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The Many Sides of Sophia

h1 June 4th, 2015 by jules


“Sophia’s birthday was coming up, and she had five things on her mind —
One True Desire and four problems.”


 

Since last week over at Kirkus, I chatted with Jim Averbeck and Yasmeen Ismail about One Word from Sophia, coming to shelves in mid-June from Atheneum Books for Young Readers (that Q&A is here), I’ve got some art and early sketches from Yasmeen today.

I thank her for sharing.



 



Early sketches
(Click each to enlarge)


 





More early drawings


 


“…Her One True Desire was to get a pet giraffe for her birthday.”


 


“… and Grand-mamá, who was very strict.”


 


“So Sophia used fewer words with Father. ‘Giraffes,’ said Sophia, ‘are a good source of manure, which can be sold at a profit to garden centers and activists.”


 


“Her proposal was accompanied by a compelling graph
showing how much money she would make.”


 


“In a last, desperate attempt before her birthday, Sophia prepared to speak to everyone on once. She revised and shortened her proposition
until it was just one word.”


 


“‘One word really worked,’ she said.”


 


“And two words came in handy as well …”


 


Click to enlarge cover


 

* * * * * * *

ONE WORD FROM SOPHIA. Copyright © 2015 by Jim Averbeck. Illustrations copyright © 2015 by Yasmeen Ismail. Published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, New York. Images here reproduced by permission of Yasmeen Ismail.





2 comments to “The Many Sides of Sophia”

  1. […] to Note” for the Summer of 2015. Jules both interviewed the book’s creators and posted some of Ismail’s art and sketches on her blog. And now,… I’ve devoted a blog post to the book as well. It’s one of my favorites for […]

         by Five reasons to get One Word from Sophia June 30th, 2015 at 1:33 pm

  2. […] view on her website. Even better is Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast’s post featuring early sketches and finished spreads. Julie Danielson’s interview with author and illustrator is at Kirkus […]

         by 5 New-to-Me Illustrators I Discovered in 2015 #AMonthofFaves | the dirigible plum December 11th, 2015 at 11:32 am

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