7-Imp’s 7 Kicks #47: Featuring Steve Jenkins
January 27th, 2008 by Eisha and Jules
Jules: Welcome to our weekly 7 Kicks list, the meeting ground for listing Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week (whether book-related or not) that happened to you.
We’re so happy that Caldecott Honor-winning author/illustrator Steve Jenkins (whom School Library Journal last year called “a master illustrator”) has stopped by to share some new illustrations with us as well as some from current titles. The image here and above is from the Cybils-shortlisted Vulture View, written by April Pulley Sayre (Henry Holt, 2007), in which readers are introduced to the world of the majestic turkey vulture.
Steve also sent us two spreads from a book that he and Robin Page created (Robin is the talented co-author of many of Steve’s titles, as well as his wife) and which will be published this Spring by Houghton Mifflin. It’s called Sisters & Brothers. “It’s about sibling relationships in the animal world,” Steve told us, “a subject we were surprised to find not much information on, when we began to look . . .”
If you’re a Jenkins or Jenkins/Page fan, you’re in further luck, ’cause he sent us some spreads from another forthcoming title (Fall of this year, also from Houghton Mifflin), How Many Ways Can You Catch a Fly?, also co-authored with Robin. “It’s about how different animals solve the same problem — catching a fly, digging a hole, using a leaf, and so on,” Steve told us.
These are the covers for those upcoming titles . . . I love how this Houghton Mifflin bio summarizes Steve’s talents: “His books have been called stunning, eyepopping, inventive, gorgeous, masterful, extraordinary, playful, irresistible, compelling, engaging, accessible, glorious, and informative.” Yeah, what they said. It’s all true. If you’re not familiar with his work, know that what you’re seeing is cut-paper collage and that he’s brilliant with it. And I can vouch for the child-centered charm of his titles, too; they are a huge hit in my home and have been since my children were very young. And, though I’ve only proclaimed my love for his books here, here, and here at 7-Imp (wait, there’s also here!), I’ve read and adored many more with my children. This week, we read the wonderful Living Color (Houghton Mifflin, 2007), also shortlisted for the Cybils this year. Steve sent us a few spreads from that, and I just have to show the red spread, since I’m fascinated by that hooded seal and the sac of loose skin on his nostril, which he totally INFLATES:
Animal Poems (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007), written by the late Valerie Worth (re-
viewed here) and also illu-
strated by Steve, was Cybils-shortlisted in the Poetry category as well.
We’d like to thank Steve for stopping by and making our day with these vibrant illustrations. There will be more delights for Jenkins fans this week: Tomorrow at the Cybils blog you can see another richly-colored spread from Living Color; on Thursday at the same place will be an interview with Jenkins; and the following Monday, February 4th (one of many new Nonfiction Mondays), the same interview in its entirety will be posted here at 7-Imp (the extended edition, if you will, with things like the weird-‘n’-wonderful Pivot Questionnaire). So, be sure to see that interview this week over at the Cybils site. And thanks again to Steve!
1* The big thing: I lived through a day-long job interview, complete with presentation.
2* The best part of the interview: I got to talk at length to fellow librarians and book lovers.
3* There was some very pretty snow this week: big fluffy floaty flakes, but not a lot of accumulation.
4* I got a beeee-yooo-tiful fingerpainting in the mail from a very famous artist, Princess Miriam Piper, daughter of Jules.
5* We made plans to go over to our friends’ house for dinner Sunday. It will be the first time I get to meet their new baby boy.
6* The Steve Jenkins illustrations today, and the Anna Alter illustrations Friday. Gorgeous stuff.
7* It turns out we also share some musical tastes with our upstairs neighbors. When we realized we were all going to the Neko Case concert tonight (Sat), we decided to meet up for dinner beforehand at a yummy Thai restaurant.
8* Did I mention I’M GOING TO A NEKO CASE CONCERT!!!!!
This post is long enough already, so I’ll keep this short. But isn’t all that Steve Jenkins Goodness worth it? Wow. That’s my first kick this week — that he stopped by to share some of his beautiful illustrations.
2). I started reading on Friday Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to my almost-four-year-old daughter, and she listened intently and wants to keep going, as in we’ve already made it past the deadly poppy field and the Queen of the field mice (as I previously made clear in this post, reading the classics to my girls is very exciting to me). We also read a ton of poetry this week, including repeated readings of that flawless Here’s a Little Poem, collected by Andrew Fusek Peters and Jane Yolen. I mean, really, I’ve said this a skerjillion times before here at 7-Imp, but it’s just perfect.
3). Reading an ARC of My Dad’s a Birdman by David Almond with illustrations by Polly Dunbar. Almond + Dunbar = good stuff.
4). Watching season one of Battlestar Galactica with my husband. I’m hooked. Get that! Me and sci fi. Whoa. This is all new.
5). This poem by Jeffrey McDaniel, which Jama shared on Poetry Friday and which begins . . .
“In an effort to get people to look
into each other’s eyes more,
and also to appease the mutes,
the government has decided
to allot each person exactly one hundred
and sixty-seven words, per day.”
You know you wanna read the rest.
6). I get to see a good friend today.
7). Anna Alter stopped by yesterday.
What are your kicks this week?
Yay, Eisha! re: interview! I hope you got Princess Miriam Piper’s autograph on that painting. WAIT – even better – you have her fingerprints! (Give ’em to Grissom!) Have fun at the Neko Case concert.
Jules, make sure that she knows not all poppies are evil. (Jack London!) I heard all about season one of Battlestar Galactica – and I do mean all of it – while sitting in a shop with a friend who decided to tell me everything from premiere to season finale. Thanks for linking to that dynamic poem. I am not letting myself count the number of words in it. Okay, so I am, but I’ll put it in a Word Counter and not let myself REALLY count them. 107.
My kicks:
The week went by quickly.
I wrote a little more.
I got to revisit some great books while talking to enthusiastic readers about them.
I did not get enough sleep at all during the week, and I knew it while it was happening and was upset with myself, so I made sure that I got eight hours of sleep last night.
I love knowing that my store is a safe haven for kids. They can come there to talk or borrow a book, to rant or rave, to study or (accidentally) take a nap.
Seven is the first word of the title of the film my friend was in that aired on TV tonight!
Congrats on the interview, Eisha. And I love the Oz reading, Jules. I had kind of a hectic work week, but I scrounged up a few kicks:
1. I saw Jon Scieszka do a reading, and he was amazing. I think that the Library of Congress picked well for our first National Ambassador. I also got to spend time chatting before the event with Susan Taylor Brown.
2. LOST will finally be back this week.
3. Many books came in the mail from publishers this week. And I have a delightful new mailman who brings the packages to my door, rings the bell, and hands them to me with a smile.
4. We finally started watching Season 5 of the Sopranos, thanks to a gift NetFlix subscription from my brother and his fiancee. We are really enjoying it.
5. Anastasia’s new Nonfiction Mondays actually lined up perfectly with my receiving some nonfiction picture books from Bearport Publishing, and I have reviews lined up for the first two weeks. I think it’s a great idea.
6. It’s been raining and raining and raining here in San Jose, but we really need the water, so I’m cool with it.
7. After much too long a period of inactivity, I’ve finally been diligent about my physical therapy for my knee this week, and did my exercises every day. Listening to a book on MP3 helps a lot – otherwise it would be SO boring.
Happy Sunday, all!
I have to send this post to my sister. She’ll love the illustrations!
Jules, Yay for reading to your daughter and she’s into it!
Eisha, A day long interview! You know at this point, they love you.
LW, Glad you got some well deserved sleep. Hope you take care of yourself.
Jen, Do those exercises! Hope your knee gets better soon.
My kicks this week:
1. I took the girls to NH to visit my sister and it was awesome.
2. My sister is in a motorized wheelchair, and the girls aren’t afraid of it anymore. They gave her hugs and kisses without my prompting. Sang and danced for her. And chattered away, giving my sister the most amazing gift of themselves.
3. My middle one drew two amazing pictures for my sister. One was of my sister walking outside in the sunshine. The other was of my sister as a mermaid swimming alongside cool water creatures.
4. After good critiques and polishing up some work, I decided to apply to a day program of a writing retreat. Sadly, the writing retreat was booked.
5. Ben and Jerry’s coffee heath bar crunch ice cream.
6. I got a big package of Arcs from a publisher during the week that look interesting. LW, Lock and Key came in!
7, I’m making progress in my decluttering, and it is awesome!
Have a great week everyone!
Little Willow, I’m glad you got good sleep last night. I’m glad I went to bed a little earlier than usual, ’cause it turns out that my two-year-old, who sleeps next to me, coughed about every five seconds from approx. 5:00 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Poor wittle sugar britches puddin’ head. She eventually stopped.
And, LW, your safe-haven-bookstore sounds awesome. It’s even better ’cause you’re there.
Jen, “Lost” coming back this week is also a kick for me. The last five minutes of the final show of season three blew me away (was it three? or two? I can’t remember). I also got a lot of review copies and ARCs this week. It’s fun. Good luck with your physical therapy.
Vivian, sorry about that retreat. But WOO and HOO for your girls’ progress with your sister’s wheelchair. And all their art work. And singing and dancing to boot!
Wow! If you search my site you’ll find the phrase “I love Steve Jenkins” more times than I care to admit. The man is a genius with paper.
Eisha, we’re going to hope something good comes out of this interview. Jules, all I can say is, BG – I love the original (was crazy for it as a kid) and love the new one too.
I could easily make Jenkins the top 6 of my list, but I’ll stick to just one. Here they are.
1. My accreditation review is finally over. (That’s why I didn’t stop by last week). They came Sunday and left Wednesday. It will be a week or so before I get a report, and then months and months of waiting, but the worst part is over.
2. I took the day off Thursday, lounged around in my pjs, played scrabble online, wrote, and watched a few movies. It was heaven.
3. Elaine’s poem on sledding. It even made me a bit wistful for snow. Everyone needs at least one snow day a year.
4. Steve Jenkins, Steve Jenkins, Steve Jenkins (and Robin Page too!)
That’s all for now. Have a great week everyone!
Tricia, congrats on #1. That is excellent news! We missed you last week, but now we know why.
I also loved Elaine’s poem. It didn’t help my hankerin’ for snow right now, but I still loved it.
I knew you’d be squealy over this week’s illustrations. I thought of you when I was adding these images.
Everyone, I’m leaving for most of the day (see kick #6!) and look forward to reading kicks later. Having said that, though, sometimes the spam-catcher, for whatever reason, will snag kicks lists and mark them as spam. And then I have to release them — or Eisha releases them. But it sounds like Eisha might be away, too (see her kick #5), so if you post a list and it doesn’t appear, please know that whenever Eisha or I can, we’ll release them from the spam-nabber. But it may not be ’til a bit later.
Looking forward to reading kicks later. Ciao!
Happy Sunday all!
Congrats on getting through your interview, Eisha. Glad you enjoyed your talks with like-minded people! Envy on the fingerpainting (does that stuff still smell as good as I remember)? Hope you had a blast at the NEKO CASE concert.
Jules, so glad you liked the Jeffrey McDaniel poem. And the Wizard of Oz! Exciting (I used to belong to the Wizard of Oz Society). Not until I reread the books did I learn that Dorothy actually had blonde hair.
Kicks:
1. The Steve Jenkins and Anna Alter illustrations — how many ways can you say gorgeous, amazing, and awesome?
2. Almost done with Lessons from a Dead Girl (Jo Knowles). Loving it. The writing is so tight, and Knowles does a superb job tackling a difficult subject.
3. Got a new filing cabinet, and made some great progress organizing my office and finding nice homes for new books on my bookshelves.
4. Am really enjoying the Jane Austen series on PBS. Loved Northanger Abbey last week.
5. Ordered some cool stationery from RedStamp.com and it arrived in a flash!
6. Chocolate covered macadamia nuts.
7. My coolest, most exciting kick of all: Liz Jones painted a soup picture and dedicated it to me! It features Tom Thumb scuba diving into the giant’s alphabet soup.
http://lizjonesbooks.livejournal.com/117585.html
Have a great week!
Wow, so many great kicks already this morning. Jules and Eisha, the illustrations this week: AMAZING! Eisha, I hope to hear a positive outcome from the interview, Jules, hope today is lots of fun for you and your friend.
Jen, hope your knee is better. I hate knee problems. Jama, what a cool illutration and to have it dedicated to you. I want a dy to lounge in pjs during the week, sounds fun, Tricia.
My kicks:
1. Book Club tonight. My house. Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer. Laini will be here. Yay!
2. Opening the library three mornings a week for “Breakfast Book Club”. Time to read. Saw this idea at AASL and just now implementing it.
3. Taking care of the hummingbirds this week in the bitter cold. Making sure their food did not freeze. http://deowriter.blogspot.com/2008/01/miscellaneous.html
4. Picked up my new glasses. I can see again.
5. The possibility of snow (and no school) tomorrow. I want a snow day!
I am good with 5 kicks. Have a great week.
My kicks this week:
1. Got my own copy of the Penry-Jones Persuasion in the mail. Ordered Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park. Oh the squee-ish goodness of Jane Austen films.
2. M started to ease back into school. Thank heavens for the end of pneumonia.
3. Made progress on a new quilt.
4. Didn’t make any true progress on my latest Jane poem, but I’m having as much fun working on it as Mr. Ollivander did trying to fit Harry for the right wand.
5. I was asked to read my poetry as part of a “New Women’s Voices” night in February. I’m nervous and tickled.
6. I so heart Steven Jenkins illustrations. I put up a few when I did my review of Animal Poems, but I really, truly adore his work. Can’t wait for the upcoming interview!
7. I’m reading Twelve Rounds to Glory right now. And it really packs a wallop.
Oooh Neko Case…I’m jealous. And so cool that your new neighbors are going too.
Jules, I want you to read Oz to ME. Because I really, really want to go back and re-read all of them, but I know I won’t because so many other books are tugging at my arm, but…
Love the ilustrations today. Bold, beautiful, amazing. Makes me want to curl up with those books for hours.
Kickiness:
1. Long talks with my son.
2. The most yummy dinner out with my husband last night, where I got a tiny bit buzzed and talked his ear off about poetry.
3. Two long, long talks with a writer friend about her manuscript. She’s helped me so much, it’s great to be able to give back.
4. Co-blogging with Liz. Now that I’ve learned that she climbs mountains and does triathlons as well as throws down sonnets, I’m more in awe than ever.
5. Jama’s NO SOUP list. Made me laugh.
6. Robin’s posts from Sundance. I feel like I have my own personal, hip reporter, who dishes all the good stuff.
7. Got a personal tour of the planetarium where my daughter works. Just thinking of her ‘splaining science to the kids that come through makes me happy.
Oh, and Woot! Kelly! New Womens’ Voices invite! So, so cool.
As is Jone’s Breakfast Book Club. Where were you in my childhood???
Those picture books look fantastic, I love the anteater!
Eisha, I’m ashamed to say I have no idea who Neko Case is, so I will go investigate the website. Have a great time at the concert! and yay for Thai, it’s on my list this week.
Jama, that’s a great picture, how cool to have it dedicated to you!
A lot of people have been talking about how great Northanger Abbey the film was – I have to see about chasing it up over here in the UK! My list:
1. I just got home from a lovely weekend visit to Bath where the weather was lovely for wandering around
2. We went via cute Cotswold villages on the way, and the Uffington white horse on the way back
3. I bought a really cute 1930s copy of Northanger abbey (how appropriate for a visit to Bath!) from one of these towns for a bargain price
4. We had yummy Thai for dinner, a cuisine I’ve been craving for a while (the restaurants just aren’t as common here as in Australia, which isn’t surprising given the relative location of Thailand)
5. And not to harp on about the food, but we also had some great cheese from a cheesemonger, including some local “cave-aged” cheddar. Not sure about the role of the cave but it was delicious.
5. Little orange crocuses are joining the snowdrops in popping up all over the place
7. I’m really enjoying the increased daylight that has started to become very apparent!
Thanks, Vivian and Jules. I’m motivated to keep up with the PT, but it’s sometimes hard to find the time. Vivian, that is so great about your girls being more comfortable with your sister. And you know, in the long run, I think it’s a gift for them, too. They’ll be much more accepting. And Jules, yes, that Lost ending rocked. We kept that episode on our Tivo all summer, so that we can watch it again right before the new one. And Jama, way cool about the picture. Jone, I’m jealous of your book club. I loved Blackbringer.
Here’s a kicks list from Amy S., which I’m copying to here, as she posted it on the Anna Alter post:
ahhhhh—what lovely artwork.
my 7 kicks for the week:
1-this week i read Rick Riordan’s fantastic blog entry about his “overnight success” and i almost teared up, remembering back when i was part of the word-of-mouth miracle. and i emailed he back then and he REPLIED! it’s so satisfying to see his success.
2-the picture poetry book by Joyce Sidman, called This Is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness. These kid poet characters could certainly be my real life student poets.
3-strong coffee
4-successful parent/teacher/student conferences
5-Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You–a great YA, two evenings of savory reading read.
6-my “Vocabulary Vulcans” group of high English Language learners is going well. 15 minutes a day of intense, highly structured vocabulary work, and close monitoring of choice reading–at least we seem to be off to a good start
7-goodreads—i’m pretty certain i spend more time reading and writing about books that i spend actually reading ’em. but it’s such good fun.
Jama, your very own illustration dedicated to you is impressive. And do you know that I still have Lessons From a Dead Girl in my to-be-read pile? Maybe I’ll move it up to the top now.
Jone, have fun at that book club, and I will wish and hope for a snow day for you. There’s nothing better when you work in a school.
Kelly, CONGRATS on the New Women’s Voices reading. Where will it be?
Sara, you had a busy, happy week, indeed. I enjoyed your and Liz’s posts. And your daughter’s working at a planetarium? That is great. When I was a girl, I was obsessed with outer space stuff, and planetariums wow’ed me.
Sara, yes, I’m really having fun reading the book to my girls (well, the two-year-old doesn’t listen so well, but the almost-four-year-old does). She’s not in a Parents’ Day Out program this year (but should be in the Fall), and sometimes I wonder if she should be now, but then I think, ah, Parents Day Out Schmarents Day Out. I mean, we’re reading some great books, and I get to spend lots of time with her.
Emmaco, you can talk about food all you want here. Sounds like you ate well this week. I ate well today, too. My mother-in-law fed me a fabulous brunch, and then I got to have kid-free time alone at a splendid restaurant with a good friend. Sadly, she may have to move away soon.
Hi, Amy! Speaking of your kick #3, Sara pointed this post out to me this week from Laini Taylor’s blog. I love it.
And I love that anthology by Joyce Sidman. It’s excellent.
Let’s HEAR it for soup art and job interviews and the Wizard of Oz and what not!!
Here are my kickiest kicks for this week:
1. Co-blogging with Sara who surely has the best legs and toughest attitude of any poet around. That was one fun week!
2. Running a 1/2 marathon in perfect weather this morning. Perfect.
3. The remodel that is unfolding under my husband’s multitalented hands.
4. Kombucha
5. Freebird Burritos
6. The drizzley freezing rain STOPPED
7. I have in my possession some certain sketches that accompany some certain manuscript (which I will blog about soon). As you squeeeeeeky folk would say — SQUEE!!!!!
Happy week, friends…
eisha, may the results of your interview yield the same results your glowing words of encouragement and support achieved for me.
ah, jules, i remember those wizard of oz days in our house as well… we made it seven book into the series before the girls started wanting more variety and now they are book fiends!
i’ve been a little self-absorbed with things of late but no less grateful for the following kicks, which i realize will sound like namedropping at times, but so what!
1. surviving my first grad school residency and feeling like i really can do this after all! after 20 years of fear and wondering that’s no small thing.
2. bonding with a dozen really great people in my class who are funny and smart and make me feel like i belong even when i don’t always feel on top of my game… and being connected to them through a bulletin board that is like the perfect support group for this adventure i’m on!
3. having been workshopped by margaret bechard and sarah ellis and feeling perhaps one day i’ll be worthy of the praise i received
4. casually joking around with tim wynne jones over breakfast and not feeling in the least intimidated
5. dancing like a fool at what was essentially a prom, sweating myself silly, and not regretting a thing the next day.
6. learning that vodka can be my friend after all.
7. not least, but most importantly, the understanding and love of my family who are behind me all the way no matter how occasionally disruptive it is to our lives. i’ve got a lot of people behind m on this, kicking my ass and whatnot, but if it weren’t for my Suze i wouldn’t have been able to write any of this.
my next seven kicks will all probably be about how much writing i’ve accomplished this week… or at least it better be!
xo
Eisha, Good luck with the job interview! Jules, be sure you watch the “webisodes” that take place between season 2 and 3. I’m sure Blaine will be able to find them. I won’t even link them here in case you inadvertently see spoilers.
Here are my kicks:
1) Watching the Babylon 5 episodes Bede and I missed the first time around because they weren’t released on VHS when we were addicts. (Parts of season 3 and 4).
2) Bede’s birthday is today, and I’ve baked him a birthday pie.
3) My daughter has a new little dance she does when I play “Sunny Side of the Street,” and I get such a kick out of seeing her do it.
4) Friends are bringing over homemade sangria for the birthday party today. I looove sangria! It will remind me of summer.
5) I recently made a new pair of trousers– they’re grey and they have giraffes on them.
6) New shoots are poking out of the ground, including those of a peony that I thought had bit the dust. Nothing gives me hope like new shoots.
7) I think the huckleberry bushes are going to thrive, even though I planted them during a frost. (I was worried they’d die if I didn’t get them in the ground at all.)
Oh boy, Liz. I’m really excited about #7 and will watch your blog closely.
David, my heart is about to burst. Seriously, as corny as that sounds. I’m so happy for you I almost can’t stand it.
Alkelda, really? New shoots? Awesome. I’m kinda ready for spring, though I mean it when I say I want at least one big snow. Happy birthday to your husband! And I love “Sunny Side of the Street.” I used to sing that to my daughter.
And, yes, I’m sure Blaine can show me the webisodes. He already told me to avoid some image online that shows the faces of the cast superimposed on the faces of the people in “The Last Supper,” that it gives away too many spoilers. Though I’ve never been one to mind spoilers, I will wait to look for that.
Thanks for kicks-listing, everyone. They’re fun to read.
Hey, all. I have indeed been out all day and night, but it’s so cool to come home to such a huge list o’ kicks!
Little Willow, your store sounds so great. And good for you for taking time out to get some rest. I don’t know how you do everything you do.
Jen, I’m deeply jealous of you for seeing Jon Scieszka read. How awesome.
Vivian, that’s truly beautiful about your daughters and your sister.
Tricia, congrats on living through the accreditation review, and good luck on the results. Not that you need it…
Jama, love the soup pic. How perfect.
Jone, I LOVE the Breakfast Book Club idea. Genius!
Kelly F., congrats on the reading gig.
Sara, your daughter has a seriously cool job!
Emmaco, sadly the Thai restaurant had too long a wait, but we went to Moosewood instead which is also yummy. I also can’t think how aging in a cave would enhance the flavor of cheese but I’ll take your word for it.
Amy S., I’m in love with the term “Vocabulary Vulcans.” I want a t-shirt.
Liz, ooh, you better tell us all about those sketches and that certain manuscript. It sounds like congratulations are in order.
david, glad you’re getting such a charge out of the writing program. And prom?!? Do tell!
Akelda, my husband was a big ol’ Babylon 5 fan. And you should youtube your daughter’s Sunny Side dance so we can all see it!
Thanks for the good wishes on the job hunt, everyone.
Eisha, That’s ALkelda.;) And I would youtube a slew of stuff (much to everyone’s dismay) if I actually had video capability. Maybe I’ll get a new digital camera someday and have something for you. I have often thought how lovely it would be to have a video camera, but when it came down to going through the process of getting one, other things have always taken priority. Too bad– I would have rivaled Brotherhood 2.0! Mwa ha ha.
Well, maybe not.
D’oh! Sorry for the typo, Alkelda. Here’s hoping you get a video camera for your next birthday.
Thanks, J&E and Vivian!
Vivian: Enjoy Lock and Key!
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