Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

“Week in, week out, from sun to sun,
always more chores to be done.”
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Over at Kirkus today, I take a look at some new 2016 picture books addressing death and loss.

That is here today.

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Last week, I wrote here about Carole Boston Weatherford’s Freedom in Congo Square (Little Bee Books, January 2016), illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. I’m following up today with some spreads from the book. Be sure to click on the column from last week to see a fourth spread there at that post.

Until Sunday …

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“We create art and share art, because it helps us express visions of ourselves, our values, our history, or hopes. I resist any notion that this communication must be a one-way street, given from adults on high to children below; as children encounter picture books and their stories and art, I want to empower them to critically engage with the ideas, ideologies, and representations that text and art communicate and to delight in how sharing books and talking about them can foster their own thinking and creativity.”

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Over at Kirkus today, I talk to Megan Down Lambert, pictured here, about her new book, Reading Picture Books with Children: How to Shake Up Storytime and Get Kids Talking About What They See (Charlesbridge, 2015). If you love picture books, you will be interested in this.

That link is here today.

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Photo of Megan used by her permission and taken by Sean P. Lambert St. Marie.

 
If I had to create at, say, knife-point a list of the Funniest Picture Books of the Last Decade (that sounds violent, but I’m not a fan myself of creating such superlatives-lists), I’d put Michael Ian Black’s I’m Bored, illustrated by my guest Debbie Ridpath Ohi (her illustrated self-portrait is above), on that list. What can I say? I’m a fan of the potato.

Know what else I am? Slow. Or busy. Or both. When Debbie released a new picture book last year, one she’d both written and illustrated, she sent me these interview responses, and I’m just now getting around to posting the interview. I thank her for her patience — and also this image of us getting ready for breakfast:

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It looks like we’re having tea and toast, though I’ll have to make some coffee too. Also, we’ll have steelcut oatmeal with raisins, because that’s her breakfast-of-choice. “I like the texture,” Debbie tells me, “especially if they’re fresh-cooked and a little crunchy. I never used to like oatmeal until I read Angela’s Ashes.”

I really enjoyed this interview, because I learned quite a few new things about Debbie. You think you know someone—at least from their public persona—and then they up and surprise you. I like that. Also, I like the way she sees the world (her found-object art being a lovely case-in-point). Let’s get right to it, shall we?

Thanks again to Debbie for visiting. …

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“Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea.
‘I don’t see any wine,’ she remarked.”
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I’ve got the artwork today of art director, illustrator, and graphic designer Andrea D’Aquino. In this, her debut, she provides illustrations for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as part of a series from Rockport Publishers, called Classics Reimagined. D’Aquino’s interpretation of this story is bold, beautiful, and surreal; her watercolor, collaged artwork provides a modern, fresh look at a story many know so well. It’s a thoughtfully-bound book; go here and scroll down to see images of how the publisher worked quotes into the book’s exterior. (They put quotes on the page’s edges, a nice touch.)

Andrea shares quite a bit of art below from the book, so let’s get right to it so that you can see for yourself. I thank her for sharing!

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“‘Oh!’ said Lucy. ‘I know where we are.'”
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Above is a spread from Jessica Ahlberg’s Fairy Tales for Mr. Barker: A Peek-Through Story (Candlewick, March 2016), which I wrote about here at Kirkus last week.

Today, I’ve got a look at Carole Boston Weatherford’s Freedom in Congo Square (Little Bee Books, January 2016), illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. That is here.

Until Sunday …

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FAIRY TALES FOR MR. BARKER. Copyright © 2016 by Jessica Ahlberg. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA on behalf of Walker Books, London.

” … under her own special, magical manta. /
… bajo su propia manta especial y mágica.”
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Here’s a quick post, featuring the artwork of David Díaz. The illustrations are from author Monica Brown’s Maya’s Blanket/la manta de Maya (Lee & Low, August 2015). Last week Monica and I chatted over here at Kirkus, so here are a few spreads from the book.

Enjoy.

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Pictured above is one of the characters from Ame Dyckman’s upcoming picture book (coming in April), illustrated by Zachariah OHora. I love this girl’s shock of red hair. She’s welcoming you all to a sort of illustration dump today. Well, that phrasing sounds very ineloquent, but it’s a happy thing.

About two weeks ago, I wrote over here at Kirkus about some upcoming early-2016 picture books—-collaborations between authors and illustrators, some new pairings and some to which we readers are accustomed—and I follow up today here at 7-Imp with some art from each one.

Enjoy!

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“… When the gavel slammed down to end court that day, it announced change all over the country. And in its echo, you could hear the sound of Sarah’s first steps
to school and her long road to justice.”
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Hi, dear kickers. I’ve got a review over at BookPage of Susan E. Goodman’s The First Step: How One Girl Put Segregation on Trial, illustrated by E. B. Lewis (Bloomsbury, January 2016).

That review is here, if you’d like to learn more about the book. Since I always like to follow up with some art, I’ve got a few spreads from the book here today.

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Over at Kirkus today, I’ve got some thoughts about the book pictured above, the first one both written and illustrated by Jessica Ahlberg. It was originally published last year in the UK but hits American shelves this March.

That is here today.

Until later …

“These books represent my desire that our multiracial and multicultural children are not considered ‘fractions’ but rather celebrated for containing multitudes.”

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Over at Kirkus today, I talk to author Monica Brown, pictured here, about her newest picture book, Maya’s Blanket/la manta de Maya (Lee & Low). It was released back in August and illustrated by David Díaz. We also discuss what’s next on her plate for 2016.

That link is here today.

Next week here at 7-Imp, I’ll showcase some spreads from the book.

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Photo of Monica used by her permission.