Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Here is the Robert’s Snow illustrator-and-snowflake feature schedule for Sunday, October 21. Featured here is Peter McCarty’s 2005 snowflake, “Blue Mood,” rendered in ink. Here’s a note-from-the-artist that went with the snowflake: “I have been known for a soft style. I enjoyed doing the snowflake because it helped me to open up a bit. I would love to make books in the future that are like this. Thank you.”

I love it. Love it. LOVE IT. Yes, I’m yelling.

In this below schedule, the illustrator’s name links to his/her website, but click on the blog to be taken to that blogger’s snowflake/illustrator feature:

* Matthew Cordell, featured by “LindaBudz” at Just Like the Nut

* Maxwell Eaton III, featured by Darla at Books and Other Thoughts

* Roz Fulcher, featured by Sheri Goad at Goading the Pen

* Susie Jin, featured by Stephanie Ruble at sruble’s world

* Susan Mitchell, featured by “MsMac” at Check It Out

Did you see yesterday’s features? Which snowflake has “a dash of Antonio Banderas”? Hmmm, you’ll have to read them all to find out (but here’s a hint). And which snowflake has a lift-the-flap feature (oh people, it’s so flippin’ puddin’ cute and charming and clever that I almost can’t stand it) and its illustrator explains to you how in Japan paper artists are treated like sports heroes? Hmmm again, you’ll have to read them all to find out (but, okay, here’s another easy hint). All the features were fun to read, and thanks again to all participating bloggers.

As I say every single day in case you’ve missed it, don’t forget this new page here at 7-Imp, updated daily, which lists all the illustrator features thus far in one spot, and it’s turning into a handy-dandy, way-cool illustrator resource for us Picture Book Nerds.

Here is the Robert’s Snow illustrator-and-snowflake feature schedule for Saturday, October 20. And, hey, look! Thacher Hurd made a snowflake in 2005. It’s pictured here and is called — you guessed it — “Skating Alligator.” (And, having just seen his site for the first time, I see that he is very modest about his parentage at his bio: “Thacher grew up in a family of children’s book artists.” Well, that’s one way to put it — as the son of Clement Hurd and the person to whom Goodnight Moon is dedicated. Humble, indeed. But I digress).

In this below schedule, the illustrator’s name links to his/her website, but click on the blog to be taken to that blogger’s snowflake/illustrator feature:

* Linas Alsenas, featured by cloudscome at A Wrung Sponge

* Theresa Brandon, featured by Alyssa at The Shady Glade

* Karen Katz, featured by Emily Beeson at Whimsy Books

* Judy Schachner, featured by Kate Messner at Kate’s Book Blog

* Sally Vitsky, featured by Kerry at Shelf Elf: read, write, rave

Did you see yesterday’s features? Did you see Jeff Newman’s snowflake (!), as featured by Franki at A Year of Reading? Did you hear Blogging for the Cure’s first ever podcast? Do you know what Roald Dahl and his delightfully terrifying children’s poem, “The Pig,” has to do with Robert’s Snow? And what Renaissance paintings and pensive pigs have to do with it? Visit this feature from yesterday to find out. All the features were fun to read. Don’t miss ’em!

Don’t forget this new page here at 7-Imp, updated daily, which lists all the illustrator features thus far in one spot, and it’s turning into a handy-dandy, way-cool illustrator resource for us Picture Book Nerds.

Here is the Robert’s Snow illustrator-and-snowflake feature schedule for Friday, October 19 (pictured here is Christopher Denise’s ’04 snowflake, “Early Snow.” I’m tellin ya’, folks, these snowflakes are too. much. fun. I just had to pick myself up off the floor after seeing this older snowflake. Oliver Finds His Way is one of my favorite picture books ever — and, yes! O! Yes! We will be featuring an interview soon with Phyllis Root, who tells us all about the writing of that book, but I digress. I had no idea this snowflake even existed. Just look at Oliver there!) . . .

In this below schedule, the illustrator’s name links to his/her website, but click on the blog to be taken to that blogger’s snowflake/illustrator feature:

* Graeme Base, featured by Andrea and Mark at Just One More Book

* Denise Fleming, featured by Pamela Coughlan (a.k.a. MotherReader) at MotherReader

* Jeff Mack, featured by Gina Ruiz at AmoXcalli and at Cuentecitos

* Jeff Newman, featured by Franki and Mary Lee at A Year of Reading

* Ruth Sanderson, featured by Camille Powell at BookMoot

Did you see yesterday’s features? It was sort of like the ’80s edition, what with discussions of Jennifer Thermes’ big ’80s ‘do and Sam Riddleburger asking Erin Eitter Kono what her favorite post-’80s music video is. And just look at Henry ice skating from this feature of D.B. Johnson at Elisabeth Rose Gruner’s Lessons from the Tortoise. Oh my, does it get any better than Henry? . . . All the features were wonderful. Man, you bloggers are fabulous. What a great Week One it’s been for this Blogging for a Cure effort. Thank you all for making this entire event run so smoothly, for all the work you’ve put into it, and for all your interesting write-ups (and don’t forget that these features run every day ’til the day before the first auction. That means Saturdays and Sundays, too. So, hey, the week’s not over yet, friends. It will be cyber-snowing tomorrow and Sunday, too).

Also, check this out: Kris Bordessa from Paradise Found has compiled a list of the wonderful give-aways that bloggers and illustrators have provided thus far in the Blogging for a Cure effort. You can read it here. Thanks, Kris! There are some generous, lovely gifts available for you Picture Book Nerds (I say that lovingly; I, myself, am the worst offender of Picture Book Nerd-dom).

Don’t forget this new page here at 7-Imp, which lists all the illustrator features thus far in one spot, and it’s turning into a handy-dandy, way-cool illustrator resource for us nerds. I update it daily.

Hoo boy, let it keep snowing!

Here is the Robert’s Snow illustrator-and-snowflake feature schedule for Thursday, October 18 (pictured here is Cece Bell’s ’05 snowflake, “Sock Monkey’s Wonderful Winter Wear”).

In this below schedule, the illustrator’s name links to his/her website, but click on the blog to be taken to that blogger’s snowflake/illustrator feature:

* Brooke Dyer, featured by Leila Roy at bookshelves of doom

* D.B. Johnson, featured by Elisabeth Rose Gruner at Lessons from the Tortoise

* Erin Eitter Kono, featured by Sam Riddleburger at his blog

* Sherry Rogers, featured by Loree Griffin Burns at A Life in Books

* Jennifer Thermes, featured by Gail Maki Wilson at Through the Studio Door

Did you see yesterday’s features? Did you read all about Diane deGroat’s taxidermy collection, which aids in her illustrating, at jama rattigan’s alphabet soup? Do you know how snowflakes are like potato chips? Rick Chrustowski can tell you at Laura Purdie Salas’ blog. And you can read here about the process of painting with acrylics while illustrator Don Tate talks about the painting of his snowflake, as pointed out at Pam Calvert’s The Silving Lining yesterday. All five features were fun to read, and thanks again to all the bloggers involved in this spread-the-word effort.

Don’t forget this new page here at 7-Imp, which lists all the illustrator features thus far in one spot.

Here is the Robert’s Snow illustrator-and-snowflake feature schedule for Wednesday, October 17 (pictured here is Julie Paschkis’ ’04 snowflake, “Ecce Acorn”).

In this below schedule, the illustrator’s name links to his/her website, but click on the blog to be taken to that blogger’s snowflake/illustrator feature:

* Rick Chrustowski, featured by Laura Purdie Salas at laurasalas

* Diane deGroat, featured by Jama Rattigan at jama rattigan’s alphabet soup

* Ilene Richard, featured by Susan Dove Lempke at Something Different Every Day

* Brie Spangler, featured by Kimberly at lectitans

* Don Tate, featured by Pam Calvert at The Silver Lining

Did you see yesterday’s features? They were a delight to read. Did you know that Kris Bordessa at Paradise Found announced in her feature of Alexandra Boiger that Ms. Boiger has generously offered to send an art print of “Rotkaeppchen” (Little Red Riding Hood, pictured at Kris’ post about Alexandra’s snowflake) to one of her blog visitors? Do you know how beautiful this print is, everyone? Wow. Thanks to Kris and to EVERYONE ELSE yesterday for their wonderful posts.

Please note — if you missed this yesterday — that I have started a page here at 7-Imp that includes a comprehensive listing of all the snowflake/illustrator features. You can see it here. At the end of each day, I’ll add the daily schedule and will leave it here for all posterity at 7-Imp, as a record of all the bloggers’ hard work and talents — and as a handy resource on illustrators for Picture Book Nerds like me to enjoy.

That’s it for today. Enjoy the posts. And go buy a snowflake already . . .

Here is the Robert’s Snow illustrator-and-snowflake feature schedule for Tuesday, October 16 (pictured here is Anna Alter’s ’04 snowflake, “A Cat in the Snow”). In this below schedule, the illustrator’s name links to his/her website, but click on the blog to be taken to that blogger’s snowflake/illustrator feature:

* Selina Alko, featured by Cheryl Klein at Brooklyn Arden

* Scott Bakal, featured by Elaine Magliaro at Wild Rose Reader

* Alexandra Boiger, featured by Kris Bordessa at Paradise Found

* Paige Keiser, featured by Paula Willey at Your Neighborhood Librarian

* Janet Stevens, featured by Tricia Stohr-Hunt at The Miss Rumphius Effect . . .

Did everyone see yesterday’s features? They were a fabulous start to this whole effort. Maybe each day I can pick out one moment to highlight (if I had more hours in the day, I’d do more): One excellent moment from yesterday, other than seeing Grace Lin’s smiling face and all the great write-ups, was Kevin Hawkes telling Cynthia Lord (here) that illustrators “bring the greatest art to children’s books” and that “children truly deserve that.”

Please note that I have started a page here at 7-Imp that includes a comprehensive listing of all the snowflake/illustrator features. You can see it here. At the end of each day, I’ll add the daily schedule and will leave it here for all posterity at 7-Imp, as a record of all the bloggers’ hard work and talents — and as a handy resource on illustrators for Picture Book Nerds like me to enjoy.

One more final note: I can’t possibly count all the bloggers who have been talking up this Blogging for a Cure effort, and I thank you all (according to the ever-informative Tracy Grand at JacketFlap, 169 posts about Robert’s Snow were posted mid-day yesterday!). But one post worth noting, as it involves the creation of a snowflake by, well, a stuffed elephant, is here at Ellsworth’s Journal, via author Candice Ransom.

That’s it for now. Enjoy the posts. And go buy a snowflake already . . .

{Pictured here is illustrator Anna Alter’s 2005 snowflake for the Robert’s Snow auctions. Since I like to use images in my posts, since this snowflake is so beautiful, and since Anna is a part of The Blue Rose Girls — along with Grace Lin, whose husband this effort is in memory of — I hope it’s okay to be borrowing this image for this post!}

It’s time, everyone! It’s time for the Blogging for a Cure effort to begin! Seven cheers for all the bloggers who will be highlighting some of the 2007 snowflakes and the illustrators who created them in the name of helping to raise money to fight cancer for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Back in September, the call to bloggers began, and over 70 bloggers responded, saying that they’d like to do what they can in this multi-blog, cross-posting effort to drive traffic to the online Robert’s Snow auctions and help raise money, we hope, for cancer research. And it’s all in the memory of Robert Mercer, Grace Lin’s husband, who recently passed away due to a rare form of cancer.

Read the rest of this entry �

Hi, everyone. One more post here that is a bit of business, so to speak, and not a review, but we promise to get back to reviews tomorrow.

You may remember the Blogging for the Cure effort, begun in mid-September. Well, in the way of an update, all is going well. Over 150 illustrators were chosen by approximately 65 bloggers, and they will be featuring the snowflake-making illustrators (some of them, but not all of them, by any means) for the Robert’s Snow 2007 online auctions, starting October 15 and all the way up until the day before the first auction, November 18. That means that during that time, about four or five illustrators a day will be featured at various blogs, even on Saturdays and Sundays. We will all link to one another’s features so that folks can easily find which illustrator and his/her snowflake is being featured where. 7-Imp will commit to having the master schedule posted here for each day during this effort, which will last a little over a month. Remember: The goal is to drive traffic to the Robert’s Snow site so that more snowflakes will get sold to raise money in the fight against cancer.

The bloggers involved are really excited to feature these beautiful snowflakes and the artists who created them.

If you live in the Massachusetts area, please note the following information, your opportunity to see some of these snowflakes in person at two special gallery showings between October and December:

For more information, read here. And you can view the ’07 snowflakes here. Remember that our devoted bloggers will be featuring them and the illustrators who created them, staring October 15. We’ll keep you updated here at 7-Imp about that snowflake-feature schedule, as we get closer to mid-October.

Let the fundraising begin!

Jules here. We had a blogger interview with the fabulously hip HipWriterMama planned for today, but we will feature that on Wednesday of this week. Tomorrow we have a surprise for our readers, particularly those of the picture-book-slant. And I hope to actually review a middle-grade or YA book some time soon, perhaps even today?? We had Radar Week and then Picture Book Week and then the Robert’s Snow call to bloggers . . . whew. We’ll get caught up on reviews soon.

Here is a finalized list of all the blogs who will be participating in the upcoming multi-blog effort to drive traffic to the Robert’s Snow site during their online auctions. All the snowflake-makin’ illustrators from this initial list have been snagged up by over 60 blogs, and we’ll be featuring them and their ’07 snowflakes and directing wannabe snowflake-buyers to the auction sites (I posted the Call to Bloggers on Thursday, and by Saturday evening we had all the bloggers we needed for over 150 illustrators!). Details as to when that all begins are to come soon . . . (If there were more hours in my day, those blogs in the linked list would be hyperlinked for you, but for now you’ll have to cut and paste if you want to visit some of them. Isn’t that an impressive turn-out?).

To be clear, there were many bloggers who expressed interest in participating but sat back and offered to let others highlight, promising to help spread the word and publicize this multi-blog, cross-posting effort when the time comes (or even assist other bloggers), such as Read Write Believe; Robin Brande; Journey Woman; JacketFlap; The Reading Tub; Miss Erin; Jen Robinson; Bottom Shelf Books; Roz Fulcher; Liz In Ink; and I’m sure more that I’m perhaps forgetting. I’m mentioning this now a) out of gratitude and b) ’cause they’re not on the linked list (the linked list features bloggers who will actually be highlighting a snowflake-makin’ illustrator — or two or three or four or five).

Many thanks to all you bloggers out there for your interest in this event . . . And, again, more details later as to when the illustrator-features begin. Until then . . .

Hi, everyone. The response to the recent post about our multi-blog effort to drive traffic to the upcoming Robert’s Snow online auctions was overwhelmingly positive. Whoa. THANK YOU to each and every blogger who posted about this and spread the word and/or signed up to feature an illustrator. I especially want to thank those who posted about it, because I (Jules) haven’t had time to read all the posts yet, and I’m sure there were some lovely ones written. And I want to commend all the bloggers for being so patient and gracious about choosing folks. There was never once a moment of bickering over choosing one illustrator over another; not that I expected you all to be that way. Thanks for making it easy.

As of this moment in which I’m composing this post (Friday evening), we have had approximately sixty children’s lit bloggers/authors/illustrators/editors/etc. (but all bloggers, of course) respond, wanting to feature snowflake-makin’ illustrators, and some emails are still trickling in. Approximately 145 illustrators (of the 156 we were given) have been snatched up to be featured by bloggers. That leaves ten-ish illustrators left, whom I have no doubt will get snagged in no time flat. In other words, I really think we’ll get the entire list covered; there are more to come who have yet to finish their snowflakes, according to Dana-Farber, but even if this is all we get covered, that’s a lot.

I am 99.9% sure I’ve gotten back to everyone, but if, by some chance, you emailed me and I missed getting back to you, oh please please do contact me again. And, if so, I apologize, but — again — the emails came pouring in. I am pretty darn sure I’ve crossed all i’s and dotted all t’s here, but I’m just saying, for the record . . .

Thanks again to one and all. We will keep our 7-Imp readers up-to-date on when exactly this will all be launched. Please be patient while we work out the details; obviously, organization is key here. If you are a blogger who will be participating, let me quickly say that you should have gotten a big ‘ol email about the entire event (an update of sorts — actually, a few emails by now), so if — for some reason — you did not receive it, let Jules (who promises to get back to middle-grade and YA reviews soon!) know asap at seventhings *at* blaine *dot* org.

As someone else put it, let it snow!