August 9th, 2016 by jules
The review is here. Below, I’ve got some more spreads from the book. Enjoy!
August 7th, 2016 by jules
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It’s the first Sunday of the month, which means I’ve got a newly-graduated illustrator visiting today to share artwork. Shane Cluskey, originally from Ireland, actually graduated in 2005 from the National College of Art and Design, Dublin (so, he’s not exactly newly-graduated), but he’s currently working on his first children’s book, so I thought it’d be fun to showcase his artwork. As I understand it, Shane is currently living in London.
Shane also says a few words below about his work, so let’s get right to it. I thank him for visiting. (To see even more of his artwork, here’s his Instagram page.)
August 5th, 2016 by jules
Over at Kirkus today, I write about the debut picture book from Kate Hoefler, Real Cowboys (Houghton Mifflin), illustrated by Jonathan Bean and on shelves in early October.
That link is here.
Last week, I wrote here about Randy Cecil’s Lucy (Candlewick, August 2016), and I’m following up with some art today.
Enjoy!
August 4th, 2016 by jules
“The beauty of multicultural books is that they open new doors and windows for readers who are outside the culture. They can live, explore, and enjoy other cultures as they read amazing stories. For the majority of children and adults who were born in the United States, an ‘alien’ is indeed someone from outer space, and they do not associate it with immigrants or immigrant status. For me, as a writer of multicultural children’s literature, it is always important to write authentic stories where my readers can learn and discover the immigrant experience and the experience of living in two cultures.”
Over at Kirkus, I talk to author and teacher René Colato Laínez, pictured here, about his newest picture book, Mamá the Alien/Mamá la extraterrestre, published by Lee & Low last month.
That chat is here.
Until tomorrow …
Photo of Mr. Laínez used by permission of Lee & Low Books.
August 2nd, 2016 by jules
This is in follow-up to my BookPage review. So, if you’d like to read all about the book, you can head here for the review, and more spreads are below.
July 31st, 2016 by jules
July 29th, 2016 by jules
That is here today.
Last week, I wrote here about Sandol Stoddard Warburg’s The Thinking Book (AMMO Books, May 2016), illustrated by Ivan Chermayeff and originally released in 1960, as well as Giselle Potter’s This Is My Dollhouse (Schwartz & Wade, May 2016). Below is a bit of art from each book.
Enjoy.
July 26th, 2016 by jules
A zippy-quick post (because I’m in the final stages of packing a home this week)! Have you seen Jon Agee’s newest picture book, Lion Lessons (Dial, July 2016)? Here’s a story filled with Agee goodness — his understated humor, solid storytelling, and soft, no-nonsense palette. This one is about a boy who takes up lion lessons, just as the title tells you. His teacher, a great lion with (if you pay attention to the book’s details) a degree from the Harvard School of Claw, takes the boy under his wing, teaching him Looking Fierce, Roaring, Choosing What to Eat, Prowling Around, Sprinting, Pouncing, and Looking Out for Your Friends (all kicked off with some stretching). The boy isn’t exactly a star student, but there’s a lot of humor along the way — especially, as mentioned, in the details of the spreads. The boy succeeds in the end, complete with a Lion Diploma and the adoring creatures pictured above. (A lionhearted pounce, after all, can also go hand in hand with looking out for a friend.)
Here’s a bit of art from the book so that you can see more for yourself.
Enjoy!
July 24th, 2016 by jules
This is the wordless tale of a girl, at night, who’s fallen asleep, book in hand. This book looks very similar to Valério’s very story. Suddenly, the creature in the pages of the book leaps out through the window, and the girl is nowhere to be seen. Readers realize she has become the wolf-like creature who has leaped out of the house. The following pages show her as the wolf having a night-time adventure with the rooster just outside of her home, as well as a deer they meet. They fly to a star, the rooster grabs it, and the wolf returns to her home, lighting up the stringed lights around the headboard on the girl’s bed — really, he lights up her entire room. There, suddenly, is the girl again, sleeping happily.
It’s a simple, but magical, plot with Valério’s rich colors; the palette is dominated by deep blues and lush greens. He captures with a seeming ease the euphoria of dreams of flight, as well as the cryptic nature of dreams, even ones that leave you with a smile on your face. The Publishers Weekly review writes that there is a “giddy sense of possibility” in this story. Indeed.
Here are a couple more spreads. Enjoy!
July 21st, 2016 by jules
“‘What is the point of a storybook?’ is actually a really difficult question to answer because, at the end of the day, stories are largely frivolous: They don’t fill an empty belly or suture a wound or shelter the lost. And yet every reader knows that something almost mystical transpires when the right reader finds the right story. I was trying to articulate the meaning of that transaction. Ultimately, I found the easiest way to answer the question was to invert it and ask ‘What happens if we lose our storybooks?’ And that question became the foundation of the entire novel.”
Over at Kirkus today, I talk to novelist Jonathan Auxier, pictured here, about his newest book, Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard (Abrams/Amulet, April 2016).
That is here this morning.
Until tomorrow …
Photo of Jonathan used by his permission.
