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What I’m Doing at Kirkus This Week,
Plus What I Did Last Week, Featuring
Sophie Blackall, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh,
Qin Leng, Sara Palacios,
LeUyen Pham, and Melissa Sweet

h1 January 12th, 2018 by jules


“… This is the Earth that Lappé dreamed.”
— Melissa Sweet’s illustration of Frances Moore Lappé from Susan Hood’s
Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World


 


“She turned the guitar upside down and played it backwards.
It was kind of like brushing your teeth with your foot. …”
— From Laura Veirs’ Libba: The Magnificent Musical Life of Elizabeth Cotten,
illustrated by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh
(Click to enlarge and read text in its entirety)


 


“It is a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen is one of the greatest writers. But it might surprise you to know that Jane lived a simple life.
She wasn’t rich or even very famous in her time.”
— From Deborah Hopkinson’s Ordinary, Extraordinary Jane Austen,
illustrated by Qin Leng


 

Over at Kirkus today, I write about Andrea Davis Pinkney’s and Brian Pinkney’s Martin Rising: Requiem for a King. That is here.

* * *

Last week, I wrote here about three new picture books featuring some remarkably talented and fearless women — Susan Hood’s Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World (Harper, January 2018), illustrated by 13 different artists; Deborah Hopkinson’s Ordinary, Extraordinary Jane Austen: The Story of Six Novels, Three Notebooks, a Writing Box, and One Clever Girl (Balzer + Bray, January 2018), illustrated by Qin Leng; and Laura Veirs’ Libba: The Magnificent Musical Life of Elizabeth Cotten (Chronicle, January 2018), illustrated by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh.

I’m following up with some art from each book today.

Enjoy!

 

From Libba:


 


“Libba Cotten heard music everywhere. …”
(Click to enlarge and read text in its entirety)


 


“All day and night she played that guitar! …”
(Click to enlarge and read text in its entirety)


 


“… Thousands of people sang along when she played ‘Freight Train.’
And now, millions of people know her music.”
(Click to enlarge and read text in its entirety)


 



 

From Shaking Things Up:


 


“… Puerto Rican puppeteer / Querida / Role model / Spanish ‘story seed’ sower …”
Sara Palacios’ illustration of Pura Belpré
(Click to read poem and see spread in its entirety)


 


“… the sisterhood survives!”
Sophie Blackall’s illustration of Jacqueline Nearne
(Click to read poem and see spread in its entirety)


 


“This is the Earth that Lappé dreamed,
the woman who wrote, ‘Eat more greens’ …”
Melissa Sweet’s illustration for the Frances Moore Lappé spread
(Click to read poem and see spread in its entirety)


 


“Science, / my friend, I grew up with you. …”
LeUyen Pham’s illustration of Angela Zhang
(Click to read poem and see spread in its entirety)


From Ordinary, Extraordinary Jane Austen:


 


“Even as a young girl, Jane was a reader who knew exactly what she liked,
and precisely what she didn’t. …”
(Click to enlarge and read text in its entirety)


 


“Now, two hundred years later, I wonder if Jane would be surprised to learn that her books are still read and loved by people all over the world?
Maybe. Then again, maybe not.”
(Click to enlarge)


* * * * * * *

LIBBA: THE MAGNIFICENT MUSICAL LIFE OF ELIZABETH COTTEN. Text copyright © 2018 by Laura Veirs. Illustrations copyright © 2018 by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh and reproduced by permission of the publisher, Chronicle Books, San Francisco.

ORDINARY, EXTRAORDINARY JANE AUSTEN. Text copyright © 2018 by Deborah Hopkinson. Illustrations copyright © 2018 by Qin Leng and reproduced by permission of the publisher, Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins.

SHAKING THINGS UP: 14 YOUNG WOMEN WHO CHANGED THE WORLD. Text copyright © 2018 by Susan Hood. Illustrations here are copyright © 2018 by Sophie Blackall, © 2018 by Sara Palacios, © 2018 by LeUyen Pham, and © 2018 by Melissa Sweet. Used by permission of the publisher, Harper, New York.





4 comments to “What I’m Doing at Kirkus This Week,
Plus What I Did Last Week, Featuring
Sophie Blackall, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh,
Qin Leng, Sara Palacios,
LeUyen Pham, and Melissa Sweet”

  1. Well this was a whole lot of loveliness to brighten my day. Thank you!

         by Jeannine Atkins January 12th, 2018 at 1:00 pm

  2. My pleasure. This artwork brightens my day too. I’m selfish that way!

         by jules January 12th, 2018 at 1:38 pm

  3. Wow, a book with BOTH Sophie Blackall and Melissa Sweet? That fresh angel, Laurina Cashin, is swooning…

         by Bobbie Combs January 13th, 2018 at 11:43 am

  4. Amazingly creative artworks in such a crowded world of excellent picture books …

         by Stardi January 20th, 2018 at 6:46 pm

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