7-Imp’s 7 Kicks #287: Featuring Adam Rex (and the Very Uneventful Announcement of a Tiny Blog Break)
July 8th, 2012 by jules
I’m going to be brief today, because I may or may not be on the road or in the air or on the water, and I’m about to take a blog break for a few days, too. (If that “few days” is entirely too vague, well … this is how I roll at 7-Imp. My apologies. I mostly don’t know what I’m going to be posting about till, say, the week before; it all depends on what’s inspiring me. That said, I should be back on Wednesday. I think? Yes, let’s just say Wednesday.)
I do hope that my dear kickers come along and leave their kicks, though it may take me a while to read and respond this week. “A while” is vague, too, huh? Er, sorry? I’ll do my best. And, no matter when I read them, I know I’ll enjoy them. I always do.
Today’s one lonely illustration is from Adam Rex. Hey, wait. I take that back. It might be alone / solo / without its Plus One illustration, but it is, indeed, not lonely — on account of how it’s radiating … well, sheer awesomeness, to be blunt about it. That’s a library I want to visit.
Adam has illustrated an upcoming picture book from Neil Gaiman, called Chu’s Day, which I think will be released in early 2013. You can see a sneak-peek of the cover here at Adam’s site. Gaiman himself writes here at his own blog:
Chu’s Day is the first book I’ve ever written for really little kids. Ones who cannot read. Ones who can only just walk. Those ones. I hope that they like it, or at least, that they love Adam Rex’s amazing illustrations.
This image has been online a while, but I secured Adam’s permission to post it here today, too.
Are you as eager as I am to see this one?
Here’s hoping everyone has a good week. Until later …
Image is copyright © 2012 by Adam Rex and used with his permission.
I love this illustration; the mice in the card catalog drawers with the tiny computers is a hoot. Enjoy your break Jules.
1. We got some rain which made my flowers and veggies very happy.
2. A tree frog took up residence on my front porch.
3. Our book group met this week.
4. The deer haven’t eaten all my day lilies…yet.
5. I managed to photograph a glorious dragonfly yesterday.
6. Wonderful girlfriends
7. My chocolate lab, Xena, her joyful approach to life and the music of her snoring.
I love the illustration. Thanks for sharing,
Jules. I hope you enjoy your break and return refreshed.
Margie, aren’t dragonflies magical?
My kicks:
Time with friends in Idaho.
A picnic in the park.
Reading outdoors
Sharing grnadgirl’s poem for Poetry Friday.
Fresh apricots from a tree
Walking in the morning
Book club
Have a great week.
I love this library, too, and all of its gentle and eager patrons. Thanks .
Jules: I hope you have a safe and happy trip, wherever you may be!
My kicks from the past week:
1) Family
2) Theatre audition
3) Play rehearsal
4) Film audition today!
5) Going to the recording studio today!
6) Consideration
7) Lizards
Margie: Say hello to the frogs, flowers, and friends (including Xena!)
Jone: Huzzah for the poets in the family!
That illustration is so warm and cozy and charming! *purrrrrrr*
This week, I am grateful for:
1. My paycheck.
2. Time with friends. Specifically karaoke and lots of food with church friends.
3. Time with family. Specifically watching movies with my brother.
4. Opportunities. So many! I am humbled.
5. My creative writing students complaining when I canceled class last week. Awww.
6. A reluctant reader asking to borrow a novel from me.
7. Foooooood. Korean buffet. Ice cream. Foooooood.
Have a good week, everyone. =)
If you are only going to post one picture, this is a good one. Looking forward to this book.
Jules-Best of luck with your mysterious travel plans that may or may not happen.
Margie and Jone- I love my book club. We are meeting this week, hopefully by a firepit.
L.W.-Keep on rockin’ those auditions.
Tarie-Too many opportunities is a good problem to have.
kicks
1. I donated a painting to the friends of the local library to raffle off for their summer fundraiser.
http://www.facebook.com/events/156027967866164/
2. I had all of my sisters and their families in town this week.
3. One of my sisters and her kids has moved in for her annual two week visit.
4. I got an out of the blue email about another painting.
5. watching my son skimboard
6. reading with my daughter
7. having my baby niece fall asleep in my arms
Have a great week everyone!
Hi Imps and Jules!
Hope the travels are wonderful Jules.
I love this painting – I think I love the bugs best – all helping to hold the book up so they can all read. Can’t wait for more.
Great kicks everyone! Congrats on everything – paintings, sun, rain, ice cream, money, family, friends – the lot!
My kicks:
1. great week with my hubby’s family in Ohio. What a special bunch.
2. escaping incredible heat in Cleveland to come back to low 70s, low humidity, gentle sun, cool night.
3. deep reading in the book I’m reviewing including concepts I’d never heard before, considered or imagined. Very cool.
4. salty caramel ice cream at the beach on Lake Erie
5. 5 days in the soft, cool waters of Lake Erie while high 90s temps raged all day.
6. an email from my brother with 3 new and hilarious ‘Roses are Red, Violets are Blue’ poems which he’s written for years. Here is an example:
Roses are red
My Gawd is it hot
I wish y’all were here
But sadly you’re not.
copyright Bruce Grover 2012
Have a great week and Jules, enjoy your vacation. I hope you don’t post – enjoy the time off!
LIBRARY’s color scheme reminds me of Goodnight Moon’s deep orange and green. Yes? Like that. I’m with Margie on the card-catalogue mice and with Allison on the cooperative -reader bugs. Is that a Santa Panda coming in the door? Hmmm. I am intrigued.
Jules – You DO know that you could take a whole week off or even two, away, silent, and we would all understand and come back, loyal to your blog-of-blogs. Don’t want ‘Jules burn-out’. Take care and relax and enjoy your “vague-cation” (groan-worthy pun, but ha-ha! anyway.)
Reading all the wonderful kicks late, lateon Sunday… oops! early, early on Monday.
Margie –I want a resident tree frog! Kudos on your excellent photographer eye and dragonfly timing.
Jone – your grand daughter’s poem. : – )
Little Willow—auditioning, acting, singing, recording: You go girl. (I’m afraid of lizards.)
Tarie—I’m wondering what novel you gave your reluctant reader. (How wonderful.)
Allison—Salty caramel ice cream? Mmm. LOVE your brother’s Roses Are Red poem. Ha!
My kicks from beach house in Baja.
1. BLUE WHALES (!!!) swimming past my window. A pod of 8 to 10 today. Spouting. Diving.
2. Younger son somewhere in Burma right now—doing service work with hill tribes and interviewing teens in crisis. Proud of him.
3. My niece made potato chip cookies (from a recipe book) and they were… good. Couldn’t really taste the crushed potato chips, but they added something interesting. That–and salt.
4. The Newsroom. (Oh, how I’ve missed the patter of Sorkin’s rapid-fire intelligent dialogue.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgFZbrwmndA&feature=relmfu
5. Reading/enjoying Meg Medina’s “The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind”.
6. Bean dip.
7. Did I mention the BLUE WHALES?
Have a wonderful summer week everyone.
fantastic choice for the illustration. I think my favorite detail of this is the library symbols on the glass of the doors to the library. I agree with Denise, colors remind me of Goodnight moon…Adam Rex is a genius.
love the summery-ness of everyone’s kicks
@Jules, its summer and its not 50 million degrees anymore! of course you want to get away… enjoy!
kicks
1) yummy blueberry ice cream
2) rain
3) time with family over long weekend
4) meeting deadlines
5) seeing fireworks on our hill
6) pink monsters that are agreeable to being painted correctly
7) the 3 new fish we got for the kids last week are STILL alive (i don’t know why i expect the drama of a watery funeral every morning when i come down for coffee)
hope ya’ll all have a wonderful week
Thanks so much for this illustration! I love it, and it’s definitely a library I would love to sit in. It reminds me a bit of the real life library that Maira Kalman designed, there’s a video of it I saw last year, have you seen it? I really want to be a kid in that school so I can go to Maira Kalman’s library.
Kicks for the week:
1. Visited our town’s farmer’s market downtown with my family, and was happily surprised to find that it has finally turned into a real farmer’s market!
2. Got my spoon ring adjusted at the farmer’s market after months of saying I would go this Saturday or maybe the next one to get it fixed.
3. Made steps in developing an art/art history program of my own, and may be running one of our local library’s fall programs for tweens! Must get to planning for that now too…
4. Finished reading Beth Kephart’s memoir “Seeing past Z” which was so amazing and inspiring and I now have so many ideas of things to do with my little brother…the first one I tried out this week was having him give a try at critiquing a film, and his film of choice was Brave 🙂 (and as a crazily curly-haired individual, I definitely concur with all of you that my hair also enjoyed the trip to the theater to see Brave!)
5. Also finished Cornelia Funke’s latest novel “Ghost Knight” and although I was sort of uncertain about whether I liked it or not at first, a wonderful plot twist and the illuminating author’s note at the end convinced me that once again the lovely Ms. Funke had not failed at creating a wonderful story.
6. Received a beautiful letter, in the mail (!), which made one of my days last week.
7. Something else fun I’m sure, that I can’t remember at the moment…
Have a great week everyone!
Also, I love reading everyone’s kicks! It’s like little happy images that fill your mind as you scroll down reading everyone’s wonderful happenings 🙂
I’m back and will eventually have time to read these, I swear. Vacations always sort of require a vacation *after* the vacation to get caught up, though we don’t really get that. (Not that I’m complaining, mind you. I realize I was lucky to get a vacation at all.) Anyway, more soon! Thanks to everyone for stopping by to share the little and big kicks, which I hope to read today.
A pink elephant! Little buggies reading together! Can’t wait to see this one.
I’m back! ONE WEEK LATE. Ack!
Margie, I think friends, good pets, being outside, and a good book make a for a good week any time.
Jone’s week sounds similar, too. And I’m gonna go read your granddaughter’s poem in a bit here. Thanks for the heads-up.
Hi, Elisa!
Little Willow, recording studio?!
Tarie, I am in love with the reluctant reader kick (I bet it was one of your students!) and the class-cancelling one. Your life is full of wonderful things.
I’m with Denise, wondering what novel you gave the reader.
Moira: Hee. The travel plans did happen (see this week’s kicks), but I just don’t like announcing, HEY, WORLD, WE’LL ALL BE AWAY FROM THE HOUSE FOR A WEEK! Not that any stalkers read daily about picture books, but you know what I mean … That is great news about the painting, and have fun with your family visiting!
Allison, love that poem. Glad you’re back in normal-ish temps. It was mid-80s in Maine, and my uncle kept apologizing. But we had escaped 110-degree weather to go up there. The book you’re reading/reviewing sounds wonderful.
Denise: Blue whales! Wow. Past your window? Were you sitting on a boat? … Do you know I’ve never seen West Wing and everyone keeps telling me I’d like it? Hope all goes well with your son in Burma!
Mary: Here’s hoping the fish last a long time, and yay for cooler temps and rain. I love kick #6. Definitely a first in 7-Imp kick history.
Jess, no, haven’t seen Maira’s library, but wow, I’ll have to look that up. … What is a spoon ring? Congrats on kick #3. That is very exciting! … I think my eight-year-old will like Funke’s Inkheart series. Thanks for the reminder. Keep us updated on #3!
Hi, Paula!
Denise, thanks for the video trailer. Looks like good stuff. I’ll have to wait for season one to end, as HBO is not in my life.
This illustration, although cheerful, has the look and feel of that classic painting of the pool hall–Vangogh,Munch? But i really like it.
I would love my YA book reviewed by you: “The Haunted House Kid” by Matthew Gary Milam (Amazon,B&N,Xlibris). Can give you a code for free e-book if you want.
Synopsis and more– wix.com/thehauntedhousekid/matthew-gary-milam
Jules, I’m glas you like Mairas library! I hope your daughter loves Inkheart, it’s my favorite book! I’m very excited about #3 but also nervous! Oh and here’s a picture of a spoon ring, it his ones a red riding hood one and I’ve been trying to find one but this red rising hood one is usually pricey 🙁 http://www.etsy.com/listing/90150299/little-red-riding-hood-sterling-silver
Sorry about the typos! I tend to make them on mobile devices…
Hi, Matthew. I cover primarily illustration and picture books here at the blog, but best of luck with your book. And, yes, isn’t the illustration great?
Jess: Once the 8-year-old is done with the Percy Jackson series, I’m going to recommend Inkheart. … WOW to that spoon ring.