Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Every now and then, I like to check in and see what author/illustrator and designer Craig Frazier is doing. Last June (2011, that is), he visited 7-Imp—his Pearly-Gates Pivot response is still one of my favorites—and shared lots of artwork.

Craig’s got a new illustrated book out, Tyler Makes Pancakes! (HarperCollins, April 2012), written by Food Network chef Tyler Florence. It’s all about a young boy (whose dog, Tofu, is along for the fun), who wakes up with pancakes on the mind and then sets out to make some. In the process, he learns about where the ingredients come from, thanks to Mr. Jones at the local market. (Yep, this is for all those who think pancakes come from a box. No, that’s eggs, buttermilk, butter, flour, and maple syrup, thanks very much.) Read the rest of this entry �

I’m going to be brief today, because I may or may not be on the road or in the air or on the water, and I’m about to take a blog break for a few days, too. (If that “few days” is entirely too vague, well … this is how I roll at 7-Imp. My apologies. I mostly don’t know what I’m going to be posting about till, say, the week before; it all depends on what’s inspiring me. That said, I should be back on Wednesday. I think? Yes, let’s just say Wednesday.)

I do hope that my dear kickers come along and leave their kicks, though it may take me a while to read and respond this week. “A while” is vague, too, huh? Er, sorry? I’ll do my best. And, no matter when I read them, I know I’ll enjoy them. I always do.

Today’s one lonely illustration is from Adam Rex. Hey, wait. I take that back. It might be alone / solo / without its Plus One illustration, but it is, indeed, not lonely — on account of how it’s radiating … well, sheer awesomeness, to be blunt about it. That’s a library I want to visit. Read the rest of this entry �

Given that here in Nashville we just beat our own record high temps—we got up to 110 degrees on Friday—I’m liking this opening image from Moira Swiatkowski. That girl is in a coat and scarf, by God! If only …

(Moira actually tells me that Me and My Gang can come hang out with her in Cape Cod to cool off. A swim and some ice cream up there. I wish.)

If Moira’s name is familiar to my dear Sunday kickers, it’s because she is one. She’s been “kicking” here on Sundays for a while now. Naturally, I ended up at her site—as I’m sure many of you have at some point—and decided I’d see if she’d like to come share some of her artwork. Lucky for us, she agreed.

I’m going to turn it right over to Moira, who’s going to introduce herself, and I thank her for visiting today … Read the rest of this entry �

I love this illustration, which comes from freelance illustrator, designer, and comic artist Jake Parker.

Jake is the creator of the Missile Mouse graphic novel series, published by Scholastic, and he has also worked for Blue Sky Studios. While at Blue Sky, Jake created sets and environments for such films as Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and Rio. Right now, Jake—who lives in Utah with his family—is working as a freelance artist, creating picture books and comics.

Most recently, Jake embarked on a project to fund The Antler Boy and Other Stories, a collection of short comic stories he’s been writing and drawing over the past eight years. There’s more information in the below video, as well as lots of art. (For the record, I haven’t seen The Antler Boy yet, but this doesn’t stop me from featuring Jake’s art today.)

I thank Jake for visiting. Be sure to visit his site for more of his work (and previously published books); the “characters” page is particularly fun. His blog is here. I hope we see more of Jake’s art in even more picture books in the near future.

Oh, and I have to start out with his tattooed Santa, though it’s nowhere near Christmas. I love him too much — and maybe he’ll help us cool down a bit, even if he himself seems to be in swimming trunks. Read the rest of this entry �

Happy Father’s Day to all you fathers and father-type people out there. I don’t have Father’s Day-esque art today, but author/illustrator Jeff Mack is visiting and sharing illustrations, and I’m happy he’s stopped by.

So, here’s the thing … About a couple of months ago, I guess it was, I read Jeff’s Frog and Fly: Six Slurpy Stories (Philomel Books, March 2012) and enjoyed it. (Some spreads and the book’s cover are featured below.) These are funny stories, rendered in big cartoon art, for so-called emerging readers, involving a slightly macabre, straight-talk-about-the-food-chain kind of humor. (The frog manages to catch and consume a fly in each story, since that’s how the good ‘ol-fashioned food web tends to work, though in the end, he just might get his comeuppance.)

“Newly fledged readers should be amused by the early-Muppet–style humor,” wrote the Kirkus review. “The comic-book pacing keeps each separate ‘chapter’ fresh and funny, and the sunny palette keeps the tone light, even as the fly gets snaggled, over and over.”

And I had decided back then, when first reading the book, to see if Jeff wanted to visit the blog and share images.

And then, as often happens, I got busy and never asked him directly.

But then, just last week, I read his other new title, pictured here, and my eight-year-old and I laughed our fool heads off. It’s called Good News, Bad News (Chronicle Books), and I think it’s scheduled for an early July release. With just five words (“good news” and “bad news” on each spread — and a “very” thrown in for good measure at the end), Jeff tells the mighty funny and briskly-paced story of two friends, one half-glass-full and one glass-mostly-empty. Rabbit’s cheery nature and spontaneous naïveté, paired with Mouse’s sour disposition, make for some hearty laughs. There’s some slapstick humor to boot, and this one also serves as a great title for emerging readers. (They will read these five words with great confidence, as Jeff relays the dramatic action via the energetic artwork.)

Right after I read this one, I contacted Jeff immediately. Finally. So, he’s here today to share some images from those books, as well as a couple of others that I haven’t seen yet that are forthcoming titles. Read the rest of this entry �

I’m going to keep short the introduction to today’s featured picture book, Animal Masquerade (published by Kids Can Press in March and originally published under the title Au carnaval des animaux), ’cause it’s just so fun that I want to get right to it.

Anyone, by any chance, remember this 2010 book from Canadian illustrator Marianne Dubuc? (That was her first picture book to be translated into English.)

Well, she’s back with a similar book. Similar, that is, in terms of format — it’s another small, square, snug book. But it’s also similar in that, once again, there’s really no dramatic action or complicated narrative thread to speak of here. This time there’s an animal masquerade—“Disguises are a must!”—and each animal chooses a disguise, as you can see below in the art featured here today. As with the last book, page turns are the stars here; each animal’s disguise is revealed after each turn. This propels the book forward with a brisk energy. There’s occasional funny commentary, such as: “The hen didn’t dress up. She didn’t understand a thing. (She isn’t very smart.)” But, for the most part, the child reader can kick back to enjoy the surprises and costume-reveals. And revel in the deliciousness of an animal masquerade. (To be clear, some human animals are involved, too, as well as chocolate cake — perhaps even one disguised as another, as you can see below.) Read the rest of this entry �

It’s the first Sunday of the month, which means it’s time here at 7-Imp to shine the spotlight on a student or new-to-the-field illustrator.

Today I’ve got illustrator, artist, and mural-maker Robert Trujillo, who is from Oakland, California. Robert has yet to be published as an illustrator but is, as he told me, trying to learn more about the field and meet like minds “in real time or through the Web.”

Speaking of the Web, Robert’s site is the cool side of satin, especially if you dig art and jazz (and/or funk and/or soul). Case-in-point is here.

Okay, digression over.

The illustration above, rendered in watercolor and ink, is one of two illustrations Robert created from a short story he’s written about a mother and daughter who build their own lowrider. The second illustration, as well as more artwork from Robert, is below.

And here are more words from Robert, who is pictured above at a recent visit to an elementary school in Sacramento. (More on that visit and more pictures are here at Robert’s site.) Read the rest of this entry �

I may have said only about 7,000 times in 2011 that one of my favorite picture books of that year was Eileen and Marc Rosenthal’s I Must Have Bobo! (I featured it here at 7-Imp in January with illustrations from the book, and Marc also visited the blog here in October.) The book, as I wrote last January, was a straight up showdown between one young boy, Willy, and the family cat, Earl, the dilemma being that the object of their affection is one beloved sock monkey, named Bobo. Bobo, however, can only be with one creature at a time. I also wrote back then that, if I could play for you all the main theme song from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly when discussing the book, I would.

It’s a very funny book.

Well… Willy, Bobo, and Earl are back in 2012. Can someone give me a “WOO!”? Rather, they returned in early April in I’ll Save You Bobo! (brought to us once again by Atheneum Books), and I’m finally getting around to giving the three of them the 7-Imp spotlight. Marc sent some illustrations from the book, as well as some early sketches.

As Publishers Weekly wrote about this one, the “war rages on!” Indeed. Willy is trying to read all about giant dinosaurs, but Earl hasn’t given up on his quest for Bobo and keeps interrupting. When Willy decides to write his own book, a scary adventure in which he’ll save Bobo, his imagination goes into overdrive as he incorporates a jungle, fierce wild animals, tigers, a scary snake tree, and even more. As he’s writing and illustrating this tale in the fort he’s made for himself and Bobo, Earl wreaks his own havoc upon the tale in more ways than one. But, ah, the power of creativity (and catharsis and channeling your rage into your works of art): The snake in Willy’s own story could always eat Earl alive … Read the rest of this entry �

It’s Mother’s Day, the day we celebrate all the mamas and mama-like people in our lives.

I thought the best way I could celebrate today here at 7-Imp would be to highlight the latest picture book from Gianna Marino, Meet Me at the Moon, released by Viking in late March. And Gianna is visiting today to share a collection of early dummies, early sketches, work-in-progress images, and final spreads from the book.

She also has the loveliest true tale about her own mother and the creation of this book.

The book, which Booklist describes as “[h]eartfelt and sincere, yet never cloying,” tells the story of a young elephant and his mother. Little One is worried, because his mother must leave to “climb the highest mountain to ask the skies for rain.” Telling Little One to listen for her song on the wind, know that the warmth of the sun means she loves him, and find the brightest star to see her, she leaves. “When the night sky is bright, Little One,” she adds, “meet me at the moon, where the sky touches the earth.”

In their starred review, Kirkus writes: “The textured mixed-media art paired with the flowing text elevates this title above most missing-mama fare. The full-bleed double-page spreads evoke the vastness of the plains and the night sky, while the finely detailed striping of the zebras and the intricate branches of the trees produce a striking contrast with the huge circles of the sun or moon that dominate most scenes. Radiating warmth and comfort, this distinguished title strikes home.”

This one also made it in the New York Times just the other day.

Here’s Gianna, and I thank her for visiting and sharing. Read the rest of this entry �

In the Summer of 2011, I wrote at Kirkus about TOON Books. Today’s post is about a new TOON title, R. Kikuo Johnson’s The Shark King, so if you’re thinking, TOON hubba WHAT? and what is Jules going on about NOW?, then you can head on over to that Kirkus column to get the low-down on this imprint.

And I like this new title. I do. You won’t see anything else like it this year. Read the rest of this entry �