Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

 
I’ve got a BookPage review of the very funny Triangle, written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen (Candlewick, March 2017). The review is over here at their site, if you want to read about it. And I’m following up with a couple of spreads from the book today. (They are below. Pictured above is the book’s cover, actually.)

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“Keep me company on the way home.”
— From Jairo Buitrago’s Walk With Me, illustrated by Rafael Yockteng
(Click to enlarge spread)

 

— From Piotr Parda’s Graduation Day
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
Today over at Kirkus, I’ve got a wee picture book round-up. That is here.

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Last week, I wrote here about two books that reflect children living in poverty — Jairo Buitrago’s Walk With Me, illustrated by Rafael Yockteng (Groundwood, March 2017), and Piotr Parda’s Graduation Day (Ripple Grove, March 2017). I’m following up with some spreads from each book today.

Until Sunday …

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“At the club, Barney told Billie that ‘Strange Fruit’ would be the last song in her set, with no encores to follow. When it was over, she’d quietly leave the stage.”
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
Since I talked over at Kirkus last week (here) with painter and illustrator Charlotte Riley-Webb, I’m following up, as always, with some art from the book we discussed, Gary Golio’s Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday and the Power of a Protest Song (Millbrook/Lerner, February 2017).

More spreads below. Until tomorrow …

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“from the darkness / an animal’s sudden cry— / its fear, and mine …”
(Click to see text and spread in its entirety)

 
We don’t see picture book adaptations of folktales as often as we used to. As Betsy Bird wrote here at the tail end of 2016:

A generation ago, fairy tales and folktales were ubiquitous. Because libraries made up a significant share of the book buying market, they could set the terms. And what they liked were fairy and folktales. The publishing industry complied and life was good. The rise of big box stores, to say nothing of the internet, heralded the end of the fairy/folktale era. With libraries only a fraction of the buying force, the picture book became king and the fairy and folktales almost disappeared entirely. It’s only in the last few years that small publishers have picked up the slack. While The Big Six become The Big Five, soon to be The Big Four, small independent publishers are daring to do what the big guys won’t. Publishing these books has become a kind of rebellion with kids reaping the benefits.

That’s a good summary of what happened. Today, I’ve got a few spreads from Curtis Manley’s The Crane Girl, illustrated by Lin Wang (Lee & Low, March 2017). Not only is this a picture book folktale, still an unusual thing to see, it’s actually an adaptation of more than one Japanese folktale. In a closing note, the author writes:

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I’m pleased to welcome illustrator K-Fai Steele to 7-Imp today. K-Fai loves to draw and write and won the Portfolio Mentorship Award at the 2015 Los Angeles conference of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She also contributes to this blog, along with a handful of other picture book folks.

When K-Fai contacted me about an article she wrote recently (linked below), I visited her site and immediately asked if she’d like to visit 7-Imp so that I could showcase some of her art. She does so below, as well as talks about her work. She is the first Sunday illustrator ever to include her own kicks in her post. This makes me happy.

Let’s get right to it, and I thank her for visiting.

p.s. There’s even more art from her on Instagram.

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” … My pictures after the storm”
— From Éric Veillé’s book of the same name
(Click to enlarge spread)

 

” … A young girl, from who knows where, turned up the other day.
She seemed quite well-mannered, except for her unpleasant tendency
to change size at the drop of a hat. …”
— From Gilles Bachelet’s Mrs. White Rabbit

 

This morning over at Kirkus, I’ve got the mirrors of children’s literature on my mind. That is here.

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Last week, I wrote here about Éric Veillé’s My Pictures After the Storm (Gecko Press, March 2017) and Gilles Bachelet’s Mrs. White Rabbit (Eerdmans, February 2017). I’m following up with art from each book today.

Enjoy!

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“As a painter by profession—and understanding the commitment of time, having previously illustrated six children’s books—I had initially declined this opportunity but reluctantly agreed to read the manuscript. My focus immediately shifted. I went from feeling reluctant to challenged, and then on to privileged and ended up at obligated.”

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This morning over at Kirkus, I talk to painter and illustrator Charlotte Riley-Webb about her paintings for Gary Golio’s new picture book Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday and the Power of a Protest Song (Millbrook/Lerner, February 2017).

That is here, and next week here at 7-Imp I’ll have some more spreads from the book.

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Photo of Charlotte Riley-Webb used by her permission.