Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

“‘Little Black Fish, are you still breathing?’ she asked.”
(Click to enlarge and read text in its entirety)

 
Today I’m showcasing some artwork from Samad Behrangi’s The Little Black Fish, illustrated by Hans Christian Andersen Award winner Farshid Mesghali and first published in Persian in Iran in 1968. An English version was translated last year in the UK by Azita Rassi, and in mid-April a version will be on shelves here in the States (Tiny Owl Publishing).

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The Horn Book has posted at their site a review I wrote of Antoinette Portis’s Hey, Water! (Neal Porter Books/Holiday House, March 2019). Such a good book, this one. So, I’m sending you over to the Horn Book to read the review here, if you’re so inclined.

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Today, author-illustrator Tadgh Bentley visits to talk about his new picture book, written by Jon Stahl, and to talk us through a bit of the process of having created the illustrations for it. The book, Dragons Eat Noodles on Tuesdays (Scholastic, March 2019), is the engaging story of a blue monster, his little yellow friend, and their attempts to tell a story. These attempts involve a dragon, a cowardly knight, and a brave damsel. As Tadgh explains below, this is the first book written by someone else that he’s illustrated. I thank him for visiting to tell us more about it. Let’s get right to it.

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Did any of you see last year’s Business Pig by author-illustrator Andrea Zuill? I didn’t end up writing about it anywhere, but it is a 2018 picture book I enjoyed. Jasper the Business Pig (who prefers flows charts over foraging or mud baths) made me laugh — just to look at him did. Zuill has a distinctive style, and her expressive line work and understated humor bring to life endearing oddball characters. She’s back this year with another awkward and eccentric, yet lovable, character — Sweety.

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At Kirkus several weeks ago, I wrote about a small handful of new board books I love, and one of them was Aaron Becker’s You Are Light (Candlewick). It will be on shelves at the end of this month. Here is that Kirkus column, if you’d like to read more about the book.

Today, Aaron visits to talk a bit about creating this book and to share some process images (as well as a bit of final art). I thank him for sharing.

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“Whisper, nudge. Look!”

 
If you visit Taia Morley’s site, you’ll see she’s hardly new to children’s books (and that she has also previously worked as a toy and game designer). But Wake Up, Color Pup (Random House, March 2019), which she’s here to talk about today, is her first book as both author and illustrator.

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“nest + robin = jewelry box”

 
Up for some poetry? And math? And science? Over at BookPage, I’ve a review of Laura Purdie Salas’s Snowman – Cold = Puddle: Spring Equations (Charlesbridge, February 2019), illustrated by Micha Archer. I love this playful book, and it makes me want to snap my fingers and be in a school library again so that I can share it with both students and teachers.

That review is here if you’d like to read more about the book, and here at 7-Imp today I’ve some of Archer’s art from the book.

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I’m doing something a little bit different today. When I saw the announcement this week of this year’s Children’s Book Week poster, I knew I wanted to be sure to share it here at 7-Imp, for those of you who haven’t seen it yet. Illustrated by Yuyi Morales, it celebrates the centennial celebration of Children’s Book Week. Children’s Book Week, established in 1919 and administered by the Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader, is an annual celebration of books for young people and the joy of reading. You can read more about it (and the poster) here. And then head to everychildareader.net (where you can, if you’re so inclined, download your own hi-res version of this poster).

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“This is a bird. …”
(Click to enlarge spread and read text in its entirety)

 
I’ve a Spanish picture book import for you today, dear Imps. Pepe Márquez’s Nests (StarBerry Books), illustrated by Natalia Colombo, was originally released in 2013 and will be on shelves in the U.S. next month.

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“One morning, there was a big commotion on the boat. Gittel scrambled up on deck
to see what all the excitement was about. ‘Look, look.’ Everyone pointed
in the same direction as a great cheer arose. ‘There she is.'”
(Click image to see spread in its entirety and to read the full text)

 
Let’s take a look today at Gittel’s Journey: An Ellis Island Story (Abrams, February 2019), written by the prolific author Lesléa Newman and illustrated by Amy June Bates. It’s the story of a young Jewish girl who plans to emigrate to America with her mother, yet has to take the trip across the ocean alone. It’s based on two true stories from the author’s own family — a story from her grandmother’s childhood, in which she (her Grandma Ruthie) emigrated in 1900 from what she called the “Old Country” to America, as well as a story from a childhood friend of the author’s mother.

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