Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

 
Happy New Year, dear Imps! Today, I’m pleased to welcome author-illustrator Jamie Hogan, who shares some process images and final art from her wondrous 2021 book, Skywatcher (Tilbury House, October).

Skywatcher tells the story of boy who lives in a “worn brick building” in the city and loves to read his Skywatcher comics, which are about a woman who travels the universe. The city lights, however, outshine the stars in the bustling city where this boy lives, and he wonders: “How could Skywatcher find her way through the universe without the stars?” The boy’s mother surprises him with a camping trip far from the city, and the two of them wake in the middle of the night to a beautiful surprise.

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Here’s a snowy holiday image from author-illustrator Tim Miller. I always love to see his work.

I hope all of you reading this had a happy holiday, however you celebrate it!

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I’m sending you to the Horn Book’s Calling Caldecott today to read, if you’re so inclined, Monique Harris’s wonderful post on Bryan Collier’s illustrations for We Shall Overcome (Orchard Books). This is a picture book adaptation of the classic gospel / protest song, and I believe it will be on shelves at the end of this month. (It might already be on shelves, but it’s hard to tell anymore with the shipping delays we’re experiencing in this country and the ways in which that has affected book publishing.)

And because you know I like to share art, you can head back here when you’re done reading Monique’s post to see some spreads from this book. More are pictured below!

Monique’s post is here. Enjoy!

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“Christmas tree and menorah light / Red and green and blue and white
Stronger together / Shining bright!”
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Sometimes you set out to write about a picture book and, before you do, you read a review of it or someone else’s thoughts on the book. And then you’re utterly ruined for articulating your thoughts, because … well, that person did such a good job. That’s how I feel about author Laurel Snyder’s recent piece at the New York Times on Lee Wind’s Red and Green and Blue and White (Levine Querido, October 2021), illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky. Laurel does a beautiful job of capturing this book’s special-ness. And she does so in such a direct way, with no word acrobatics or clichéd review-speak. (If you’re interested in reading her piece and can access it, it’s here.)

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“Azaria’s house is next to the park. That girl can really jump some rope! She can do Double Dutch on one leg at a time. She can turn around and touch the ground. She can jump by herself with two ropes. She can even dance, jupm, and dream of winning a shiny trophy one day, all at the same time. When she flies down the street, swinging her rope, she lifts her long brown legs as high as the sun.”
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I think that the smartest way I can tell you about Tricia Elam Walker’s Dream Street (Anne Schwartz Books, November 2021), illustrated by Ekua Holmes, is to suggest you read Dr. Michelle Martin’s review of it at the Horn Book, because she does such an eloquent job of describing it (“a stunning work of art that ­dismantles stereotypes about Black communities and portrays a place where love abounds”). The book, as another review notes, is more like a string of character studies than it is a story. It captures the lives, brief histories (in some instances), and aspirations of the members of the community on Dream Street, “the best street in the world!” Evidently, it’s based on the Roxbury neighborhood in Boston where the author and illustrator grew up together as cousins. There is even a spread featuring two young girls, one drawing and one writing: “The cousins dreams that someday they’ll create a picture book together about everyone they know and meet on Dream Street.”

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I’ve a review over at the Horn Book of Brendan Wenzel’s newest picture book, Inside Cat (Chronicle, October 2021).

That review is here, and below are some spreads.

Enjoy!

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It has been troubling to me to see the number of news stories about states (including mine) passing legislation to ban discussions in classrooms and libraries that address the racism that is very much a part of America’s past — and present. This has a huge effect on the books that are then shared in classrooms. As you can read here, the people going after critical race theory are engaging in overexaggerations of what it really is. We will never progress with regards to racial equality in this country without giving students truthful accounts of our country’s racist past and present, and giving young people the skill set to critically examine how systemic racism has and continues to shape this country is but one step toward that progress.

Cue Nikole Hannah-Jones’s The 1619 Project. You may be familiar with its New York Times’s and/or podcast iterations, and now it’s in book form. (I haven’t read it yet, but it’s on my holiday wish list.) Hannah-Jones also joined Renée Watson to pen the powerful picture book The 1619 Project: Born on the Water (Kokila, November 2021). Read the rest of this entry �

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Today, I’m happy to welcome author-illustrator Steven Weinberg, who is here to talk about his new board book series, the Big Job Books, as well as the illustrated chapter book he released earlier this year, The Middle Kid (Chronicle, March 2021).

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I’ve a review over at BookPage of Anne Wynter’s spectacular debut picture book, Everybody in the Red Brick Building (Balzer + Bray, October 2021), illustrated by Oge Mora.

You can read that here, and below are some of Mora’s dynamic spreads.

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Kathi Appelt’s newest middle-grade novel, Once Upon a Camel, is the epic story of a camel, some baby kestrels, and the immense power of stories. I had the opportunity to chat with Kathi about this book over at Chapter 16. Our chat is here.

The novel is illustrated by Eric Rohmann. Check out that striking cover above.

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