Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Here at 7-Imp today, I’m showing you some illustrations from one of the books I had intended to include in that column, the very beautiful Isabella’s Garden (Candlewick, March 2012), written by Glenda Millard and illustrated by Rebecca Cool, both from Australia. You may be wondering why I didn’t include that book in the column, if I had intended to do so. What can I say? My brain took a wee nap. I like Isabella’s Garden so much that it was going to lead off my column, in fact. For real. But then, since I have an excess of picture books in my home, I was all, oh! But look over here at this one! Ooh, look at THAT one! Hold up, here’s another …. And pretty soon I was just spinning in circles and had forgotten about my beloved Isabella’s Garden, which all resulted in my hand meeting my forehead.

But I share it with you today — just over here at 7-Imp, instead of at Kirkus. Below is a bit more about the book, as well as one more beautiful spread from it.

The Earth Day Kirkus column is here this morning.

 

Last week, I wrote about Aubrey Davis’s A Hen for Izzy Pippik—that link is here—illustrated by Marie Lafrance (Kids Can Press, March 2012). Both author and illustrator are Canadian. Below are some more illustrations from the book. (And you can see a few more spreads from the book here at Lafrance’s blog.)

Enjoy.

Here’s one more spread from Glenda Millard’s and Rebecca Cool’s Isabella’s Garden. Evidently, this was written and illustrated a few years ago, and this is the first U.S. edition.

This is the story of one girl’s garden and what can come from tiny seeds “that sleep in the soil, all dark and deep….” Millard takes us through the seasons to show us the seeds’ bounty, using the framework of the popular nursery rhyme and cumulative tale, “This is the House That Jack Built.” Cool’s colorful illustrations—with all the children looking straight at the reader, as if on a stage—are stunning. As you can see in the two spreads here today, they shimmer with color. Her perspective is often slightly askew and her figures flat, giving her artwork a classic folk-art feel. It’s much like Giselle Potter in some ways, but with a much brighter palette — perhaps like Julie Paschkis meets Giselle Potter.

It’s a beautiful book, but then I think I’ve already said that.

Here’s one more spread.

Don’t you want to see the cover one more time, this time a bit bigger? I knew you did.

ISABELLA’S GARDEN. Text copyright © 2009 by Glenda Millard. Illustrations copyright © 2009 by Rebecca Cool. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA on behalf of Walker Books, Australia.

A HEN FOR IZZY PIPPIK. Copyright 2012 by Aubrey Davis. Illustrations copyright 2012 by Marie Lafrance. Published by Kids Can Press. Images reproduced with permission of publisher.