Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

 

I chatted over at Tennessee’s Chapter 16 with Mac Barnett and Adam Rex in advance of their visit next week to Parnassus Books here in Nashville. We talked about their new picture book, How This Book Was Made (Disney-Hyperion, September 2016); Chloe and the Lion, which was published in 2012 (here is where Adam visited 7-Imp back then to talk about that one); honky-tonk; and more. You can click on the image above to head to Chapter 16’s site and read our chat.

Wanna see some art from How This Book Was Made? You can head to this 7-Imp post from earlier this year. Scroll down a bit. Voilà!

Enjoy!

“The Uncorker’s heart was a glass vessel filled to the brim.”
(Click each to enlarge)

 
Pictured above is a preliminary image from Erin E. Stead’s illustrations for Michelle Cuevas’ The Uncorker of Ocean Bottles (Dial, August 2016), as well as a spread from the book. I have a review of this picture book over at BookPage (here), and Erin visits today to talk a bit about the art and to share some images.

I thank her for sharing. Let’s get right to it.

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— From Eric Orchard’s Bera the One-Headed Troll

 

— From Jeffrey Brown’s Lucy & Andy Neanderthal

 

“Whoa.”
— From Raina Telgemeier’s Ghosts
(Click to enlarge)

 

— From Ben Hatke’s Mighty Jack
(Click to enlarge)

 

— From Øyvind Torseter’s The Heartless Troll

 
This morning over at Kirkus, I’ve got two very funny picture books. That is here. I’ll have art from each book here at 7-Imp next week.

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Last week, I wrote a graphic-novel round-up here. Today, I’ve got a bit of art from each book — Eric Orchard’s Bera the One-Headed Troll (First Second, August 2016); Raina Telgemeier’s Ghosts (Scholastic, September 2016); Jeffrey Brown’s Lucy & Andy Neanderthal (Crown, August 2016); Øyvind Torseter’s The Heartless Troll (Enchanted Lion, September 2016); and Ben Hatke’s Mighty Jack (First Second, September 2016);

Enjoy!

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“So the little giant asks the rain, What color is the wind?
The rain knows nothing.”
(Click to enlarge)

 
Well, it occurred to me this morning that I’ve been blogging for ten years now. No better way to celebrate than to share some beautiful art, just like every other day in 7-Imp Land.

Here’s what I have for you today: Some art from Anne Herbauts’ What Color Is the Wind? (coming from Enchanted Lion in early October). This is a book originally published in France in 2011, which went on to win the Prix Sorcières, an annual children’s lit award in France. Incidentally, Herbauts is my age-ish (I think she’s four years younger), and she’s evidently published over 30 picture books and graphic novels and has been nominated three times for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. I’m feelin’ kind of lazy today. She’s prolific, huh?

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“In his green living room are seats, saucers, statues, and two socks.
Where are Grandad’s socks?”
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
This morning here at 7-Imp, I’m highlighting some spreads from Brian Cronin’s The Lost House: A Seek and Find Book, coming to shelves at the end of September from Viking. The book was just given the Gold Medal by the Society of Illustrator’s Original Art 2016 jury. (Read here for more information.)

In this story, readers enter a world of electric, saturated hues, meeting two grandchildren who are ready to head to the playground with their grandfather, but they can’t quite get out of the house. Grandad is forgetful and keeps asking them to help him find what he needs — his socks, his teeth, his umbrella, his bow tie, his cloth tote bag, etc. (though I like how the Publishers Weekly review notes: “To call this a seek-and-find book doesn’t come close to conveying the eccentricity of newcomer Cronin’s creation”).

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I’ve got a graphic-novel round-up here at Kirkus today.

Until Sunday …

“Langston’s poetry was an early mirror for me. As a child, I didn’t read many novels where the characters looked like me, talked like me, were concerned with the same issues I was worried about. Poetry was where I found my people. In the lines and stanzas of Langston’s poems, my grandmother called out to me, my dark skin and crinkly hair was beautiful, and the stories of my ancestors were honored. There was strength, anger, grace, and ambition all there for the taking. I needed that as a child, and I believe our young people need that now. “

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Over at Kirkus today, I talk to children’s book and YA author Renée Watson, pictured above, about I, Too, Arts Collective, her initiative to turn the brownstone in Harlem where legendary poet Langston Hughes once lived into “a space for poets, a space to honor his legacy.”

That is here this morning.

Until tomorrow …

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Photo of Renée taken by NAACP and used by her permission.

“Every night, when the dark entered the house, traveling slowly down the walls
and over the floors, Ella grew afraid.”
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
Coming to shelves next month from Groundwood is Sandra V. Feder’s The Moon Inside, illustrated by Aimée Sicuro. I like this book so much I want to show you all some spreads from it today.

This is the gently-paced story of a young girl, named Ella, afraid of the dark. There’s no shortage of picture books on this topic, but Feder and Sicuro handle this with such care and thoughtfulness; it really stands out. Note, for one, in the spread featured above, the book’s opening spread, how evocatively and accurate Feder describes how the dark appears to a child (or, more precisely, how it moves). Ella turns on the lights in each room she enters in order “to make the dark go away.” The sun makes Ella happy, and yellow—which dominates the book’s paelette—is her favorite color. For this reason, she avoids dusk.

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Pictured above: Illustration from Mathieu Lavoie’s Toto’s Apple
and Jean Jullien’s This Is Not a Book

 
I’ve got a bit of an international spin here at 7-Imp today with art from French graphic designer and illustrator Jean Jullien, as well as author and illustrator Mathieu Lavoie, who lives in Montreal.

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“Real cowboys are as many different colors as the earth.”
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
You won’t find me writing about magazines … well, ever. Until today. This morning over at Kirkus, I take a look at Illustoria, a promising new children’s magazine with a focus on children’s book authors and illustrators.

That link is here.

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Last week, I wrote here about Kate Hoefler’s Real Cowboys (Houghton Mifflin, October 2016), illustrated by Jonathan Bean.

Today, Jonathan shares some process images and final art, as well as some thoughts on creating the illustrations for this book. I’m happy he’s sharing that today, so let’s get right to it.

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