Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Pictured here is an early comp from Marla Frazee’s newest picture book, The Farmer and the Clown (Beach Lane Books, September 2014). This book is something special, and since I recently reviewed it for BookPage, I figured I would see if Marla could share some early sketches and such from it. Lucky for me and all of 7-Imp’s readers, she said yes. She also includes below some final art from the book.

So, to read about this book and why it’s so good, that BookPage review I wrote is here. Below are the preliminary images and final art.

I thank Marla for sharing. (Oh, and don’t miss this conversation she had with the Horn Book’s Roger Sutton.)

Enjoy! Read the rest of this entry »

This morning over at Kirkus, I write about Bob Shea’s Kid Sheriff and the Terrible Toads, illustrated by Lane Smith. That link is here.

Last week, I wrote here about Benji Davies’ The Storm Whale, first published in the UK last year but released here this month by Henry Holt. I’m following up with art today, and since I love these illustrations so much, I asked Benji if he’d like to do a 7-Imp “breakfast” interview. He said yes, so I hope to post that in the next couple of months.

Enjoy the art … Read the rest of this entry »

Enjoy. Read the rest of this entry »

Pictured right is author-illustrator John Rocco in 1971. With him is his sister, Denise, and their dog, Toby-Tyler. This photo is the inspiration for John’s newest picture book, Blizzard (Disney-Hyperion), which will be released at the end of October. Blizzard tells the true story of John’s winter of 1978, when New England, as he explains in a closing author’s note, was slammed with one of the biggest snowstorms in its history. At first, it was all a bit thrilling and fun—we’re talkin’ school lets out early, snowdrifts cover doors, and tunnels and secret rooms are dug under piles of snow—and much hot cocoa (with milk!) was consumed. Then, things started to get a bit scary, but the young boy in the tale (John himself) heads out bravely to gather groceries for his family, as well as his neighbors, since as you can see above, he was “the only one light enough to walk on top of the snow.” It’s an adventure tale with cheer and heart, and at its core it’s a story about the resiliency and bravery of children.

Today, John is sharing some early drawings from the book, as well as some final art and a couple of other surprises. To boot, he’s throwing in four of his paintings from Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods, released by Disney-Hyperion in August.

Enjoy the art … Read the rest of this entry »

Hi, dear kickers. The illustrations I had planned to share today aren’t up, because I had some issues with the image files. Well, most of the images are fine, but two of them are not, so I’ll just wait. I’ll get that fixed soon (I hope) and post about the book another day.

But since posting without images is just not something I can tolerate here at 7-Imp, I’m sharing a piece of art my 10-year-old made. She and her sister are all the time drawing ninja cats, and this particular image cracks me up. It’s the age-old narrative of good vs. evil. This time it’s Ninja Cat vs. Angel Cat. Who will win?

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Since last week I wrote here about Chieri Uegaki’s Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin (Kids Can Press, August 2014), illustrated by Qin Leng, and Little Melba and Her Big Trombone (Lee & Low, April 2014), written by Katheryn Russell-Brown and illustrated by Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award winner Frank Morrison, I’m following up with some art from each book today.

Enjoy. … Read the rest of this entry »

“Ballet is so rigorous and formally precise. I spent a lot of time watching videos of ballet and going to see Misty dance specifically, because as precise as ballet is, the specificity of her art was most important to me. I wanted not just to capture the excitement of ballet, but the thrill of watching Misty perform those precision moves, the artistry that she brings to it.”

 

Today over at Kirkus, I talk with Misty Copeland and Christopher Myers (pictured above), the creators of Firebird, a picture book released by Putnam this month. That’s Chris quoted above, who is talking about Misty’s work as the second African American soloist in the history of the American Ballet Theatre.

That link is here, and next week here at 7-Imp, I’ll have some artwork from the book.

Photos used with permission. Photo of Misty taken by Gregg Delman.

You all know I like to follow up reviews with art from the books I write about, if possible, but for this one I also decided to chat with the award-winning illustrator himself (pictured here) about this book, what’s next for him, how picture books differ in the U.S. and overseas, and more. In fact, he poses a question to readers below (regarding U.S. publishing), if anyone is so inclined to weigh in.

The chat today includes art from Anna’s Heaven, as well as a couple of older picture book titles of Stian’s, published here in the States. Stian also shares images from a forthcoming book, which will also be published here.

Let’s get right to it, and I thank him for visiting. Read the rest of this entry »

Hello, dear kickers. Today I have some artwork from author-illustrator David Biedrzycki, whose has a brand-new picture book out from Charlesbridge, Breaking News: Bear Alert (Charlesbridge, September 2014). It’s the story—in the style of a breaking-news, this-just-in television report—of two very curious bears who make their way into a busy town. It’s a fun story, and David has a handful of spreads from it to share today, as well as a few early sketches. The Kirkus review for this one notes that David’s Adobe Photoshop illustrations are “bold and playful, appropriately reminiscent of vintage Hanna-Barbera and a good match for the slapstick story,” while the Publishers Weekly review adds that David’s book “comically exploits our cultures of distraction and surveillance.” (They make an excellent point.)

The cover’s so entertaining that I’m opening this post with it, though I normally open with artwork (well, non-cover artwork).

While David’s here, he’s also sharing some other artwork, so let’s get right to it, shall we? To read more about the books from which these images come and more about David and his work, you can visit his site here.

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Today at Kirkus, I write about two picture books, Chieri Uegaki’s Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin, illustrated by Qin Leng, and Little Melba and Her Big Trombone, written by Katheryn Russell-Brown and illustrated by Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award winner Frank Morrison. That link is here.

Last week, I wrote here about two wonderful new books for budding, young photographers, Susan Goldman Rubin’s Stand There! She Shouted: The Invincible Photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline, and Ruth Thomson’s Photos Framed: A Fresh Look at the World’s Most Memorable Photographs. I’ve got a bit of art from Ibatoulline today.

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