What I’m Doing at Kirkus This Week,
Plus What I Did Last Week, Featuring S. D. Nelson
June 28th, 2012 by jules
“Come, coyote brothers. Together we will sing up the stars.
Yes, we will sing up the moon.”
This morning over at Kirkus, I’ve got a Q & A with author Mac Barnett, whose early Spring picture book, Extra Yarn (Balzer + Bray), illustrated by Jon Klassen, was just awarded the 2012 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award in the Picture Book category. That link is here.
Mac says something over there about picture books, about “shaggy stories,” that I like so much that I might just hug his neck if I ever meet him.
And tomorrow, I’ll have a chat with illustrator Yuyi Morales. Amy Novesky’s Georgia in Hawaii (Harcourt), which Yuyi illustrated, was also named a Boston Globe-Horn Book Nonfiction Honor Book just a few weeks ago. That Q & A will be here Friday morning.
As always, next week here at 7-Imp, I’ll follow up with art art and more art.
Last week I wrote about Walking on Earth & Touching the Sky: Poetry and Prose by Lakota Youth at Red Cloud Indian School (Abrams, April 2012), edited by Timothy P. McLaughlin. That link is here, if you want to learn more about the book, and today I’ve got some of S. D. Nelson’s beautiful artwork, as well as some poetry and prose from the book.
Enjoy.
Acrylic on 140 lb. cotton paper:
“Alcohol is a liar. For some, it is their God. For me, it is poison. I tell you the truth—
I cannot drink it. I will not hold it up. I will not worship it.”
“Beneath the cottonwoods, beneath the moon,
I breathe the sweetness of falling leaves.”
“With a sober heart I am standing. With clear vision I see.
I depend on you. You depend on me.”
WALKING ON EARTH & TOUCHING THE SKY: POETRY AND PROSE BY LAKOTA YOUTH AT RED CLOUD INDIAN SCHOOL. Volume copyright 2012 by Timothy P. McLaughlin. Illustrations 2012 by S.D. Nelson. Published by Abrams Books for Young Readers, New York. Images and poems used with permission of the publisher.
Whoa. That first spread is just gorgeous – the feeling of firelight and starlight and the mystical gods all in a circle, with a kid in a cap — all the Coyotes and wolves and drummers are amazing, and the colors!!!! Wow. I cannot wait to see what else S.D. Nelson has done. Strangely, I think the one doodled one, “I’ve Got Your Back,” is so lovely too – the sketching combined with the words just makes it – a simple, declarative statement of friendship, I imagine shared between homework partners. Lovely.
(And lookin’ forward to Yuyi!!)
WOW! Just saying the title “Walking on Earth, Touching the Sky” makes me excited to read the poetry and get this book at our Elementary school. We do alot with the local Kumeyaay, but this book will be so amazing for the 3rd graders who study Native American histories and to get inspired about the youth! Smiles!!