Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

 

Today over at Kirkus, I’ve got some picture books that are from all over the map. One is pictured above.

That is here.

Next week here at 7-Imp, I’ll follow up with some art from each book.

Love the Lumberjanes as much as I do? Then you may be interested in my Q&A over at Kirkus today with Mariko Tamaki, pictured above, who has adapted the award-winning comic books series to a novel for middle-grade readers, complete with spot illustrations by Brooke Allen. Lumberjanes: Unicorn Power! is on shelves now from Amulet Books.

That Q&A is here.

Enjoy!

First image: An early sketch;
Second image: A final spread (“I didn’t look up. I didn’t look down.
I just kept climbing. One step at a time …”)
Click second image to enlarge

 
I’ve got a review over at BookPage of Dan Santat’s After the Fall (Roaring Brook Press, October 2017). That is here.

Here at 7-Imp, Dan shares some preliminary, behind-the-scenes images (when the book, as you can see, was in third-person). After that are a few more final spreads from the book.

Enjoy!

Read the rest of this entry �

“I figure out how to make clothes that are better for life on an island.”
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
I’ve got a review over at BookPage this month of what is one of my favorite 2017 picture books, if not my very favorite — Peter Sís’s Robinson (Scholastic, September 2017). JUST LOOK AT THOSE COLORS ABOVE!

You can read about it here at their site, and today at 7-Imp I’ve got a bit of art from the book.

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— From Julie Falatko’s Snappsy the Alligator and His Best Friend Forever (Probably),
illustrated by Tim Miller

 

“Dring-dring, dring-dring!
Chirri and Chirra have wonderful dreams that night.”
— From Kaya Doi’s Chirri & Chirra: The Snowy Day
(Click to enlarge image)

 

— From Laurel Snyder’s Charlie & Mouse & Grumpy,
illustrated by Emily Hughes

 


— From Bethan Woollvin’s Rapunzel

 

“When it gets dark, Kuma-Kuma Chan listens to the … stars.”
— From Kazue Takahashi’s Kuma-Kuma Chan’s Travels
(Click to see spread in its entirety)

 
Over at Kirkus today, I’ve got activism on the mind.

That is here.

* * *

Last week, I wrote here about the return this Fall of some beloved picture book characters. I’m following up today with some art from those books, which include Kazue Takahashi’s Kuma-Kuma Chan’s Travels (Museyon, October 2017); Laurel Snyder’s Charlie & Mouse & Grumpy (Chronicle, October 2017), illustrated by Emily Hughes; Bethan Woollvin’s Rapunzel (Peachtree, October 2017); Julie Falatko’s Snappsy the Alligator and His Best Friend Forever (Probably) (Viking, October 2017), illustrated by Tim Miller; and Kaya Doi’s Chirri & Chirra: The Snowy Day (Enchanted Lion, October 2017).

Enjoy! Read the rest of this entry �

 

Over at the Horn Book’s Calling Caldecott today, I write about Jerry Pinkney’s The Three Billy Goats Gruff. And I declare my love for that creepy troll.

That is here.

Until tomorrow …

“… Mama Africa helps the refugees — young men and women, even children.
She gives them food, clothes, and song. When her song becomes too loud for some,
they say she is not a singer but a politician. ‘I am no politician,’ she says.
‘I just see what I think is wrong and what is right.'”
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
At Kirkus last week, I chatted here with artist Charly Palmer about his illustrations for Kathryn Erskine’s Mama Africa!: How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope with Her Song (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, October 2017).

Today, I’m following up with some spreads from the book.

Enjoy!

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“I love going to the park and looking at flowers with you.”
(Click to enlarge)

 
The first Sunday of every month (Happy October!) at 7-Imp is for student or debut illustrators, and I’ve got the latter today. Days with Dad, written and illustrated by Nari Hong, will be on shelves in mid-October (Enchanted Lion Books), and this is Hong’s first picture book. It is also, as noted in Hong’s bio on the book’s jacket flap, an autobiographical book.

The book relates some of Hong’s own childhood experiences with her father. Told from her point of view, the book opens with an introduction to her father. “Dad can’t walk,” she tells us. “He hasn’t been able to since he was a baby.” Here, we see a well-dressed man (I love how the endpapers consist of the lapels on the jacket her father wears) in a wheelchair.

The little girl explains how her father often apologizes for his inability to walk. He’s sorry he can’t ride bikes with her — or skate, swim, play soccer, etc. But for each apology he makes, she takes the opportunity to point out what she loves about being with him. They can’t ride bikes, but she loves to look at flowers in the park with him. They can’t ice-skate, but “ice-fishing together is much more fun!” she says. “So what?” is essentially her half-glass-full response to her father. It’s not even as if she has to work at seeing the rosier side of things. It’s as if his inability to walk or run does not at all factor into her enjoyment with him. Who needs puddle-splashing on a cool, rainy day? If your father can stay inside with you and have “rainy day cocoa,” well … that’s even better. Read the rest of this entry �