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What I’m Doing at Kirkus Today,
Plus What I Did Last Week, Featuring Annette Fienieg

h1 May 25th, 2012 by jules


“Some people came more often, like the goatherd who was jeered and laughed at by the village children. He came by very often. Just like the shell girl who stopped talking one day. And the old lady with a baby carriage and the doll she bottle-fed. And the man who always argued with the voices in his head.
And the lonely boy who actually was a girl.”
(Click to enlarge spread)

Today over at Kirkus, I write about a pair of brand-new, bilingual board books from Belle Yang that are presented in both English and Mandarin Chinese. The link is here this morning.

Last week, I wrote about The Man in the Clouds, originally released in 2010 in the Netherlands and released here in the States this April, from author and songwriter Koos Meinderts and renowned Dutch illustrator Annette Fienieg. That link is here, if you missed it and want the low-down on this book.

Today, I feature some more art from it. Enjoy.

* * *


“Then every day he sat in his chair and looked at a painting: a landscape so beautiful, so marvelously empty … this is what it must have looked like when the world began. You could see how everything was colored and shaped by the light of the rising sun.”
(Click to enlarge spread)


“The man in the clouds shared his happiness with anyone who wanted to make the climb. And there were many who did. Every day you could see people coming up from below the mountain to see the man in the clouds and his splendid painting.
‘Come on in,’ he would always warmly welcome.”
(Click to enlarge spread)


“…’It’s unbelievable,’ he uttered. ‘A masterpiece! Simply hanging from a nail
in the wall! Do you have any idea how much you would ask for it?’
‘Nothing, I don’t ask for anything,’ the man in the clouds answered. ‘But most people bring me a little something. A marble, a feather, a song, or a loaf of bread, or a…’
‘Sir!’ interrupted the stranger. ‘You have a fortune hanging on the wall!
You have it made for the rest of your life! You’re rich!'”
(Click to enlarge and seen entire spread)


“It was the goatherd (who had visited him the day before). The man in the clouds didn’t want to see him any more. And also that silly shell girl, and the old lady with her stupid doll, and the man who argued with the voices in his head, and the lonely boy who was really a girl. They might watch it until it crumbles!”
(Click to enlarge spread)

* * * * * * *

THE MAN IN THE CLOUDS. Text copyright © 2010 by Koos Meinderts. Illustration © 2010 by Annette Fienieg. First U.S. Edition © 2012. Spreads used with permission of Lemniscaat.





7 comments to “What I’m Doing at Kirkus Today,
Plus What I Did Last Week, Featuring Annette Fienieg”

  1. This is so gorgeous!! Thank you for sharing it today. I want to see the whole book.

         by cloudscome May 25th, 2012 at 3:56 am

  2. Such beautiful work – and how much do I LOVE those shadows!! Hm. The man in the clouds is happy – and with the advent of capitalism, he’s not. And now I have to know the end of the story…

         by tanita May 25th, 2012 at 7:16 am

  3. Hi Jules,
    what beautiful illustrations – can’t wait to get my hands on the book and breathe it all in. But I find this text disturbing and can’t imagine reading it to a child – another reason to get the book and understand it in context:
    “It was the goatherd (who had visited him the day before). The man in the clouds didn’t want to see him any more. And also that silly shell girl, and the old lady with her stupid doll, and the man who argued with the voices in his head, and the lonely boy who was really a girl. They might watch it until it crumbles!”

         by Allison May 25th, 2012 at 7:21 pm

  4. Allison, yes, context. It makes sense, given the context. Let me know if you read a copy.

         by jules May 25th, 2012 at 9:05 pm

  5. Just found your Blog, WONDERFUL, i know I’m going to love wandering through here, beautiful work, thanks for sharing 🙂

         by Melanie Lee May 26th, 2012 at 5:47 pm

  6. I adore that isolated illustration of the old man in the chair. Absolutely perfect. Great feature xox

         by Tara J Hannon May 29th, 2012 at 6:44 am

  7. […] wasn’t too long ago that I wrote over at Kirkus (and then followed up here at7-Imp with some more art from the book) about a recent offering from the Dutch publisher […]

         by Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast » Blog Archive » Seven (Plus Some) Very PossibleDramatic Fish Before Breakfast June 20th, 2012 at 10:12 pm

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