Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Kirkus wrote about the book in my 7-Imp spotlight this morning that it’s a story that “must be shouted from the rooftops” (and that this book helps lead the chorus). So, consider this my barbaric yawp today, even if I’m over one year late in writing about it. Yup, this was released in October of last year, I believe. This comes from the better-late-than-never 7-Imp files. But post about it I shall, since I’m not only a fan of Jeanette Winter’s books and will happily post her art at any time, but I also found this one to be quite poignant and beautifully-told.

Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan (a Global Fund for Children book, published by Beach Lane Books) tells the story of a young girl who lives in an ancient city in Afghanistan, where art and music and learning once fluorished — but no longer do. She lives with her mother and grandmother, and it’s the latter who tells readers this story: “The Taliban soldiers don’t want girls to learn about the world, the way Nasreen’s mama and I learned when we were girls.” Nasreen’s father is taken by soldiers one night, with no explanation, and Nasreen’s mother disguises herself in order to go search for him. Thus begins Nasreen’s hush, as she disappears into a world of worry and silence. “I knew I had to do something,” says her grandmother. Read the rest of this entry �

At his web site, children’s book author David Elliott writes, “Books are…about language: its rhythms and its music; its stops and its starts; its noises and its silences; its unending layers of meaning. I’m not always as successful as I’d like to be. Still trying to get it right.” I’d say David has gotten it right more than a few times. He has penned several picture books, as well as middle-grade novels for kids, many of which I have enjoyed over the years as a librarian and with my own children. (Here is a comprehensive list of his titles at his site.)

And there are many reasons I enjoyed this interview with David—I was quite enamored with his thought-provoking responses to several of these questions, for one—but the best thing that came out of it was re-discovering my love for his two poetry picture book titles, On the Farm and In the Wild, both illustrated by Holly Meade. The latter was released this August (Candlewick), and as I formatted this interview, I fell in love all over again with the poems in the book, as well as with Holly’s luminous woodcut and watercolor illustrations. The above spread is from this collection of verses. School Library Journal writes, “Elliott’s spare verses vary in length and form with bits of humor {and} some lovely use of language and imagery.” Elizabeth Ward wrote about the first collection of poems (The Washington Post), “Elliott’s little verses pack a deceptive punch.”

David’s here for a breakfast interview. I’ve got the cyber-coffee on, and we’re ready to chat. I thank him for stopping by to talk about a little bit of everything regarding his work as a children’s book author and poet — humor in children’s books, the joy of having a good editor, the art of listening, not undervaluing children, the challenges of writing picture books for the very young, the “imposter syndrome” of a writer, how prose picture books are like eggs, what is most liberating to him in his writing, and (my favorite part of all) still feeling as scared and awed by the world as he did as a kid. Oh, and lots more . . .

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Pictured here is a sneak-peek from author/illustrator/graphic novelist Paul Hoppe. In Spring 2011, Chronicle will release The Woods, which Paul describes as his second self-authored children’s book. It’s about a boy who goes into the woods to look for his stuffed bunny. “This is very much based on stories and fairy tales from Poland, Germany, and all over Europe,” Paul told me, “in which the forest was a magical, mysterious place.”

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My unofficial consultant on Good Causes Backed by Wonderful Artwork, illustrator (and designer and fine artist and teacher) Bill Carman—featured here at 7-Imp in 2009—tells me about a great list of artists for a great cause, Art Blocks for Ghana, a charity art auction, sponsored by the Picture Book Project Foundation and The Hopkins Foundation. These original works are created by established artists in the fields of illustration and animation, trying to raise funds to help build a children’s home in Ghana in March 2011.

Here’s the site for more information.

(P.S. Where has the Picture Book Project Foundation been all my life, and do you think they’ll hire me? I’d sweep their cyber-floors. I would. Their mission is to “bring continued resources and support to orphaned and underserved children around the world through art.” YES. That is precisely perfect.)

And pictured here is Bill’s offering toward the project:

Rain is copyright © 2010 Bill Carman. Used with his permission. All rights reserved and all that good stuff.

This very funny teeny-tiny octopus with the enormous tentacle (at least he doesn’t look like it’s too terribly painful) comes from Canadian illustrator Marianne Dubuc, and I’m here to shine the spotlight on her newest title, In Front of My House (Kids Can Press, September 2010). This is a wee, square, fits-snugly-in-your-hands, fun, and very imaginative book for you to grab and read to the closest wee, not-so-square, fits-snugly-in-your lap, fun, and imaginative child. This is also Dubuc’s first picture book to be translated into English. Not only is it one of the first books that I would now, as a children’s librarian, want to enthusiastically thrust into the hands of the next teacher who tells me they need a great book that makes the introduction of pronouns not-so-boring, but it’s also simply a great read-aloud, celebrating the curiosity that is a child’s wonderfully whacked-out imagination and the places it can take him or her.

(You know when you ask a four-year-old to tell you a story and their wonderful little brains take you on random and absurd flights of fancy? Or maybe not even so much “fancy” per se, but just a series of staccato-like attempts at getting a cohesive narrative going that weave in and out of time and place—“and then so-and-so happened and then so-and-so happened and then … and then … and then”—and you just sit back and bite your lip and try to keep a straight face, not that you’re laughing AT them, but you’re laughing WITH them and you’re just enjoying the hell out of their wacky, impromptu, pull-a-plot-out-of-the-air story-fest? Yeah. THAT.)

There’s really no dramatic action or single narrative thread to speak of here. This is a circular tale, beginning just like this: Read the rest of this entry �

Here’s Alfred again to help me with a few announcements. If you’re thinking, hubba what? or who shot who in the what now? or what in the what the? or Alfred hubba who? or who said what in the hey now?, that means you don’t tend to make it to the bottom of my 7-Imp interviews. (And this would be okay. I mean it when I tell people, which I do a lot, that it’s almost a science to keep up with children’s-lit blogs these days. It’s hard, isn’t it?) Anyway, Alfred—who came from the pen of author/illustrator Matt Phelan (whom I forever associate not only with good books for children, but also lots and lots of ukuleles) and whom Matt told over a year ago to pack his bags and live here at 7-Imp—is always here to introduce the Pivot Questionnaire. I have finally added Alfred to the “about” page of the blog. See here. I figured that 7-Imp has a new mascot (see here and scroll down for the news), thanks to illustrator Scott Magoon, whom I placed on the “about” page. (The mascot, not Scott himself.) And then I realized poor Alfred has really been a mascot of sorts ALL ALONG. Or at least my good buddy. He and I meet for toast and coffee every morning and discuss what to post. Yes, he looks rather sinister and moderately surly, but he’s really sort of a softie, too.

Also, someone suggested that 7-Imp have its own theme song. Paula of Pink Me even wrote some zippy-quick impromptu lyrics…

SEVEN THINGS! What kind of things they could be any things mostly book things but sometimes they’re other things SEVEN THINGS!!

I made that font big, as I imagine the lyrics being sort of yelled spastically and crowd-goers moshing and such, as if they don’t have one single care in the world. Paula has suggested They Might Be Giants record it (I’ll also agree to The Black Keys, even if they don’t yell), possibly with horns in the arrangement. Maybe a ska treatment, Paula says. Read the rest of this entry �

I may not be able to fly to Italy and have coffee with the ebullient and very smart children’s-lit blogger Cristiana Clerici (pictured below), as I’d like to do, but every once in a blue moon I pull myself together and have something that might resemble a clever idea. And in September of this year, it was to invite Cristiana to 7-Imp, whenever the mood strikes her, to help me shine the spotlight on international picture book titles. Real coffee and meeting Cristiana in person would trump cyber-coffee any day, but I take what I can get. To get the low-down on what I’m calling Cristiana Clerici’s International Spotlights, visit this page of the site.

Today, Cristiana makes blogging easy for me, as she sent me the content for the below interview with Italian author/illustrator Eva Montanari (pictured right), and I had the distinct pleasure of formatting the images and text. The rest is all Cristiana — and Eva, of course, who muses on the creative process; her teaching and turning the “modest and inspired doodles” of her students into narrative threads; exploring the new territories of her art; rediscovering childhood joys in her illustrations; the joys (yes, joys) of making mistakes in one’s art; and lots more. So, I turn the keyboard over to Cristiana (who not only conducts these interviews, but also then translates them for us readers), and I thank her and Ms. Montanari for their contributions to 7-Imp and picture book discussions.

Cristiana: Last summer, I went to Macerata, where illustration classes are held for those who would like to become children’s books illustrators. I had been invited by Ars In Fabula, who organized those courses, to see how their Master works, since it had already brought about excellent results (for instance, just to mention the most recent ones, La Governante by Sara Gavioli, or the new version of I Promessi Sposi by Umberto Eco, published with Scuola Holden and illustrated by Marco Lorenzetti). Read the rest of this entry �

* {Ouch. I know. These are the kinds of unforgivably uncreative post titles you get before I’ve had the sweet brown life blood that is my coffee and when you get as little sleep as I got last night.}

Please allow me, dear readers, to be fixated just one more day on the New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2010 list, announced last week. Yesterday, I featured some spreads from Suzy Lee’s Shadow, and today Peter Brown is back to talk a bit more about his 2010 title, which also made the NYT list, Children Make Terrible Pets (Little, Brown, September 2010). You may remember Peter discussing it (and sharing early spreads and sketches from it) in my April interview with him.

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It’s the first Sunday of the month, when I normally bring my readers an introduction to a student illustrator or someone otherwise new to children’s book illustration, but I’m breaking the rules today. And that would be because my favorite “best of” list of the whole year, no matter what year, came out this week — the New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books list. Here’s the wonderful (very short) round-up for 2010. Ten titles from thousands published during the year that three esteemed judges (including my writing partner-in-crime this year, Betsy Bird) deem the best in illustration. Since I’ve covered quite a few of those books here at the blog this year—and since I only cover what I really like—it may not come as a surprise that I give seven enthusiastic thumbs-ups to the list. Er, I would if, I had seven thumbs, that is.

Now, y’all know I’m a Suzy Lee fan something fierce (as evidenced by this ’08 interview, this post, this post, this post, this post, and … shoot, I give up looking, but there are probably more). You will see on the NYT list that her newest title, Shadow, is on there. I’ve had this book a while and have been marvelling over it. Just when I thought I couldn’t like her work anymore, she up and does a book like this. I finally got around to requesting some spreads from it, just in time for this list’s release. So, that’s what I’m celebrating today — instead of what I normally do the first Sunday of each month. I’m breakin’ the law.

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I’ve been sitting on these illustrations and sketches for a while now, so let’s get right to it. I bring to you this morning with great enthusiasm and a not-so-humble opinion:

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