Archive for April, 2012

Author Tammi Sauer Visits for Coffee
(With Art from Dan Santat, Bob Shea, Dan Krall,
Victoria Hutto, and Joe Berger,
Since I’m a Hopeless Illustration Junkie Who Can’t Help It)

h1 Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012


(Click to enlarge)

Next to author/illustrator Matthew Cordell, Tammi Sauer may very well be the busiest picture book author of 2012.

I wanted to chat with the very punny Tammi here at 7-Imp about her upcoming books—she sees five of her picture books released this year—and then she up and announced she was doing one of those newfangled, so-called blog tours for her picture book Bawk & Roll, being released today by Sterling and illustrated by the one and only Dan Santat. (How do you like their back-flap photos for this book, pictured right and below?) So, I said, Tams, sign me up for that blog tour thingy. (I don’t really call her “Tams,” but she’s visiting for coffee this morning, so why not?) But in true 7-Imp style, seeing as how I have an excessively overactive work ethic, not to mention I love me some picture books, I also secured some art from the other picture books Tammi will be releasing this year, so this is a long, art-filled post but also with some words from Tammi, of course.

Whew.

In fact, as you can see at the top of this post, I’ve got a wonderful image from Bawk & Roll—the back cover image, to be exact—but above that is an early sketch from Joe Berger for Tammi’s Princess in Training. I just really like that sketch, that bad-ass princess on her skateboard. More images from that book (which won’t be released from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt till October) are below.

In March of this year, we were already treated to one of Tammi’s books. (See art from Me Want Pet! below.) Bawk & Roll (the sequel to 2009’s Chicken Dance) is out today, as mentioned, and it’s mighty fun. “Sauer dispenses her many puns with an appealingly deft touch,” writes Kirkus, “offering a genuine lesson on friendship. Santat’s illustrations are similarly droll, featuring several clever and surprising page designs, making the most of the opportunity offered by the contrast between stage and audience. This flock rocks.” And, as mentioned, more Sauer picture books are to come this year.

So, let’s hear from Tammi, and as she talks I’ll show you some more of Dan’s entertaining illustrations from Bawk & Roll, as well as from all the other 2012 titles.

I thank her for visiting — and I thank all the illustrators sharing art today. Read the rest of this entry �

7-Imp’s 7 Kicks #275: Featuring Kenneth Kraegel

h1 Sunday, April 1st, 2012


“High in the branches of a massive chestnut tree, Henry found the grim Griffin. He held out his sword and cried: ‘AHA, STRANGE BIRD! I AM COME! AND AT LAST I HAVE FOUND A WORTHY OPPONENT! NOW UNSHEATHE YOUR CLAWS AND LET US HAVE ADO!’ And to Henry’s delight, the formidable beast agreed . . .”

Okay, I’m gonna be straight-up honest with you right off the bat this morning: No stealthy April Fool’s joke is hiding ’round the corner here at 7-Imp today. I know of other bloggers with sneaky, winky plans, but … well, since blogging comes after things like my children and work, I’m lucky to produce normal, non-jokey posts on a fairly consistent basis. My co-author, Peter D. Sieruta, even had a great idea for me. But, while I consider myself a mildly to moderately clever human (who really appreciated his funny suggestion), I have a terrible poker face, y’all, and I always ruin the punch line anyway.

Glad we got that out of the way.

So, no kidding, my post today is one of those where I feature a student or debut illustrator, since it’s the first Sunday of the month. (March, WHERE’D YOU GO anyway? That March. So zippy-quick and tricky.) Today it’s the latter, a self-taught debut author/illustrator, who lives in Michigan. His name is Kenneth Kraegel, and he’s visiting today to say a bit about his first book. Now, this picture book, King Arthur’s Very Great Grandson, comes out in July of this year (Candlewick), so I apologize for showing you art from a book you can’t quite yet purchase or find on library shelves, but July will be here before you know it. Moving on then … Read the rest of this entry �