Sunday, October 30th, 2016
In the spirit of Halloween, British author-illustrator Harriet Muncaster visits 7-Imp today to tell us all about her series, Isadora Moon, which features a girl who is half-vampire and half-fairy.
Let’s get right to it, and I thank her for visiting.
Friday, October 28th, 2016
Last week, I wrote here about Lauren Stringer’s Yellow Time (Beach Lane, September 2016) and Philip Stead’s Samson in the Snow (Neal Porter/Roaring Brook, September 2016). Today, Lauren shares some art from the book, as well as some early sketches and studio views of the process of making the book. (Phil will visit 7-Imp relatively soon to chat about Samson and share images.)
Enjoy!
Thursday, October 27th, 2016
Today over at Kirkus, I’ve got a Q&A with author David Jacobson about Are You an Echo? The Lost Poetry of Misuzu Kaneko, illustrated by Toshikado Hajiri and translated by Jacobson, Sally Ito, and Michiko Tsuboi (Chin Music Press, September 2016). Next week here at 7-Imp, I’ll follow up with some spreads from the book.
The Q&A is here.
Until tomorrow . . .
Tuesday, October 25th, 2016
Over at Tennessee’s Chapter 16, I talk to author and Barefoot Books’ Senior Editor, Kate DePalma, about The Barefoot Book of Children, which celebrates the cultures of children all over the globe. You can click on the image above to read our chat.
Tuesday, October 25th, 2016
Pictured above is a study, painted in oil, of the cat from Edward Hemingway’s Field Guide to the Grumpasaurus. This study, Edward says, helped him create the final color palette for the book.
Grumpasaurus, which Kirkus described as an “effervescent how-to for the wrangling of fearsome, tantrum-prone beasties,” was released by Clarion back in June, and around that time Edward and I talked about him visiting 7-Imp. But a move to a new home this summer delayed my plans. Mr. Hemingway was very patient with me, though, and I’m glad he’s finally here today. Also released this past Summer was F. L. Block’s My Miserable Life (Henry Holt), for which Edward created the cover and interior illustrations.
We talk about both books below, as well as what’s next for him. (I also asked for some book recommendations and was rewarded.) I thank him for visiting. Let’s get to it.
Sunday, October 23rd, 2016
7-Imp may be, for all intents and purposes, an art site, but today I’ve got some words for you. (Okay, some art too.) More specifically, Christoph Niemann’s Words, released this month from Greenwillow Books.
I love this one, which makes a great book for emerging readers to browse (if I could, I’d leave copies in every Kindergarten classroom in the country), as well as a great book for those learning English as a second language. To be sure, though, it’s a smart and fun book for everyone. In it, Niemann has illustrated more than 300 words in bold, black lines he drew in Adobe Photoshop. Each page features one word, and Niemann doesn’t desert any parts of speech. (Be sure to look for his illustrations of parts of speech at the book’s close.) How would you draw “there” and “those”? “Did” and “real”? “Almost”? “Will” (the verb, that is)? Tough ones, huh? Niemann’s got you covered here with clever, thoughtful renderings of words in the English language, sometimes pairing homonymns on one spread (“duck” showing the creature and then “duck” showing a duck ducking!).
Friday, October 21st, 2016
Last week, I wrote here about Oren Lavie’s The Bear Who Wasn’t There: And the Fabulous Forest (Black Sheep/Akashic Books, October 2016), illustrated by Wolf Erlbruch; Kyo Maclear’s The Liszts (Tundra Books, October 2016), illustrated by Júlia Sardà; and Emily Winfield Martin’s The Littlest Family’s Big Day (Random House, October 2016).
I’ve got art from each book today, and Emily even shares some early sketches, storyboards, etc. I thank her for sharing.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, October 18th, 2016
Sophie’s here today to share some reference images, early sketches, and final art. Here’s what she had to say about it:
I spent time in the V&A museum in London where they have all sorts of balloon paraphernalia. Balloon flight took the world by storm and influenced everything from cocktails to hats. There’s a drawing [below] I’ve included of a man and woman with balloon-inspired outfits. I’ve also thrown in a rather lewd cartoon from the time, which no doubt was funny in 1784, but in the light of Donald Trump seems sort of depressing. But it does show the illustration style of using speech balloons, which I borrowed throughout the book!
Sophie also shares below a sample painting for the next book she’s working on with Susan Rich at Little, Brown, called Hello, Lighthouse!
Enjoy!
Sunday, October 16th, 2016
I’m doing something different today. No illustrations for you—I’ll be back early this week with some, as always—but you all remember Adam Rubin’s Dragons Love Tacos, illustrated by Daniel Salmieri, which came out in 2012, yes? I posted about it here (and here).
Well, evidently, there’s a new edition of the book that comes with a dragon/taco toy. And I don’t normally get this excited about plush, but boy, do I love that book. So, I was pretty happy to see this and wanted to share a photo of it today.
TACO PARTY, anyone?
Friday, October 14th, 2016
This morning over at Kirkus, I’ve got the sweet and the surreal on the mind. That link is here.
Last week, I wrote here about Mordicai Gerstein’s The Sleeping Gypsy (Holiday House, October 2016) and Klaas Verplancke’s Magritte’s Apple (MoMA, September 2016). I’m following up here today with some spreads from each book.
Enjoy!
