Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Ever heard of the Coretta Scott King Awards Book Fair? I hadn’t either till I took my children to one of these fairs in Nashville a few months back.

Today at Kirkus, I talk to the Fair’s organizer, Collette Hopkins. She’s pictured above (second from the left) at this year’s Fair with Angelica Washington, author Sharon Draper, storyteller Mama Koku, and illustrator R. Gregory Christie. Collette talks about what the Fair is and how interested teachers and librarians can bring it to their city.

That link is here.

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Image used with permission of Collette Hopkins.

“When Leontyne performed at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1955, she blew open the door that Marian left ajar. Six years later, Leontyne landed
her first lead role with the Met. …”
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Since I’ve got a review of Raúl Colón’s Draw! (Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster, September 2014) over at BookPage, I thought I’d follow up with some illustrations from the book today. The review is here, and the art is below.

But, while we’re on the subject of Colón, I’ve also got some illustrations from two other books he has illustrated this year — Juan Felipe Herrera’s Portraits of Hispanic American Heroes, which was published in August by Dial, and Carole Boston Weatherford’s Leontyne Price: Voice of a Century, coming this December from Knopf. (Pictured above is an illustration from Weatherford’s book.)

Enjoy the art …

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Today’s post will be brief, because it’s the weekend of the Southern Festival of Books here in middle Tennessee. My co-author was in town from New York City to present with me about our book (which was yesterday and went well). But it’s been an unusually busy work week, and this weekend itself is hoppin’. I’m, quite simply, worn out, so I’m going to tell you briefly about this entertaining book by Richard Byrne. And then I’m going to relax with a cup of hot cocoa.

Know your picture book terminology? Know what a gutter is? The gutter is the place between two pages where the binding meets. Awards committees (think: Caldecott) care an awful lot about gutters and whether or not an illustrator can effectively work around them. You don’t want, for instance, to let the gutter swallow an illustration whole.

Well, cue Byrne’s book. This UK illustrator’s newest picture book, This Book Just Ate My Dog! (Henry Holt, September 2014), embraces the gutter, to put it mildly. In this story, a young girl named Bella takes her dog for a walk “across the page,” only to discover that he is suddenly gone. He’s walked straight into the gutter, you see; the dog’s leash just disappears into the center of the book, leaving Bella with a look of shock on her face. When Bella sees her friend Ben, she declares, “THIS BOOK JUST ATE MY DOG!” When Ben investigates … you guessed it: He disappears into the gutter too. So do the fire truck, police car, and more: “Things were getting ridiculous,” Byrne writes.

My, what a vicious book! Read the rest of this entry �

 
This morning’s Kirkus column is all about Mac Barnett’s Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, illustrated by Jon Klassen.

That link is here.

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I wrote last week (here) about Oliver Jeffers’ Once Upon an Alphabet (Philomel, October 2014).

Today, I follow up with a bit of art from it.

Enjoy.

 

 
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Last week at Kirkus, I chatted here with author Kelly Bingham and author-illustrator Paul O. Zelinsky about Circle, Square, Moose (Greenwillow, September 2014), the sequel to 2012’s Z Is for Moose.

Today, I follow up with some early sketches from the book from Zelinsky. He notes that he has no recollection of the pig holding the bow and arrow, who was never going to be in the book. I love this usurper MYSTERY PIG so much that I’m opening the post with that sketch.

Zelinsky also shares a bit of final art from the book.

P.S. You can read here about Moose’s Australian adventure.

Enjoy. Read the rest of this entry �

Pumpkin granola with vanilla almond milk. Sourdough toast. And a cup of hot apple cider with caramel. Mmm. That’s the breakfast I’m having this morning with author-illustrator Ben Clanton.

Once upon a time—2010, to be exact—Ben visited 7-Imp before he was even a published author and illustrator, and it’s good to have him back. As you’ll read below, Ben has several picture books under his belt and more on the way. His brand-new picture book, Rex Wrecks It! (Candlewick, September 2014), is filled with what the Kirkus review calls a joyous energy. And I know for a fact that it is a story-time hit.

I love, in particular, to see Ben’s pencil and watercolor drawings (there are many in this interview today), and guess what? He recently started a Facebook page showing off his darker doodles. It’s called—you guessed it—“Dark Doodles,” and it’s here. Want to see one? Ben posted this just last night.

Perfect. It is nearly Halloween, after all.

Ben seems to be enjoying the new Facebook page, and so do those who have gone to visit it (including me). “I’m always careful about which sketchbooks to bring to signings and school visits,” he tells me. “Often there are dark things amongst the oodles of cute.”

So, to see both the dark and cute, keep reading below. Ben sent tons of art (which is how you win this blogger’s heart). I thank him for sharing. Read the rest of this entry �

Illustrator Susan Eaddy tweezes in an eyelash

It’s the first Sunday of the month, which usually means I feature a student illustrator. But I’m breaking my own rules and doing something different today.

I wrote a review last month for Chapter 16, which is a daily online journal about books and author events in Tennessee. I reviewed Julie Hedlund’s My Love for You Is the Sun, illustrated by Nashville artist Susan Eaddy, pictured right, and published by Little Bahalia Publishing last month. I’ve enjoyed reading Chapter 16 for years, so it’s particularly great to contribute to the site. That Chapter 16 review is here.

Regular 7-Imp readers know that I like to follow up these reviews I write at other places with picture book art. So, for today’s post, I asked Susan if she’d be interested in sharing some photos of what it’s like to create her illustrations. I thought it’d be fun to see Susan’s process in particular, because Susan works in clay. She shared generously, including some images of final spreads, and all of that is below.

But there’s more! Because I love to share as much picture book art as possible, I’ve also got illustrations from a couple of other new books. I mentioned in the Chapter 16 review that 2014 has given us a handful of picture books illustrated, like My Love for You Is the Sun, in what can best be described as a sculptural technique — not the traditional, two-dimensional illustrations we typically see in picture books. There is Yuyi Morales’ Viva Frida, for example, rendered in stop-motion puppets, paints, photography, etc. Yuyi will visit 7-Imp soon to share images from that. Or Loretta Holland’s Fall Leaves, illustrated in 3D paper vignettes by Elly MacKay, who will also visit 7-Imp soon. And remember Princesse Camcam’s Fox’s Garden, featured in this post? Yep. That one, too.

This year, we’ve also seen Karina Schaapman’s The Mouse Mansion, originally published in the Netherlands in 2011 but coming to the States next month from Dial. And there’s Maggie Rudy’s I Wish I Had a Pet (pictured above), published by Beach Lane Books in July.

Karina’s and Maggie’s three-dimensional tableaux are pictured below. Last up—because she sent so many images, which makes me happy—are the photos Susan sent, and I thank her for that.

Here’s to 3D art. Let’s get to it …

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This morning over at Kirkus, I write about Once Upon an Alphabet: Short Stories for All the Letters by Oliver Jeffers.

That link is here.

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Last week’s column was devoted to Bob Shea’s Kid Sheriff and the Terrible Toads (Roaring Brook, October 2014), illustrated by Lane Smith. That link is here.

Today I’ve got some illustrations from this very funny book.

Bonus: Lane shares some early pieces of art — with text that didn’t end up in the final book. Consider them the Kid Sheriff outtakes.

I thank him for sharing.

Enjoy the art …

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This morning over at Kirkus, I chat with author Kelly Bingham and illustrator Paul O. Zelinsky at the release of Circle, Square, Moose, the sequel to 2012’s Z Is for Moose. Kelly and Paul are pictured here. So is Moose. But of course.

That Q&A is here.

Next week here at 7-Imp, I’ll have a bit of art from the book, as well as some Zelinsky sketches.

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Author photo of Kelly is by Marty Bingham and used with permission. Photo of Paul O. Zelinsky also used with permission.