehog, illustrated by John Nickle. The second, released this month from Chronicle Books, is a poetry collection, Water Sings Blue: Ocean Poems, illustrated in shimmering watercolors by Meilo So. Kate’s here to talk a bit about each book and what’s next for her, and I’ve got art from each title. (Meilo will also be visiting soon for a breakfast interview, and I’m looking forward to that, too.) Read the rest of this entry �

“Baby Bear sees orange.”
(Click to enlarge)

Here’s a picture book I’ve been enjoying for a while and am finally featuring here at 7-Imp. Ashley Wolff’s Baby Bear Sees Blue was released in February by Beach Lane Books. Have you seen it yet? Heavens, it’s cozy and wake-you-right-up beautiful is what it is. This morning, Ashley (who has written and illustrated more than sixty books for children) is sharing some images and early thumbnails from the book.

Read the rest of this entry �

“Winter is a slow, low time. Everything is hiding from the cold; just staying alive is enough. Days are short, but the long frosty nights blaze with stars and
spring is just a moon or two away.”(Click to enlarge)

This week at Kirkus, I write about Cynthia Rylant’s Brownie & Pearl series for very young readers, illustrated by Brian Biggs. (As in: I did not even know about this great series, so I contribute my own little barbaric yawp about it to help introduce it to others who also may not know about it. I also acknowledge, however, that I am often just VERY SLOW.) The link will be here on Friday.

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Last week, I wrote about the very beautifully-designed and -illustrated Outside Your Window: A First Book of Nature (Candlewick, February), written by Nicola Davies and illustrated by Mark Hearld. You can go read all about the book—and me gushing—at this link from last week, but today I share a couple of spreads.

And I just stumbled upon this video (which makes me so happy that I’m going to paste it here RIGHT NOW), which showcases LOTS of Hearld’s art. Read the rest of this entry �