Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

 
This morning I’m going to have cyber-breakfast with artist Chris Sickels, who creates sculptural and 3D illustrations and who illustrates children’s books (amongst other creative projects) under the name Red Nose Studio. I wish it weren’t a fake breakfast, and that’s because his breakfast of choice is, he told me, “the chocolate zucchini bread that my lovely wife Jennifer and my daughter Ava make together. Pair that bread with a cup of French press coffee, and that is the bee’s knees for me.” If I ever actually meet him in person, I’m going to remind him of this moment and hit him up for the zucchini bread and French press coffee. Coffee-lovers don’t forget such things.

Today’s post includes lots of Chris’s process images, a photographic sneak peek into how he created the art for his latest illustrated title, Jennifer LaRue Huget’s The Beginner’s Guide to Running Away From Home (pictured left), which was released by Schwartz & Wade Books last month. You may remember his 2010 illustrated title, which I covered here at 7-Imp — Here Comes The Garbage Barge, written by Jonah Winter and also published by Schwartz & Wade. To see art from that book, you can visit that 2010 7-Imp post (or even this one), but with the exception of some portfolio pieces at the close of this interview, all the images here today are from The Beginner’s Guide, a tale both funny and moving (the same illustration below that nearly brought Chris to tears, when making it, does the same for me when I see it) and which School Library Journal calls “imaginative and subversive.”

Let’s get right to it so that you can see how Chris creates his intricate worlds and also what’s next on his plate. I thank him for visiting 7-Imp today. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m going to be ever-so brief in my explanation of these images today, only because I have already written about this book over in another location. I recently reviewed for BookPage Mac Barnett’s latest book, Count the Monkeys (Disney/Hyperion, June 2013), illustrated by Kevin Cornell. And I could just send you to my review and stop there, but you all know I start to get downright twitchy unless I also share picture book art, so today I’m following that review up with some art from Cornell, as well as some sketches he sent along.

Kevin Cornell is a UK illustrator (and unitasker). Don’t let the “mediocre” bit fool you.

So, at the risk of looking lazy today, here are my thoughts on the book (which will also give you a sense of what it’s about, of course), but today here in 7-Imp Land is some art — before my kicks, that is.

Enjoy. Read the rest of this entry »

Today over at Kirkus, I write about Deborah Heiligman’s outstanding picture book biography of famed Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdös, illustrated by LeUyen Pham.

It’s called The Boy Who Loved Math: The Improbable Life of Paul Erdös, and it’s a beautiful book.

That link is here.

Pictured here is LeUyen’s depiction of Erdös.

Next week here at 7-Imp, I’ll have some more art and early sketches from her.

Should I say that this is a picture book biography you can count on? Er, no. That’d be painful, right?

Pretend I didn’t. Carry on.

See you Sunday.

Can it really be Thursday already?

The week has raced by.

Today over at Kirkus, I chat with author/illustrator Vanessa Brantley-Newton, pictured here, about two of her recent illustrated titles, Amy Novesky’s Mister and Lady Day: Billie Holiday and the Dog Who Loved Her and (to come this Fall), Marie Harris’ The Girl Who Heard Colors.

That Q&A is here today.

Next week here at 7-Imp, I’ll follow up with some art and sketches from Vanessa.

Until tomorrow …

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Photo courtesy of Vanessa Brantley-Newton.

Quick Note from Jules: Even though I’m not sure how to summarize what I do or what I want to be when I grow up, I have an intern this summer. She’s in charge of this post today, and by the way, she’s great! But, since she introduces herself so briefly below, I want to tell you a bit more here:

Susan previously worked as a preschool teacher and is now finishing up her Master’s degree in Education at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. She just moved to New York City and is also an aspiring author. She’s been assisting me with various types of work this summer; she’s not only assisted me where she can, for one, on the picture book grad course I’m teaching, but she’s also listening in on the lectures (and reading lots of picture books on her own, as I’m having my students do), ’cause she’s eager to learn like that. Susan is also interested in my freelance writing, as well at my blogging at 7-Imp, so I invited her to do some guest posts. This is her first. Welcome, Susan!

Hello, 7-Imp readers!

This is Susan A. Johns here, intern/ teaching assistant/ general errand-doer and go-getter to our beloved Jules. A few weeks ago, I had the distinct privilege of dropping by 7-Imp headquarters to sift through some of the beautiful and creative picture books circulating around the Danielson house. There were so many thought-provoking stories surrounded by such vibrant illustrations, I really didn’t know what to do with myself. I was engrossed in childhood nostalgia and drawn to the ways in which I could bring these books into my preschool classrooms. Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t want to teach people anything with my books. I want to tell them unusual and hopefully fun stories about problems big and small — about fear, identity issues and other things that affect us humans, both children and adults.

Curious about the work of Argentinian illustrator Isol, who won the 2013 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award? Here’s an informative video about her work:

Meet Big Baddy, pictured above.

He comes from Tim Miller, who is visiting 7-Imp today, since it’s the first Sunday of the month, when I like to feature student or newly-graduated illustrators. Tim doesn’t have a website up, but that won’t stop me from showing you all some of his artwork anyway.

Tim calls himself a “satirical illustrator who specializes in Picture Books.” He studied at the School of Visual Arts, where he earned his Bachelor’s in Cartooning and his Master’s in Art Education. He is currently based in New York City. Wait, this illustration tells you what you need to know: Read the rest of this entry »

This morning at Kirkus, I write a bit about what it’s like to attend your first ALA conference, which I just did. And I share some thoughts on why this particular conference was so enjoyable. That link is here.

If you missed it last week at Kirkus, I chatted here with author/illustrator Divya Srinivasan. And on Friday, I wrote here about Charlotte Moundlic’s The Bathing Costume: Or The Worst Vacation of My Life (Enchanted Lion, May 2013), illustrated by Olivier Tallec and originally released in France in 2011.

Today here at 7-Imp, I’ve got art from The Bathing Costume, as well as art from Divya (some spreads from Octopus Alone, released in May from Viking; some spreads from Little Owl’s Night, released in 2011 from Viking; and a few portfolio pieces from Divya).

Enjoy. Read the rest of this entry »

Because some of you who weren’t at this past weekend’s ALA conference have asked me: This is the postcard (cover anyway) that Candlewick made for distributing at this past weekend’s conference. This will not be the book’s final cover, but it’s the general idea. One of my ALA roomies—the one and only Allie Bruce, Children’s Librarian at Bank Street College Library—read the beginning portion of our manuscript (since Betsy and I were actually in the same physical space and needed to wrap up some work on it) and didn’t scream in agony. She claims to have enjoyed it, in fact. Whew.

I wish Peter D. Sieruta were here to see this cover, but the ALA event we had to honor and remember him (the primary reason I attended ALA this year) went well, and his brother, John Sieruta, gave him such a lovely tribute. Big thanks to Stephen Barbara for organizing, hosting, sponsoring the entire event.

Publication date should be April 2014!

I read this sad news today, that author/illustrator Holly Meade has left us at the age of 56.

Holly’s work was simply beautiful. Pictured above is a print from my 2009 interview with her. I’ve always really liked that piece of artwork, in particular.

Her artwork has also appeared here and here at 7-Imp. Her watercolor collages in Susan Campbell Bartoletti’s 2011 picture book, Naamah and the Ark at Night, was one reason it was one of my favorite picture books of 2011.

The book that won her a Caldecott Honor has always been a top picture book for me:

 

May her family find comfort during this difficult time, and may her legacy live on in her exceptional illustration work.

All images are posted from previous interviews or posts and were initially used with permission.