What I’m Doing at Kirkus Today, Plus What I Did Last Friday, Featuring Matthew Cordell, Georg Hallensleben, Jon Klassen, Jeff Newman, Christian Robinson, Eric Rohmann, Stephen Savage, David Small, Erin Stead, and Mo Willems (Whew)

h1 August 17th, 2012 by jules


“Tho’ I’m of a darker hue, / I’ve a heart the same as you. … /
For love I’m dyin’, my heart is cryin’. /
A wise old owl said Keep on tryin’. /
I’m a little blackbird looking for a bluebird too. …”
— From Renée Watson’s
Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills,
illustrated by Christian Robinson (Random House, October 2012)

(Click to enlarge)


 

Today at Kirkus, I write about the National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry, edited by J. Patrick Lewis. That link is here this morning.

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Last week at Kirkus, I talked about the Fall 2012 picture book titles I’ve seen in advance (and that I really like) and which will be released soon. (Here’s the link.) Today, I’ve got a lot of art to showcase, at least one spread from each of the books I mentioned in that column.

A few quick notes: If you like what you see here from Christian Robinson, I’ll have an interview with him relatively soon, not to mention Stephen Savage. I’ll also be showcasing Matthew Cordell’s hello! hello! later, as well as Candace Fleming’s and Eric Rohmann’s Oh, No! And, if you want to see more from Philip and Erin Stead’s Bear Has a Story to Tell, I featured it here at 7-Imp last Sunday.

Finally, I’ll also have a Q & A with Sarah Stewart and David Small within the next month, as well as a post that shows many of David’s early sketches for The Quiet Place.

I think that’s it, though there could be more. There could always be more.

Enjoy the art today …

* * *


“A very special thing was happening in Harlem. The Harlem Renaissance.
All kinds of creative minds contributed to Harlem’s cultural movement. …”

(Click to enlarge)


One more spread and cover from Harlem’s Little Blackbird


 

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(Click to enlarge)


Spread and cover from Matthew Cordell’s hello! hello! (Hyperion, October 2012)


 

* * *


 


“So I am not worried about that.”
(Click to enlarge)


Spread and cover from Jon Klassen’s This Is Not My Hat
(Candlewick, October 2012)


 

* * *


 


“CRASHED! Grumbled Sun Bear, ‘Bad luck! We can’t get out!’ Oh, no!”
(Click to enlarge)


“Then the ground bumble-rumbled and began to shake. BA-BOOM! BA-BOOM!
The ground bumble-rumbled and began to quake. BA-BOOM! The ground bumble-rumbled and quake-shake-quaked. And look who came to help them escape. …”

(Click to enlarge)


Spreads and cover from Candace Fleming’s Oh, No!, illustrated by Eric Rohmann (Schwartz & Wade, September 2012)


 

* * *


 


“Dear Aunt Lupita, Speaking Spanish at home feels safe,
but speaking English in class still feels scary. …”


Spread and cover from Sarah Stewart’s The Quiet Place,
illustrated by David Small (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, September 2012)


 

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(Click to enlarge)


(Click to enlarge)


(Click to enlarge)


Illustrations and cover from James & Joseph Bruchac’s Rabbit’s Snow Dance, illustrated by Jeff Newman (Dial, November 2012)


 

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(Click to enlarge)


(Click to enlarge)


Spreads and cover from Stephen Savage’s
Little Tug (Neal Porter/Roaring Brook, October 2012)


 

* * *


 


“One day for no particular reason, the three Dinosaurs made up their beds, positioned their chairs just so, and cooked three bowls of delicious chocolate pudding
at varying temperatures.”

(Click to enlarge)


“The first bowl of chocolate pudding was too hot, but Goldilocks at it all anyway because, hey, it’s chocolate pudding, right? The second bowl of chocolate pudding was too cold, but who cares about temperature when
you’ve got a big bowl of chocolate pudding? Not her.”

(Click to enlarge and see spread in its entirety)


“The third bowl of chocolate pudding was just right,
but Goldilocks was on such a roll by now, she hardly noticed.”

(Click to enlarge and see spread in its entirety)


“The first chair was too tall. The second chair was too tall. But the third chair—“
(Click to enlarge)


Illustrations (without text) and cover from Mo Willems’
Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs (Balzer + Bray, September 2012)


 

* * *


 


“Once there was a book. It was square, with words and colorful pictures.
And it lived on a shelf with many other books. It belonged to a little boy
and it was his favorite book. …”

(Click to enlarge)


“The book was about a big black bear who went to sleep for the winter. ‘Do bears really sleep all winter long?’ asked the boy. ‘Yes,’ his mother said. ‘They hibernate.’ The boy turned the page. …”
(Click to enlarge)


“Snowflakes began to fall across the pages of the book. The snow sat snugly in the boughs of the trees. The boy could almost feel it. ‘Snow is cold,’ he said.
He nestled closely against his mother. ‘I like snow,’ he said. …”

(Click to enlarge)


Spreads and cover from Kate Banks’ The Bear in the Book,
illustrated by Georg Hallensleben (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, October 2012)


 

* * *


 


“Bear helped Mouse find seeds on the forest floor.”


Spread and cover from Philip C. Stead’s Bear Has a Story to Tell
(Neal Porter/Roaring Brook, September 2012), illustrated by Erin E. Stead

(See more spreads at this recent 7-Imp post)


 

* * * * * * *


 

HARLEM’S LITTLE BLACKBIRD: THE STORY OF FLORENCE MILLS. Text copyright © 2012 by Renée Watson. Illustrations copyright © 2012 by Christian Robinson. Published by Random House, New York. Spreads reproduced by permission of the publisher.

HELLO! HELLO! Copyright © 2012 by Matthew Cordell. Published by Disney/Hyperion, New York. Spread used with permission of Matthew Cordell.

THIS IS NOT MY HAT. Copyright © 2012 by Jon Klassen. Spread reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.

OH, NO! Text copyright © 2012 by Candace Fleming. Illustrations copyright © 2012 by Eric Rohmann. Published by Schwartz & Wade, New York. Spreads posted with permission of Eric Rohmann.

THE QUIET PLACE. Text copyright © 2012 by Sarah Stewart. Illustrations copyright © 2012 by David Small. Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York. Spread posted with permission of David Small.

RABBIT’S SNOW DANCE. Text copyright © 2012 by James & Joseph Bruchac. Illustrations copyright © 2012 by Jeff Newman. Published by Dial, New York. Illustrations posted with permission of Jeff Newman.

LITTLE TUG. Copyright © 2012 by Stephen Savage. Published by Neal Porter/Roaring Brook, New York. Spreads reproduced by permission of Stephen Savage.

GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE DINOSAURS. Copyright © 2012 by Mo Willems. Published by Balzer + Bray, New York. Spreads reproduced by permission of the publisher.

THE BEAR IN THE BOOK. Text copyright © 2012 by Kate Banks. Illustrations copyright © 2012 by Georg Hallensleben. Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York. Spreads posted with permission of the publisher.

BEAR HAS A STORY TO TELL. Text copyright © 2012 by Philip C. Stead. Illustrations copyright © 2012 by Erin E. Stead. Published by Neal Porter/Roaring Brook, New York. Spread reproduced by permission of the Steads.





7 comments to “What I’m Doing at Kirkus Today, Plus What I Did Last Friday, Featuring Matthew Cordell, Georg Hallensleben, Jon Klassen, Jeff Newman, Christian Robinson, Eric Rohmann, Stephen Savage, David Small, Erin Stead, and Mo Willems (Whew)”

  1. Intrigued by The Quiet Place — also loving that chocolate pudding and the BEARS!


  2. Jama, The Quiet Place is OH-so lovely. More on that book soon.

    I thought of you when I saw the Banks/Hallensleben book — in that I wasn’t sure if I’d told you about that one, too. Love it when they make books together.


  3. Just pre-ordered a bunch of the titles above last night! Can’t wait for so many fun new books!!!


  4. Oh, my, goodness, Jules…I want them all. Every.Last. One. It just doesn’t get any better than this. I am in picture book heaven. Thanks for the visual highlights.


  5. I am excited about all of these, of course, but This is Not My Hat is the one I’m a’tapping my foot impatiently to see. I’m not quite ready for it to be fall yet, though, so I could look at the delay that way.


  6. Wow! That’s some list.


  7. So much talent in one post — I can’t take it all in! Thanks for the preview — I’m looking forward to reading them all. I’m especially looking forward to David and Sarah’s latest, and to Harlem’s Little Blackbird — Christian Robinson is wonderful!


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