7-Imp’s 7 Kicks #337: Featuring Oliver Jeffers
June 30th, 2013 by jules
Hello, one and all. I am at ALA Chicago this weekend, but I would never leave my dear kickers hanging without some illustrations on a Sunday. I don’t really have any kicks this morning—unless you want to consider my first ALA conference kicks one to seven—but I do have art.
I have been writing picture book reviews, as of a couple months ago, for BookPage. Recently, I reviewed Drew Daywalt’s The Day the Crayons Quit (Philomel, June 2013), illustrated by Oliver Jeffers.
So, I’ll send you to the always informative BookPage for my thoughts on the book, and here at 7-Imp today I include some art.
And now it’s back to conferencing for me, but do tell me your kicks this week, if you’re so inclined. I may not get back to you all till Monday or Tuesday, but I’ll be back, I promise.
Here are some more spreads from Jeffers. Enjoy …
to fill in empty space between other things.
And it leaves me feeling … well … empty.
We need to talk. …”
(Click to enlarge spread)
Goodness knows they could use a splash of color. …”
(Click to enlarge spread)
THE DAY THE CRAYONS QUIT. Text copyright © 2013 by Drew Daywalt. Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Oliver Jeffers. Illustrations reproduced by permission of the publisher, Philomel, New York.
Good morning Jules and other kickers. I too am at ALA for the first time. Being surrouned by so many like-minded people is heavenly. Thank you for the Jeffers artwork. I’m hoping to read this soon. My kicks are being here in Chicago, all the lovely flowers in my gardens right now and Xena getting better. Have a great week everyone.
by Margie Culver June 30th, 2013 at 5:50 amHey Jules! great seeing you at the Abrams picture book lunch! hope you had fun!
by Andrea beaty June 30th, 2013 at 7:42 amandrea
Great art. I can see pairing this with The Day with No Crayons by Liz Rusch.
by Jone June 30th, 2013 at 9:06 amJules and Margie, have fun at ALA…so wish I was there! Andrea, good luck on the book launch.
My kicks:
1 Early morning walk with Buster.
2. Birthday party of a friend.
3. Summer sun.
4. Book launch of friend, Rosanne Parry, Written in Stone.
5. Writing critique group.
6. Reading.
7. Leaving for Idaho.
Have a great week.
What a fun book – I love the letter from the pink crayon…
Have fun at ALA Jules and Margie and Andrea!
Jone – isn’t this sunshine wonderful? Hope you’re staying cool in the heat.
My quick kicks:
1) Rebirth Brass Band tonight. (Amy, if you swing by, don’t live in Nola now, but was born & raised there & get homesick for the music & fun & food.)
2) Spending time with an old friend & her husband visiting from LA this week. We hadn’t seen each other in 13 years!! They are both delightful & funny.
3) Another birthday dinner – I believe in extending my birthday celebrations as long as I can. Ate at Imperial, simply amazing.
4) Yard work yesterday & earlier this week – its coming along.
5) Some good results at work this past week.
6) A nice cold lemonade after washing my car in the hot afternoon sun.
7) Having time to relax & read a book outside while Cole naps nearby.
Have a great week everyone! Stay cool in the heat.
by Rachel June 30th, 2013 at 10:49 amGood morning, Imps!
Whenever I got a new box of crayons (or colored pencils, or markers), I would take them all out of the box and put them back in what I deemed to be the correct rainbow order.
My kicks from the past week, in chronological order:
by Little Willow June 30th, 2013 at 10:51 am1 Filmed a musical comedy episode
2 Closing night of the play
3 Audition and subsequent offer!
4 Recording tracks for a new musical
5 ADR session
6 Audition and availability
7 Family
I love the personifications in The Day the Crayons Quit; pink has quite the attitude. And white’s last line “we need to talk, Your empty friend,” is too funny. Lot’s of easy follow-up projects by readers come to mind, “What would my green crayon be grumpy about?” or “Can I draw a picture, like Duncan, that addresses all the color’s complaints?” When I was little I had a favorite crayon, mulberry, and my 4-year-old self did wonder if my other crayons knew and were jealous.
Jules and Margie and Andrea — have a blast at ALA! (envying y’all)
Jone – A lovely list of simple summer kicks. I checked out Written in Stones’ reviews, nice.
Rachel – My older son’s living in Nola now. He explained, “It’s one of the few American cities that still has a distinct personality.” Enjoy your Rebirth Brass Band evening.
LW – Keep on keeping on. (I reorder my crayons too. Still. ha-ha!)
My kicks this week:
1. My little bluff neighborhood has been covered by the most amazing fog bank all week. Swirling, wispy. Grey-blue ocean/sky, no horizon. L.A. bakes… but in our cloud we stay 20 degrees cooler.
2. Remembering my mulberry crayon. (I just read that Crayola retired it in 2003. Bye mulberry.)
3. Finishing a chapter.
4. Bird feeder outside my office window (doves, finches, sparrows above; squirrels, mice below.)
5. Watching my cat, Zeek, watching the bird feeder activity from INSIDE my office window.
6. These paper cut videos (wow!) Who the heck is that meticulous and patient?
http://busstop.typepad.com/blog/2009/12/paper-cutout-animation.html
7. My college roommate visited for four days. Wine, cheese and memories. We tried to remember some of our old song-girl routines from 39-years-ago (!) for the band/dancers reunion at Homecoming in October. Dare we go, overweight old farts that we are? (to be decided.)
Have a great summer week all!
by Denise June 30th, 2013 at 1:36 pmHey, imps: If you have a second and would like to support independent filmmakers, please click the link below and vote for STAGING GRIEF to be the Crowdfunding Project of the Week. It takes five seconds to vote, and it’s free!
http://blog.indiereign.com/vote-for-project-of-the-week-13/
I am not affiliated with this project. The writer is great, and I want to support her efforts.
Denise: Hurrah for the color wheel! Congrats on the chapter. Does Zeek make a clicking noise when he spots birds?
Denise and Rachel: Glad that you both had fun reunions this week.
Rachel: Lemonade sounds lovely right now.
Hope everyone at ALA had fun!
by Little Willow July 1st, 2013 at 10:12 amHello 7-Imp Kickers!
I’m a day late but here are my kicks from last week:
by Kimberly July 1st, 2013 at 10:18 am1. Having a fun time rehearsing a hilarious play with friends.
2. Playing Dungeons and Dragons – I’m playing a bard. DM (my husband) let me create a new skill called Perform (Stage Presence). I can’t convey how fun it is to successfully use that skill.
3. Rearranging the house. The husband convinced me to turn our first floor master bedroom into a library, which is turning out beautifully. I seem to sleep better upstairs anyway, and he moved his office into the library and now I get his old office to be my new office, complete with beautiful built-in bookshelves!
4. A party Saturday with friends, which took my mood from foul to fab very quickly.
5. Brunch with my sister.
6. Seeing a play that my boss’s daughter was in – and I’m the one who recruited her to be in it!
7. Safely staying inside while it stormed and stormed out of doors.
Kimberley — your rearranged house/office sounds great.
LW — Zeek’s very quiet (but the tip of his tail goes wild.)
by Denise July 1st, 2013 at 11:31 amI voted for Staging Grief. (The redheads fundraising video made me laugh when she said — in that Save the Children voice — “For just a dollar a day, you can feed a hungry gaffer…” lol.
Kiba: Yay! Enjoy your new library. Tell your boss’s daughter I said to break a leg, and tell your sister (and husband, and cat) that I said hi! 🙂
Denise: Thank you. Spread the word!
by Little Willow July 1st, 2013 at 3:52 pmMargie: So great to have met in person! I didn’t know Xena had been ill, but I’m glad she’s well now.
Hi again, Andrea!
Jone, have fun in Idaho, and safe travels.
Rachel: Happy reading with Cole by your side, and I concur that birthday celebrations should last long. All month, really. Why not?
Little Willow: Congrats on the offer! What is “ADR”?
Denise: Your last kick is fun. Also, why the what did they retire mulberry for?
Kimberly: That was a very theatre-filled week, but then I’m not surprised. …. Also, more bookshelves is always good. Very good.
by jules July 2nd, 2013 at 6:07 pmJust dropping in because I miss my kickers! Each week I promise to crawl out from my pile of moving boxes and then alas, it is Wednesday! So hello despite my lateness! Jules- I hope ALA was amazing. I really hope to go one year…
by Stacey July 3rd, 2013 at 4:52 amStacey, no worries! Moving is not a trivial thing. One day soon I’ll need to be doing it, too.
Good luck!
by jules July 3rd, 2013 at 9:01 am