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What I’m Up To at Kirkus This Week,
Plus What I Did Last Week,
Featuring Geneviève Côté and David A. Johnson

h1 June 7th, 2013 by jules


“And, today, she is nervous about her first day of school.”


“When everyone’s watching, I hide. I hide like the cat alongside the big chair.
I scrunch myself down and pretend I’m not there. When everyone’s watching, I hide.”
(Click to enlarge spread)


 

Today over at Kirkus, I write about why I’m reading a lot of picture books this summer. (Well, more than I normally do.) That link is here.

* * *

Last week, I wrote about two shy children in two new picture books, Heather Hartt-Sussman’s Noni Is Nervous (Tundra Books, to be released in July), illustrated by Geneviève Côté (who visited 7-Imp back in 2011), as well as Eileen Spinelli’s When No One Is Watching (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, February 2013), illustrated by David A. Johnson.

Today, I have art from both books, as well as some sketches from Geneviève. David also shares some images (very bottom of the post) from a recent project, called King John. (I believe it’s from A.A. Milne’s “King John’s Christmas.”)

Enjoy.

* * *





Sketches and thumbnails


“When the bus pulls up, Noni is nervous. In the school yard, Noni is nervous.”


“The next day, when she gets on the bus, Noni sits beside a girl from her class. ‘I’m Noni,’ she says nervously. ‘I’m Briar,’ says the girl. Briar is what Mama calls outgoing. And before you know it, she is introducing Noni to
Abigail and Kasey, Xavier and Brooke.”



 

* * *


 


“When everyone’s watching, I pass. I pass the b-ball to my classmate Tamar. Tamar makes the basket — she’s always the star. When everyone’s watching, I pass.”
(Click to enlarge spread)


“When everyone’s watching, I hum. I hum to myself and I drum on my knee. I wish I could buzz off like some bumblebee. When everyone’s watching, I hum.”
(Click to enlarge spread)


“When no one is watching, I sing. I sing like a bird and I swing to the sky. Who’d think that a tire could take me so high? When no one is watching, I sing.”
(Click to enlarge spread)


“Together Loretta and I are cozy and comfy. We’re no longer shy. We splash in the summer and read in the fall. Together we don’t care who’s watching at all.”
(Click to enlarge spread)



 

* * *


 





NONI IS NERVOUS. Text copyright © 2013 by Heather Hartt-Sussman. Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Geneviève Côté. Published by Tundra Books, Toronto. Art and sketches reproduced by permission of Geneviève Côté.

WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING. Text copyright © 2013 by Eileen Spinelli. Illustrations copyright © 2013 by David A. Johnson. Published by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, Michigan. Art reproduced by permission of David A. Johnson.





4 comments to “What I’m Up To at Kirkus This Week,
Plus What I Did Last Week,
Featuring Geneviève Côté and David A. Johnson”

  1. Cool. Interesting books, both of them. Thanks.

         by Allison June 7th, 2013 at 10:25 pm

  2. […] Julie Danielson welcomed David A. Johnson (and his illustrations from Eileen Spinelli’s When No One Is Watching) to Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. […]

         by Eerdmans All Over: June 14, 2013 | EerdWord June 14th, 2013 at 7:43 am

  3. […] crowded market streets in Hong Kong or coloring a scene of the desert near Dunhuang. My partner David Johnson encourages me to “channel my inner Frances” — not quite the same as actually […]

         by Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast » Blog Archive » 7-Imp’s 7 Kicks #391: Featuring Barbara McClintock July 20th, 2014 at 9:07 am

  4. […] friend,at ALA in January, celebrating our book.”   Barbara: “This is my partner David Johnson’s mom when she was a children’s librarian at the New Canaan Public Library in New Canaan, […]

         by Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast » Blog Archive » Following Up with Barbara McClintock . . . March 24th, 2016 at 12:02 am

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