Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

“I’m a storyteller. I love telling stories. I’ve found poetry to be one of the most beautiful and effective ways to do that. Poems say what they have to say, and then they are silent. The rest is up to the reader – what they get out of them and how that makes them feel. I want them to feel something. I always want them to feel something.”

* * *

Over at Kirkus today, I talk to author, poet, and illustrator Hope Anita Smith, pictured here, about her newest picture book, My Daddy Rules the World: Poems about Dads (Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt, May 2017).

That is here.

Next week, I’ll follow up with some of her torn-paper art from the book.

Until tomorrow …

* * * * * * *

Photo used by permission of Hope Anita Smith.

“That night just as Sarabella was about to give up, a whale of a thought appeared on the horizon. The closer it go, the more beautiful it became. And though it was the most enormous creature she had ever seen, Sarabella felt unafraid. ‘Do you know what I think?’ asked the whale. ‘I can see what you think,’ replied Sarabella. ‘And so should everyone else,’ said the whale. ‘To share it, you’ve just got to wear it.’
Then the whale blew Sarabella a kiss before she swam off.”
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
Today’s post is a bit of a preview. This September (from Dial Books), readers will see Judy Schachner’s Sarabella’s Thinking Cap, a picture book that is an explosion of color, as well as a tribute to those deep-thinking, philosophically-minded students in class who have trouble focusing, all on account of the boatloads of thoughts in their heads.

I’ve an F&G, and I like it. It’s more than a tribute to a child’s imagination; it’s a story that shows the reality of how challenging it can sometimes be for students like that to fit into the traditional classroom mold.

“Sarabella had no time for small talk,” the book opens. “In fact, she never talked much at all … because she was too busy thinking.” Sarabella, as her (similarly creative) family likes to put it, has her feet on the ground and her head in the clouds. She has “daydreams in her DNA,” her mother tells her. She comes home with report cards from her teacher, Mr. Fantozzi, who appreciates her creative mind, yet also feels the need to curtail the imaginative wanderings. In other words, he consistently notes, she needs to learn to focus.

Read the rest of this entry �

I love the first Sunday of each month here at 7-Imp, because that’s when we all get to see the work of student or debut illustrators. Today, author-illustrator Mika Song visits. She’s not a student, and her newest book is not her debut. But she’s still relatively new to children’s lit, and I’m happy to showcase her work today. Let’s get right to it, because she tells us a bit about her work and shares some artwork and sketches below. I thank her for visiting.

Read the rest of this entry �

“Crimson red is my favorite color because it is the color of the crimson rosella,
a parrot found in southeastern Australia, where I live.”
(Click to enlarge spread, created by Marc Martin)

 
Come dig deep with me over at Kirkus today.

* * *

Last week, I wrote here about What’s Your Favorite Color? (an Eric Carle and Friends book, published by Godwin Books/Henry Holt), which features the work of a slew of talented authors and illustrators and will be on shelves in August. Today, I’ve got a small handful of spreads from the book.

Enjoy!

Read the rest of this entry �

“Exhausted by all the fun, he stopped for a moment. It was then that he remembered his poor hungry grandmother. He looked to his right, his left, ahead of him,
and behind him … the trail had disappeared!”

 
I’ve a treat for you today, dear Imps.

Over the weekend, I was lucky enough to see an early copy of a book coming to shelves this Fall from Lion Forge Comics/CubHouse, Amélie Fléchais’s The Little Red Wolf, originally published in French in 2014. The English edition of this story, which turns the classic “Little Red Riding Hood” tale on its head and features a wolf in a red cape, was translated by Jeremy Melloul.

I’ve got some art from the book to showcase today—I’d love to let the art do the talking—but let me do my best to describe to you what this book offers. It’s a story, divided into chapters, that is, at turns, funny and haunting, the tale of a little wolf instructed to head to his grandmother’s house to give her one of the juicy rabbits his mother has recently killed. Read the rest of this entry �

 
I’ve got a BookPage review of Isabelle Arsenault’s newest picture book, one she both wrote and illustrated. Colette’s Lost Pet was just released (Random House); my review is here over at BookPage; and I’m following up with some art from the book here at 7-Imp today, thanks to Isabelle.

Enjoy!

Read the rest of this entry �

 

— From Patrick McDonnell’s
The Little Red Cat Who Ran Away and Learned his ABC’s (the Hard Way)
(Click to enlarge spread)

 


— From Barb Rosenstock’s
Vincent Can’t Sleep: Van Gogh Paints the Night Sky,
illustrated by Mary GrandPré
(Click to enlarge spread)

 


— From Mac Barnett’s I Love You Like a Pig, illustrated by Greg Pizzoli

 

Today over at Kirkus, I’ve got colors on the mind.

That is here.

* * *

Last week, I wrote here about three picture books that won’t be on shelves till the Fall, but I like them so much that I couldn’t help myself. Today I’m following up with some art from those books, so you’ll see illustrations here from Patrick McDonnell’s The Little Red Cat Who Ran Away and Learned his ABC’s (the Hard Way) (Little, Brown, September 2017); Barb Rosenstock’s Vincent Can’t Sleep: Van Gogh Paints the Night Sky (Knopf, October 2017), illustrated by Mary GrandPré; and Mac Barnett’s I Love You Like a Pig (Balzer + Bray, September 2017), illustrated by Greg Pizzoli. Greg also shares some preliminary images below.

Enjoy!

Read the rest of this entry �

 

“Shortly after breakfast, Pete decided he was a boulder. …”
(Click to enlarge)

 
I’ve got a BookPage review of Rowboat Watkins’s Pete With No Pants, released by Chronicle Books in early May. I love this book, and you can read why at my review over here at their site.

But there’s more: I chatted with Rowboat about this book. He shares his thoughts about the story and its meaning for him, and the discussion opened my eyes to the book in new and wonderful ways. Let’s get right to it, and I thank him for visiting 7-Imp again.

Read the rest of this entry �

 
I’m doing something a little bit different today. I have two picture book reviews over at BookPage to which I’m sending you, if you’re so inclined to read them — Tom Brenner’s And Then Comes Summer, illustrated by Jaime Kim (Candlewick, May 2017)—that review is here—and Carol Murray’s Cricket in the Thicket: Poems about Bugs (Christy Ottaviano Books/Henry Holt, May 2017), illustrated by Melissa Sweet. That review is here.

I don’t know about where you live, but here in Tennessee, school is wrapping up. In fact, this week is the last week for my own daughters, and everyone is ready for summer. Both of these books are just right for this time of year.

Read the rest of this entry �

 

Sometimes I can’t help but do a little preview of what’s to come in the world of picture books. Today at Kirkus, I do just that, taking a look at three upcoming Fall picture book releases, including the one pictured above.

That is here.

Until Sunday . . .