Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

 
It’s the first Sunday of the month (welcome, September), when I typically feature an illustration student or someone newly-graduated. Today, I welcome the talented Christina Rycz, who just graduated from the School of Visual Art’s MFA program. She shares lots of wonderful art today and shares a bit about herself. Let’s get right to it, and I thank her for visiting today.

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This past week, Tennessee’s Chapter 16 posted a Q&A I did with author Derrick Barnes, who will be at Nashville’s Southern Festival of Books this October. He talks to me about his newest picture book — The King of Kindergarten (Nancy Paulsen Books, July 2019), illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton — as well as the success of last year’s award-winning Crown. You can click on the image above to head to our chat.

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“Dring-dring, dring-dring! They hop aboard a boat and …”

 
Here’s a quick post to share some art from the fourth book in the Chirri & Chirra series from Japanese author-illustrator Kaya Doi. Chirri & Chirra Underground (Enchanted Lion, July 2019), translated from the Japanese by David Boyd, features the same inquisitive twins of the first three books, but in this new addition to the series they journey under the earth.

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I’m doing something a little bit different today and sharing this pin that author-illustrator Carson Ellis created. For obvious reasons. I know that merely sharing a post like this does little for my part (compared to a force like the NRA), so I’ll say this: If you’re angry and sad and fed up, as so many of us are, I recommend you contact your elected officials to tell them how you feel.

Carson shared this at Instagram and told me it was fine with her if I posted it here today. If I understand it correctly, she is not producing and selling these pins. In fact, she’d probably encourage you to make your own! DO IT UP.

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Every now and then I like to check in with author-illustrator Barbara McClintock to see what’s she up to. Lucky me: She answered that question for me with this post, having sent some images (both sketches and final art) from a book she will see published this coming Spring (from Scholastic), The Three Little Kittens. (I’ve seen some Instagram posts from Barbara about this book, and I’m so happy to share some images here today.)

Now, let me say, though, in the name of first-things-first: Barbara has a glorious new picture book out now. It’s called Vroom!, and I reviewed it for the Horn Book. If they happen to post that review online, I’ll certainly link to it later here at 7-Imp. You definitely don’t want to this miss book, one of my very favorites from this year. More on that soon, I hope. Oh, and here’s the cover: Read the rest of this entry �

 
There’s been a long history of anthropomorphic vehicles in children’s books and in children’s entertainment — from Little Toot and Pedro to Cars. Robert Neubecker’s Little Smokey (Knopf, August 2019) provides a modern twist with an environmental edge, given the frequency of forest fires in this country. Read the rest of this entry �

“They caught the babies, / and catch them still, /
welcome them into the world, / for loving.”
(Click image to see spread in its entirety)

 
“Midwives have been in the world probably as long as there have been human babies on earth.” Thus opens The Women Who Caught the Babies, a picture book by the legendary Eloise Greenfield, coming to shelves in September (Alazar Press) and illustrated by Daniel Minter. A five-page introduction kicks things off and is followed by a series of poems that follows African American midwives from slavery to the early 2000s. The book closes with a poem about the midwife who caught Greenfield herself, as well as some family photos.

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Today, I’ve some illustrations from The Girl Who Named Pluto: The Story of Venetia Burney (Schwartz & Wade, May 2019), written by Alice B. McGinty and illustrated by Elizabeth Haidle (who is also the creative director of Illustoria magazine).

This is the story, set in 1930 in Oxford, England, of (as the book’s sub-title tells you) Venetia Burney, the only child to have named a planet. In the book’s opening spreads, we are invited into her world, as we walk with her and her schoolmates outside in a classroom lesson about the solar system. Venetia and her mother live with her grandfather, a former Oxford library head, and the inquisitive girl loves to tell him all about her lessons. Venetia is fascinated by not only outer space, but also Greek and Roman mythology; she’s intrigued by the links between science and literature. So, when a new planet is discovered . . . Read the rest of this entry �

 
In case you missed it earlier this year, by chance, I’m spotlighting the engaging ¡Vamos! Let’s Go to the Market from Mexican American artist and illustrator Raúl The Third. This was released in April from Kwame Alexander’s new imprint, Versify. Read the rest of this entry �

“My mom and I bundle up together under the covers
in our new home in the country far from the sea.”

 
I’m sorry to do this to you, dear Imps, but I’m writing about a book today that won’t be on shelves till September. I try really hard not to do this — to write about books that you can’t get your hands on for a while. But for various reasons I’m sharing it today. It’s Julie Flett’s Birdsong (Greystone Kids), and it’s a beauty. Since I have a chance to share some art with you today, I thought I’d go ahead.

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