Two Quick Notes of the Stephen and Steven Variety

h1 November 28th, 2012 by jules

A couple of quick 7-Imp notes here, while I drink my coffee, which I keep meaning to share (the notes, that is, though I’m always happy to share my coffee, too … come on over) …

First up, regarding the video above: I admit that here in 7-Imp Land, I tend to fly by the seat of my pants. I never really have a schedule for what I’m going to post when, but I can say that it will be very likely that my first “breakfast” interview of 2013 will be with author/illustrator Stephen Savage. That’s ’cause he’s still busy trying to find Walrus and couldn’t quite meet with me for breakfast this month.

Nah? My excuse not working? Okay, really what happened is that we had started planning—good heavens, this was such a while ago that I can’t even remember how long—a video interview. Oh, we were gonna do such fun things with this video interview, I tell you! But … well, the above video (just us planning things out) is effectively as far as we got. (Look how psychedelic the thumbnail image is. Aren’t you intrigued? Those special effects, needless to say, were all Stephen’s doing.)

Now, let me tell you … this Stephen Savage … he missed a calling in film direction, but let’s just say I’m not exactly a video ninja, so we happily decided to do a straight-up, traditional written breakfast interview instead. (Stephen had infinite patience with my video-bumbly self.) We’re going to do it in early 2013, since his new illustrated title with Lauren Thompson will be out then. So, I look forward to that in January: He will tell us more about the new book, as well as about Little Tug (pictured above), which was released in October and which I hope you’ve seen.

Secondly, a note for fellow picture book junkies: In the November 2012 issue of Book Links, there is a wonderful interview with author and illustrator Steven Kellogg by teacher and reviewer (and Nashvillian!) Dean Schneider. (Dean has written and done many good things in this field—do you have all day for me to list them?—but this, written with Robin Smith, makes me cheer every time I see it.) Here’s an excerpt, Steven’s thoughts on picture books:

“The picture book is the art form designed specifically for kids, and it has everything to do with shaping their aesthetic judgment; introducing them to the whole world of art; encouraging them to sharpen their visual literacy. …”

…to which I say, amen. Here is a link to the full article. As you can see, a subscription is required to read it, but I bring it to readers’ attention here, should your local library have access — and because it really is a great interview.

Until tomorrow…





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