Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Santa gets around any way he can, y’all.

And author-illustrator Brian Biggs proves this point in the newest entry in his Everything Goes series, called Everything Goes: Santa Goes Everywhere!, published by Balzer & Bray this September. This is actually a board book, and it’s good stuff. In fact, I did story time yesterday morning at Parnassus Books here in Nashville, and I brought this one along. The children there loved the book. There were many laughs, in particular, to see Santa on a speedboat. (And how much do I love the book’s cover? A whole heapin’ lot. Opening this post is the cover art.)

(By the way, that’s Brian pictured above and right. He painted himself into his new book about what goes on the sea, but more on that book below.)

I’ve posted before here at 7-Imp about this wonderful series (see this 2012 post in which I chat with Brian), which is perfect for the vehicle- and transportation-obsessed child in your life (or even growns-ups). I think it’d be unfortunate, though, to write about these books in such a way to imply they should be limited to only those who like moving vehicles of any sort. They’re such well-crafted books on many other levels, and they’re full of rewarding details. You will often hear Biggs compared to Richard Scarry when folks write about these books, and there’s a reason: They are spreads to pore over and take one’s time with, spreads full of many stories and running jokes and visual treats. Oh, and they’re educational too. Clearly. But, most importantly, they’re very fun. Read the rest of this entry �

Today over at Kirkus, I write about a new picture book from Uri Shulevitz. It’s called Dusk.

That is here this morning.

Last week, I wrote here about Isobel Harris’ Little Boy Brown (pictured left), illustrated by French graphic designer and illustrator André François and originally published in 1949.

I’m following up today with some art from the book, released by Enchanted Lion Books last month, which is below.

Enjoy!

Read the rest of this entry �

Last week at Kirkus, I chatted with publishing director Cecily Kaiser, who works with Appleseed, a fairly new imprint of Abrams Books for Young Readers. We chatted about board books and what makes a good one. All of that chit-chattin’ is here, and today I’m following up with art from some of the books she mentioned, including the re-boot (coming in 2014) of Chris Raschka’s Thingy Thing series, pictured above.

Enjoy the art.

Read the rest of this entry �

Hi, all.

You’re really gonna click on the image above and see that cardboard up close, right?

I recently reviewed Sam Zuppardi’s The Nowhere Box (Candlewick, November 2013) for the fine folks at BookPage. This is Sam’s debut picture book.

And, since you all know I get kind of twitchy when I don’t share art from the books about which I write, I’m following up here today at 7-Imp with some art from Zuppardi himself (pictured right). He has also sent along some early sketches and dummies from the book.

My book review is here at BookPage’s site (I give them seven points for the name they gave my review, “He’s a Real Nowhere Man”), and below are some more images from Sam.

I thank him for sharing.

Enjoy! Read the rest of this entry �

It’s the first Sunday of the month, when I typically feature student illustrators or those brand-new to illustration, but I’m breaking the rules today.

And that’s ’cause, earlier this week, I was chatting with author-illustrator Carin Berger about how she turned in the art for her upcoming book, Finding Spring (Greenwillow Books), which is about a bear who doesn’t want to hibernate and, instead, goes in search of Spring. The art is what Carin describes as “somewhat 3D”—like her most recent illustrated children’s book, Jack Prelutsky’s Stardines Swim High Across the Sky: And Other Poems (Greenwillow Books, February 2013)—but “more like tiny toy theaters or Victorian raree shows.”

I haven’t seen an early copy of this book, which won’t be on shelves for a while, but I always enjoy reading about Carin and how she creates her artwork. In fact, Carin and I did this back in January of last year, way before Stardines came out. She visited back then to share images of her dioramas, her three-dimensional art from that book. Hmm. Maybe I can just make it a 7-Imp tradition to check in with Carin at the first (or nearly first) of every year. I’m a fan of her artwork. That’d make me happy anyway.

So, without further ado, here’s Carin, and I thank her for sharing. Read the rest of this entry �