Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

One More Note: This is our third entry in this week’s Winter Blog Blast Tour. To see the master schedule of all interviews this week, go here at Chasing Ray, and for today’s schedule of interviews, scroll to the bottom of this post. We will also be interviewing YA author Gabrielle Zevin tomorrow.

It is a real honor for me to feature today an interview with the one. the. only. Jack Gantos (pictured above at Franz Kafka’s house in Prague). I’m a big fan of his books and have had the great pleasure of hearing him speak several times (including taking a short course on picture books, which he taught one summer at The University of Tennessee). What can I say? If you’ve ever heard Jack speak, you know how quick-witted and honest and entertaining he is. To boot, he has a refreshingly irreverent sense of humor, which makes his books and his speaking engagements quite unforgettable. Above all, there’s his talent with the pen and the quality of his writing — his ability to bring such vivid stories and characters to life, stories that target every age range, from picture books to novels for adults.

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Below is today’s Robert’s Snow schedule. The snowflake pictured here is Calef Brown’s 2005 snowflake, entitled “Minotaur in an Argyle Cardigan.”

Did you see yesterday’s features? Our last Blogging for a Cure podcast was posted at Just One More Book!! And it was an informative interview with illustrator Scott Magoon, who is also an art director at Houghton Mifflin and talked about the role of an art director (which I had all wrong in my head, so I’m glad JOMB and Scott set me straight). All the features were great, and that feature reminded me — as many have — what a great resource we’ll have when the whole fundraising effort is said and done (as I’m compiling them all on this page for all of us picture book lovers). Read the rest of this entry �

No 7-Imp interviews today in the Winter Blog Blast Tour, but below are the other interviews lined up for today. We’ll be back tomorrow with our interview with the. one. the. only. Jack Gantos.

Before that, though, we want to quickly say (and hope she doesn’t hate us for announcing it loudly here):

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, COLLEEN, BLOG-BLAST-TOUR-ORGANIZER-EXTRAORDINAIRE!

• Lisa Ann Sandell at Interactive Reader
• Christopher Barzak at Chasing Ray
• Julie Halpern at The Ya Ya Yas
• Micol Ostow at Shaken & Stirred
• Rick Yancey at Hip Writer Mama
• Jane Yolen at A Fuse #8 Production
• Shannon Hale at Bookshelves of Doom
• Maureen Johnson at Bildungsroman
• David Lubar at Writing & Ruminating
• Sherman Alexie at Finding Wonderland

Below is today’s Robert’s Snow schedule. The snowflake pictured here is an older one (2005), created by illustrator Eric Rohmann.

Quick note: Remember when I featured Jane Yolen’s beautiful ’04 snowflake, her original poem on a snowflake from that year? Well, I didn’t know then — but I know now — that the artist who did the calligraphy on that flake is Agy Wilson (she’s also an author and egg artist as well as an illustrator and calligrapher). You can read all about her here at Yellapalooza or see some of her artwork here. Wahoo!

Did you see yesterday’s features? Jama Rattigan talked to Carol Schwartz about her art-making process, and as I read it, I was reminded what a great resource we’re building on this page (where all the features are being compiled) for those interested in reading about picture book art and illustrators. All the features were great, and thanks — as usual — to all participating bloggers.

Here is today’s snow schedule:

• Jeff Ebbeler, featured by Sam Riddleburger at his blog
• Scott Magoon, featured by Mark and Andrea at Just One More Book!!
• Connie McLennan, featured by Alyssa at The Shady Glade
• Julie Paschkis, featured by David Elzey at the excelsior file

Addendum: Please note that Sam Riddleburger has said that he finally got an image of Jeff Ebbeler’s ’07 snowflake up at his feature. Don’t miss it!

One More Note: This is our second entry in this week’s Winter Blog Blast Tour. To see the master schedule of all interviews this week, go here at Chasing Ray, and for today’s schedule of interviews, scroll to the bottom of this post. We will also be interviewing Jack Gantos on Thursday and YA author Gabrielle Zevin on Friday of this week.

It’s difficult to do an interview with the one and only Jon Scieszka (drawn in caricature here by Adam Rex and used with Adam’s permission) when it’s coming on the heels of the informative interview in the most recent special issue of the Horn Book (the September/October issue), “Boys and Girls.” There was also Roger Sutton’s August podcast interview with Jon, which can still be accessed here, in which Jon discusses teaching, reading, and the singular wit of second graders.

But we interviewed him anyway, ’cause we could not pass up the chance. If you’re a children’s lit aficionado who has been living under a rock, we suppose you might need a Scieszka 101, but arguably he’s an author who needs no introduction. But here’s a brief rundown:

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Below is today’s Robert’s Snow schedule. The snowflake pictured here is Peter Sís’ 2004 snowflake, entitled “Fish.”

Did you see yesterday’s features? Anna Alter shared — in her feature at The Longstockings’ blog — a series of photos depicting the creative process for her snowflake. And to see the second lovely lion snowflake in this year’s auction, go see Jo Whittemore’s feature of Cece Bell and her snowflake. All the features were a treat to read; thanks to all participating bloggers.

Here is today’s snow schedule. Yes, it’s a Snow Day again:

• Carol Heyer, featured by Alyssa at The Shady Glade
• Joe Kulka, featured by Liz Dubois at ChatRabbit
• Steven James Petruccio, featured by Wendy E. Betts at Blog From the Windowsill
• Carol Schwartz, featured by Jama Rattigan at jama rattigan’s alphabet soup

Don’t forget this page with the master schedule of all the features thus far.

Eisha and I are taking part in the Winter Blog Blast Tour this week, as organized by Colleen Mondor of Chasing Ray (if you missed the Summer Blog Blast Tour, it’s a multi-blog series of interviews of children’s and YA authors). Here’s the week’s master schedule of interviews, and you can scroll down to the bottom of this interview to see today’s schedule of interview goodness. This week we’ll be chatting with Jon Scieszka, Jack Gantos, and Gabrielle Zevin here at 7-Imp.

Eisha once told me in college that I speak in hyperbole, that — as Adrienne over at WATAT has said about herself before (and it’s quite endearing when she does it) — lots of things are “The Best Thing Ever.” Well, I’d like to think that I don’t do that too severely here at 7-Imp, but I bet I run the risk of looking like I do, since the way most of us bloggers roll in Blogistan is that we cover the books we like and interview the folks whose books we adore (though we do make exceptions to the former here at 7-Imp, such as here and here recently). And that would be because, well . . . no one pays us to do this, and we’re already blogging instead of sleeping. We simply don’t have time to do long, logorrheic posts about books we didn’t even like enough to finish or authors who put us to sleep.

So, will you believe me when I say that I think Phyllis Root (pictured above, doing field research last fall for a book about Minnesota) is a tremendously talented author who wows with me just about every book she writes? And has for a long time? And that she’s a master of the picture book form? ‘Cause she is. She really and truly is one of the Best Things Ever, especially when it comes to the complex and wonderful art form which is the picture book. Read the rest of this entry �

One of my wee daughters is slightly ill, and I don’t have as much time this evening (Sunday) to devote to doing up today’s Robert’s Snow schedule all pretty with some gorgeous snowflake from a previous year. I have just about enough time to merely post today’s schedule — and add my usual comments: Don’t miss yesterday’s great features, and don’t forget this page with the master schedule of all the features thus far. Enjoy today’s features. Until tomorrow . . .

• Anna Alter at The Longstockings
• Laura Huliska Beith, featured by Andrea and Mark at Just One More Book!!
• Cece Bell, featured by Jo Whittemore at Jo’s Journal
• Denise Ortakales, featured by Cynthia Lord at cynthialord’s Journal

Jules: So, a while ago I read this intermediate-aged book called Billy Hooten: Owlboy (Yearling; released in July of ’07). Have you read it yet? It’s good stuff, the first book in a fantasy-comedy series for children, all about a misfit kid who becomes an unlikely superhero. Billy Hooten is what most people would call a nerd and gets picked on a lot at school. But after he tries to help someone in need in the cemetery bordering his back yard, he stumbles upon bizarro, creature-ridden Monstros City, which lies underneath Billy’s hometown of Bradbury, Massachusetts. When he finds out that, indeed, the residents of Monstros City believe him to be the next Owlboy — their revered superhero and the protagonist in a beloved, old-skool comic book series — he has to determine for himself if he can live up to the name.

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Okay, wow. Look at that snowflake.

As you know, a whole ton of bloggers are featuring some of this year’s snowflakes and their artists in this Blogging for the Cure effort, which is over half-way complete, for Robert’s Snow: for Cancer’s Cure. I committed to featuring each day’s schedule here at 7-Imp, and — since I can’t stand to post without images — I started posting pictures of older snowflakes. Then I started posting images of ’07 snowflakes that were not assigned to a blogger. But, the last time I checked, there weren’t any more not already featured or assigned to a blogger (if any illustrator out there reading this isn’t already assigned to a blogger and wants to send me your snowflake image, I’ll be happy to post it one day). So, now I’m back to posting images of older flakes, and I just stumbled upon this ’04 snowflake by Jane Yolen, which brought tears to my eyes. Here’s the note under the snowflake at the Robert’s Snow site:

Grace was sitting in Jane’s living room, meeting for the first time, and showing her the first dozen snowflakes. They had bonded immediately, and not just because they are children’s book people. Both their husbands were struggling with cancer, though 30+ years apart. Jane sighed. “I wish I could paint. I’d do you a snowflake in a heartbeat.” Grace smiled, “Write a poem. I’ll get someone to calligraph it.” And so it happened. Not in a heartbeat. Poems don’t happen quickly, but with plenty of heart.

I. love. that. Be still, my heart.

Below is today’s Robert’s Snow schedule. Read the rest of this entry �