Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

 
Because it is beautiful and because I thought we could all use a shot of hope and love this week, I’ve some spreads here today from Chris Raschka’s newest picture book, Paul Writes (a Letter), published by Eerdmans in September.

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Welcome to the first Sunday of the month, which here at 7-Imp means the art of an illustration student or one newly-graduated. Today, I welcome April Zufelt, who has previously studied with (and I believe still studies with) illustrator Marla Frazee.

Let’s get right to it. I thank April for visiting and sharing some artwork today.

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“Princess Lois is a dentist. Not a single child comes to her clinic with fear.
She is married to Princess Maggie. Princess Maggie is a mail carrier.
She loves to deliver postcards from distant lands.”
(Click to see spread in its entirety)

 
Today, dear Imps, I’ve some art from an illustrator whose work it always makes me happy to see — German artist Sonja Wimmer. On shelves now is Dolores Brown’s The Truly Brave Princesses (published by NubeOcho earlier this month), illustrated by Wimmer and a book the Kirkus review calls a “not-so-subtle deconstruction of the princess myth.”

“Perhaps on more than one occasion you’ve seen a princess,” the book opens. “Maybe you didn’t realize she was actually a princess, because at that moment she was not wearing her crown.” Look closely, the book suggests: A princess can be anywhere. And then we are introduced to 18 of them, girls and women of various ethnicities, occupations, and personalities, who are depicted, via word and art, with such delightful idiosyncratic details that you find yourself lingering over each spread. Read the rest of this entry �

That’s a post title with a handful of numbers, now isn’t it.

Here’s what I’m doing this weekend, and it’s a little bit different. I’m typing this on Friday, because tomorrow (Saturday, which will be yesterday when you read this) I will be at the wonderful Southern Festival of Books alllll day. I will not only be able to kick back and hear a lot of talented authors and illustrators speak (here’s the line-up), but I will also interview Justice Sonia Sotomayor about her two new children’s books. I’m excited to meet her, to say the least.

For Tennessee’s own fabulous and informative Chapter 16, I did an online Q&A with Madame Justice, which you can read here. I also interviewed British author and illustrator Cressida Cowell (whom I hope to hear speak on Saturday) about her newest fantasy novel for children. That is here. (Pictured here is Justice Sotomayor’s adaptation for middle-grade readers of her bestselling memoir.)

I will share seven separate kicks next week. Today (Sunday, the day you’re reading this — confused yet?), all seven kicks (plus some) are that it’s my youngest daughter’s birthday! She is officially a teenager today. We shall party down all day.

What are YOUR kicks this week?

St. Basil’s Cathedral

 
The first Sunday of each month is usually reserved for student illustrators or those just entering the world of children’s book illustration. Today’s artist, Sally Gardner, isn’t quite brand-new, but I’m showcasing her art this morning anyway. She is a working freelance illustrator and graphic designer, and she both illustrated and co-created the Splurch Academy for Disruptive Boys series — a hybrid graphic novel and early chapter book series, published by Penguin Books for Young Readers.

Sally was once a student of author-illustrator Sergio Ruzzier’s. (Years ago, she took one of his continuing education classes at the School of Visual Arts.) She lives in New York. She not only shares some art today but also tells us a bit more about her work. I thank her for sharing.

Let’s get to it. …

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I am sharing a picture book review today, if you’re so inclined to read it. Over at the Horn Book, they’ve posted my review of Daniel Miyares’ Night Out (Schwartz & Wade, May 2018). That is here.

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(Click to enlarge)

 
I don’t want to tell you too much about the plot of Ethan Aldridge’s graphic novel Estranged (Harper, August 2018), because should you find a copy to read yourself, I don’t want to have ruined the plot for you. Regular 7-Imp readers may remember that Ethan’s artwork was featured here at 7-Imp when he was but a student. (EXCITING! to see his debut book be released.)

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Are you all up for some magical doors this morning? Who isn’t up for a magical door, right?

If you read and enjoyed JiHyeon Lee’s Pool (which I blogged about here in 2015), you may be happy to know she has a new book, also wordless, coming to shelves next month, called Door (Chronicle Books). It’s the story of a boy who finds a key, walks through a door, and encounters a fantastical world of creatures alien, but friendly, to him.

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“And the ash of those dying stars gathered into planets, and the planets circled other stars. But still … no bluebirds, no butterflies, still no snails, no giraffes,
still no you, no me.”
(Click spread to enlarge)

 
Are you all ready to get cosmic? I’ve a review over at BookPage of Marion Dane Bauer’s The Stuff of Stars (Candlewick, September 2018), illustrated by Ekua Holmes. That is here.

Today here at 7-Imp, I’ve a bit of art from the book.

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” … is me and my brothers’ bike.”
(Click to enlarge spread, which is sans text)

 
I’ve a bit of art today from Maxine Beneba Clarke’s The Patchwork Bike (Candlewick, September 2018), illustrated by Van Thanh Rudd. First published in Australia and New Zealand in 2016, this is the story of a young girl, her “crazy brothers,” their “fed-up mum,” and their desert “mud-for-walls” home in a third-world country. The “best thing of all in our village,” the girl tells us, “is me and my brothers’ bike.” It is, as the title says, a patchwork bike made of spare parts — tin-can handles, wood-cut wheels, branches for handlebars, and the like. Read the rest of this entry �