Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Satoru Onishi’s Who’s Hiding? (2007) has been reviewed heavily ’round the kidlitosphere, I’ve noticed. I was holding off on telling you about it for that reason, but . . . well, it’s so good that it’d be a small crime to not give it an enthusiastic shout-out here at 7-Imp.

This is another slammin’ Japanese import from the folks at Kane/Miller (who are having a wonderful year thus far, are they not? They’ve been churning out the loveliest books). Onishi’s bio at their site states that “Satoru Onishi was hiding when we asked for author information.” Heh. Good one. But I wish we knew more about Onishi, ’cause this book will draw preschoolers to it in the same way that preschoolers are drawn to Goldfish crackers, screaming at the top of their lungs if you break the slightest little element in their routine, and playing in their underwear. Can you tell I’ve spent the day with one of these creatures? Where was I? Yes, it’s a preschool magnet, and I’d like to see more of what Onishi has done/will do. Read the rest of this entry �

Let me admit right off the bat my heartfelt admiration for all things John Burningham. Big bias here. Love him. Can you tell from this post’s title? His works send me on an express train to Happy-ville. When I read that he had created a new book, I squealed — and would have done a few flips and somersaults were I a gymnast. The book is about Edwardo, “an ordinary boy,” as we’re told on page one. Sometimes he kicks things, is too loud, is nasty to other children, chases cats, leaves his room a mess, etc. But the adults in his life tell him — when he commits these customary childhood crimes — that he’s the ________est boy in the whole world. Fill in the blanks with roughest, noisiest, nastiest, cruelest, messiest . . . you get the picture. And, as a result, Edwardo becomes more and more cruel, nastier and nastier, noisier and noisier. Read the rest of this entry �

Pija Lindenbaum’s When Owen’s Mom Breathed Fire (published in September ’06 by R&S Books; translated by Elisabeth Kallick Dyssegaard; my source: library copy) is what Kirkus Reviews aptly called a “shrewd fable” about . . . well, about one mother’s very bad day (or two) and a young child’s ability to cope with it. And it’s not only shrewd; it’s a wonderfully weird and peculiar and odd {can you tell I’m trying to avoid using the cliché-ridden “quirky”?} Swedish import.

In the book’s opening spread, we meet Owen — sitting at the breakfast table and hiding under a huge dragon head costume piece — and his mother, Bea, who “in the morning . . . goes completely crazy.” She’s a wicked talented multi-tasker for sure — she’s on the phone, drinking coffee, brushing her teeth, and blow-drying her hair all at once. Oh and she’s going berserk and snapping at Owen in the process. Off they run to daycare. Read the rest of this entry �

Hi there. Happy Poetry Friday to all. We don’t have a proper entry for today, but we would like to humbly submit for today’s poetry entry the below interview with Haven Kimmel, over which we are still squealing in excitement, since she’s one of our favorite writers. Haven began her writing career as a poet and wrote poetry under the name Haven Koontz (visit this link and scroll down for a list of some of her published poetry. Also, here you will see an excerpt of one of her poems, “Heartland”). She’s made it clear in several interviews that poetry was her first love.

And head here at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy for this week’s Poetry Friday round-up.

Secondly, check out this beautiful cover art here. We give you a loud and resounding and heartfelt WOO HOO! when we say that not only did Random House debut this cover art yesterday for Jarrett J. Krocoszka’s October release of Punk Farm on Tour, but he also has agreed to let us grill him in an upcoming interview. He’s not only so impossibly nice that he’s agreed to answer our weird questions, but he also sent us that cover art (lest Random House think I just stole it from their site). We are big fans of Punk Farm as well as Jarrett’s other books, so we’re all agog over this news (yes, I said “agog.” I’m trying to use one word a day I’ve never used before).

Next, we would be terribly remiss if we did not steer you in the direction of readergirlz, a new “online book community celebrating gutsy girls in life & lit,” in the words of the four YA authors who gave birth to this iniative: Dia Calhoun, Janet Lee Carey, Lorie Ann Grover and Justina Chen Headley. Here’s what they have to say about readergirlz: Read the rest of this entry �

The Littlest Grape Stomper
by Alan Madison and illustrated by Giselle Potter
Release date: February 27, 2007
Random House
My source: review copy

This is a bizarre, little tale that seems to be just the perfect fare for Giselle Potter. Ever wonder how the five Grape Lakes were formed? Wonder no further. Alan Madison is here to tell you. Enter the tiny village of Ear (unless I’m missing something big here, there is no rhyme or reason as to why it’s named Ear, but you can at least enjoy Potter’s opening spread in which Ear’s countryside turns into its downtown with buildings circling one another not unlike a cochlea). With a sparkling little rhythm, much alluring alliteration, and a pleasing degree of lyricism, Madison tells us that this tiny village, “nestled snugly in the Your Valley,” was known for making delicious grape juice. Read the rest of this entry �

First things first: The Cybil Awards are being announced today, so woo hoo! All eyes over at the Cybils site, please!

Secondly, here’s my valentine for today (having already bestowed some upon my family) . . . I have been waiting patiently for a good, long while now to get my hands on a library copy of Kara LaReau and Scott Magoon’s Ugly Fish (June 2006; Harcourt Children’s Books), ever since Jarrett J. Krosoczka recommended it on his blog (look, JJK won’t steer you wrong; he did, after all, introduce me — again, via his blog — to David Ezra Stein’s Cowboy Ned and Andy, which I reviewed here, is one of the Best Picture Books Ever You Can Give as a Birthday Gift to A Friend, and makes me tear up every time at the end — yes, every time, though I know what’s comin’).

Now, I don’t live in Nashville proper, but I drive quite a distance every Tuesday to attend the story times at the big, beautiful, main branch of the Nashville Public Library (with their slammin’ slogan, “a city with a great library is a great city” . . . to which I say, word) in downtown Nashville. The main library has a staff of three full-time performers — known collectively as Wishing Chair Productions, as I understand it — who also entertain with marionettes (read the wonderful history here). They put on an excellent story time. Read the rest of this entry �

* {The ever-so talented Paul Simon}

I began this post as one of those picture book rounds-ups that I like to do. I intended to share four new(ish) picture book titles with you. But I, very enthusiastically, wanted to begin with Suzy Lee’s The Zoo and found that I had innumerable glowing comments to make about it, or so it seemed (and I was talking a lot, bringing about a very long post). I decided, then, to give this title its own post. So here goes my heartfelt admiration for this flat-out splendid picture book title:

Wow. Wow. Wow. This is quite the mesmerizing and impressive picture book. I’ll be hard-pressed to find an upcoming ’07 picture book title whose illustrations please me as much as Suzy Lee’s do in The Zoo (obscenely bold statement, I know. It’s only February. But I mean it, and someone can call me later on it, if necessary). First published in Seoul, Korea, in 2004, we have, as always, Kane/Miller to thank for bringing over to the States a delightful title from another country and for introducing us . . . well, I’ll speak for myself . . . for introducing me to an author/illustrator I may have, otherwise, never heard of.

Read the rest of this entry �

It’s been a while since I’ve done a picture book round-up of more than two titles at once. Here are six from either the end of ’06 or just published in ’07 — and one is due to hit the bookstore shelves in February. So, let’s get right to it then . . .

Duck, Duck, Goose by Tad Hills (published by Schwartz & Wade Books; on the shelves — February 2007; my source: review copy) — I was lucky enough to receive a review copy of Tad Hills’ Duck and Goose (published in January of ’06) for the Cybils committee work I did (unfortunately, I never got around to reviewing it). This book got all kinds of well-deserved accolades thrown at it, and it became a New York Times bestseller as well. “Readers will hope to see more of this adorable odd couple,” wrote Kirkus Reviews. And now said readers can cheer, because Duck and Goose are back. Read the rest of this entry �

{Note: Head here at Big A Little a for today’s Poetry Friday round-up} . . .

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about Gail Gauthier’s recent post, “Why Blog Reviews Are Important,” in which she makes the case for reviewing older titles after discovering that her most recently published novel was reviewed — eight months after publication — on two different blogs. Blogs, she writes, can extend the season of a book. In today’s world, the season of a book (or movie or any number of other new events, for that matter) is pathetically short. I won’t go on and on about this, except to say that when Eisha and I created this blog, I never set out to review just new titles. But that’s exactly what I’ve done. Gail’s post is a nice reminder that reviewing older titles “remind{s} readers of books they’d been meaning to read but had forgotten about” (such as this review from this week at the excelsior file, one of my favorite blogs — and if it hadn’t been for Just One More Book’s review of the ’06 re-print of Margaret Shannon’s The Red Wolf, originally published in 2002, who knows how long it would have taken me to find this intriguing picture book).

On that note, here’s something else that’s been on my mind, and here’s where the poetry comes in: Mama Goose, which serves as a child’s introduction to poetry. I’ve been reading Chris Roberts’ entertaining Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind the Rhyme (first published in 2004 by Granta Books). Read the rest of this entry �

Who Is Melvin Bubble? by Nick Bruel
Roaring Brook Press, 2006
(source: library copy)

The premise of this picture book is kind of like Citizen Kane for kids. The author, Nick Bruel (of Bad Kitty fame), gets a letter from a boy named Jimmy, suggesting that he write a book about his best friend Melvin Bubble. So Bruel embarks on a series of interviews to discover just “who is Melvin Bubble?” Almost every page is a separate “interview,” with a different character rattling off everything they know or don’t know about the mysterious Mr. Bubble. His mom thinks he’s “the messiest boy in the world,” his teddy bear wants us to know that “he really likes hugs,” his dog chimes in with “Woof Woof Arf Woof…” and you even get random commentary from the Meanest Man in the World, the Tooth Fairy, and a zebra. You also get a little of the author’s reaction to each interviewee (“Hmm… Maybe we should move on.” for the monster), just before he transitions to a new character with “Now let’s ask…” Finally, it all comes together when the author asks Melvin Bubble himself who he is.

This book is so brilliant. Each interview is laugh-out-loud funny, and the author’s pithy reactions bring the reader in on the joke. But it’s also a lot of great lessons wrapped up in an accessible, enjoyable, non-didactic package: in defining one’s identity as something separate from how one is viewed by others, in not judging others by what someone else says about them, in the value of going straight to the source if you want to know the truth about something. The cartoonish, brightly-hued illustrations are a perfect compliment to the goofy text: think Michael Martchenko’s collaborations with Robert Munsch.

Clearly, I loved this picture book a lot. But you shouldn’t take my word for it. Check it out for yourself.