What I’m Doing at Kirkus This Week,
Plus What I Did Last Week, Featuring Tao Nyeu

h1 May 17th, 2012 by jules


“‘What a fine hat,’ said Octopus. ‘This must be my lucky day.'”

I’ve been a busy bee. This week at Kirkus, I’ll have two columns over at their Book Blogger Network.

First up: This morning is my Q & A with Jennifer Dasal, Associate Curator of Contemporary Art at the North Carolina Museum of Art, about their current exhibit, Rhythms of the Heart: The Illustration of Ashley Bryan. (Oh how I wish I could see this exhibit in person right now, but I’ll settle for doing my part to yawp about it instead.) The Q & A is here this morning, so head over there if you’d like to learn more about the exhibit, as well as the two new volumes of spirituals from Ashley that Alazar Press is releasing to commemorate this exhibit.

And, as always, I’ll follow that up next week here at 7-Imp with lots of art from the exhibit, as well as a bit more about the exhibit and the folks behind it.

Secondly: Tomorrow morning, I’ll discuss a Spring picture book release from Lemniscaat, The Man in the Clouds, from Dutch author and illustrator Koos Meinderts and Annette Fieneig. I like this mysterious little tale. That link will be here first thing tomorrow morning.

* * *

Last week at Kirkus, I wrote about the latest from Tao Nyeu, Squid and Octopus: Friends for Always. That link is here, if you missed it and are so inclined to read it. I’m happy to feature some more illustrations from it today, as no one has a style quite like Nyeu.

Enjoy.


“‘Silly Turtle,’ said Octopus. ‘Who ever heard of wearing scarves and earmuffs? Obviously, what we really need is a pot of tea.’ ‘And cake,’ added Squid.
Octopus and Squid cozied up in their socks and mittens. They sipped hot tea.
They munched on cake. They were warm.”

(Click to enlarge spread)


“‘I dreamt that I was incredibly strong.'”
(Click to enlarge spread)


“‘I have a fortune cookie!’ said Squid. ‘Oooooh,’ said Octopus. ‘How exciting.
Are you nervous?’ ‘Why would I be nervous?’ asked Squid. ‘Well, the fortune could be good or the fortune could be bad,’ said Octopus. ‘Until you break the cookie open, there is no way of knowing.'”

(Click to enlarge spread)


“‘What would a bad fortune say?’ asked Squid.
‘A bad fortune could say “You will have a close encounter of a serious kind.”
My goodness, did you just squirt ink on me?’
‘Sorry,’ said Squid. ‘That fortune was really scary.'”

(Click to enlarge spread)

* * * * * * *

SQUID AND OCTOPUS: FRIENDS FOR ALWAYS. Copyright © 2012 by Tao Nyeu. Published by Dial Books for Young Readers, New York. Images reproduced with permission of Tao Nyeu.





2 comments to “What I’m Doing at Kirkus This Week,
Plus What I Did Last Week, Featuring Tao Nyeu”

  1. I like this picture book alot! I love her palette, all the deatail, the humor (all those funny asides from various sea creatures) the warm friendship.


  2. I saw the octopus with a blue cowboy boot on its head and immediately put that book on order.


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