Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

This morning I’m making lots of room at the 7-Imp breakfast table for Zachariah OHora and Nilson (pictured above), the tantrum-throwing star of Zach’s latest book, No Fits, Nilson! (Dial, June 2013), what Kirkus calls in their starred review an “amusing modern fable” and Pamela Paul at the New York Times describes as a “charmingly original take on an evergreen concern.” It’s a tight squeeze here at the table, and he nearly throws a fit about it, but Nilson just manages to fit. Plus, I gave him a gorilla eye lock, and he calmed down.

But it’s just Zach I’m going to chat with; Nilson’s busy eating some choco-banana ice cream. Zach says his breakfast-of-choice is a Dutch Baby. “Okay, that sounds weird,” he adds. “By ‘Dutch Baby,’ I mean the pastry made of eggs, flour, and butter in a skillet. Not the human.”

Zach’s debut picture book—Stop Snoring, Bernard!, which he both wrote and illustrated—up and won him the Society of Illustrators’ Founders Award (for new talent) in 2011. (That happened to be the year I juried for the Original Art award. The Original Art jury does not pick the recipient of the Founders Award, but I wholeheartedly cheered their choice that year anyway.)

Zach saw two picture book releases this year, which you’ll read about below — one written by the talented Lisa Wheeler. (This is the one book of his I’ve yet to see, and I must remedy this.) I loved Zach’s art as soon as I met it, and I’m pleased he’s sharing lots of it today over coffee. Let’s get to it. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m going to be short and sweet about today’s featured picture book, primarily because I’ve only got one spread from it. But, since it’s Quentin Blake, I’m hardly complaining.

This is the first U.S. edition of Russell Hoban’s Rosie’s Magic Horse (Candlewick, February 2013), illustrated by Blake. (It was originally released in the UK, I assume, in 2012.) This was evidently the last picture book from Hoban, who died in 2011. (“Hoban’s books asked big questions, and the answers were sometimes murky and mournful,” Publishers Weekly has written, “but this last one is a happy farewell salute.”)

And the story is wonderfully bizarre. It is about, of all things, a discarded ice-pop stick, who is picked up by a girl named Rosie. Rosie puts this stick in her ice-pop stick collection in a cigar box. Suddenly, readers are inside the box, listening to the popsicle sticks talk: “Without our ice-pops, we are nothing.” But the newest stick in the collection dreams of being a horse. (See above. All the sticks, it turns out, dream of being horses.) Read the rest of this entry »

Last week, I wrote about two shy children in two new picture books, Heather Hartt-Sussman’s Noni Is Nervous (Tundra Books, to be released in July), illustrated by Geneviève Côté (who visited 7-Imp back in 2011), as well as Eileen Spinelli’s When No One Is Watching (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, February 2013), illustrated by David A. Johnson.

Today, I have art from both books, as well as some sketches from Geneviève. David also shares some images (very bottom of the post) from a recent project, called King John. (I believe it’s from A.A. Milne’s “King John’s Christmas.”)

Enjoy. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s early, and power isn’t going to surge through me till I get some coffee, but before I do so, I’m here to share some art and one very possible visit from Jason Carter Eaton before breakfast.

Last week, here at Kirkus, I chatted with author/illustrator John Rocco about his most recent picture book, Super Hair-o & the Barber of Doom (Disney/Hyperion, May 2013), as well as Jason Carter Eaton’s How to Train a Train, to be released this September from Candlewick. So, I have some art from each book today.

And, as noted, BONUS: Jason is here to say a bit about his book, which is so good, you all, that I’m eager for you to see it, come Fall. I was so super busy with work this week that I gave Jason some general guidance but asked him, as you’ll see below, to generally submit an in-his-own-words piece about this book.

Let’s get right to it. Jason and some Train art are first, followed by some art from Super Hair-o (as well as a childhood photo of John, other than this one, that inspired the book).

I thank Jason for visiting — and especially for his in-his-own-words entry, even if he had to thieve to do it. Read the rest of this entry »

“Ruth Paul lives in an off-grid straw bale house in the middle of a paddock under a wind farm just outside Wellington, New Zealand,” says this site for Walker Books in Australia. And it’s to that straw bale house that I’m heading today (at least cyber’ly) to have breakfast with Ruth.

Ruth saw her U.S. picture book debut (Candlewick) this year with Hedgehog’s Magic Tricks, originally released last year by Walker Books. It’s a “story and artwork as delicate as milkweed floss,” wrote Kirkus Reviews.

I’ve corresponded with Ruth for a couple years now and was pleased to see her books released here in the States. Ruth even visited back in 2010, so be sure to visit that post if you want to see more of her art.

This morning we’re having, says Ruth, “knobbly poached free-range eggs (what’s left of them) with crispy free-range bacon (what’s left of it) on burnt toast, prepared and delivered by my kids. My husband has to make the good, strong coffee to go with it. We’ll plump up the pillows, let the sunshine in, and you can join me in your pyjamas for breakfast in bed.” I’m most excited about the good, strong coffee. Let’s get to it, and I thank Ruth for visiting. Read the rest of this entry »

Hello, dear Imps, to the beginning of June. June, I tell you! June already. Whoa.

Today, I welcome newly-graduated illustration student Seung-Hee Lee, since the first Sunday of every month is for illustration students or those brand-spankin’-new to the field. Seung-Hee comes to us by way of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She was born in Seoul, Korea, moved to the U.S. as a teen, and currently lives in California.

Let’s get right to it. She tells us a bit about her work below and shares some of her detailed, imaginative art. I thank her for sharing today. Read the rest of this entry »

 
This morning over at Kirkus, I write about two shy girls in two new picture books. That link is here today.

Today illustrator Stephanie Graegin is visiting 7-Imp, since last week (here at Kirkus) I wrote about Emily Jenkins’ newest picture book, Water in the Park: A Book About Water and the Times of the Day, released recently by Schwartz & Wade Books and illustrated by Stephanie. Stephanie also shares some sketches here, as well as sketches and art from Liz Garton Scanlon’s Happy Birthday, Bunny!, her debut illustrated title released by Beach Lane Books in January of this year. She also shares a couple of personal pieces. (Pictured above is a piece she created for Steven Malk, her agent at Writers House.)

I thank her for sharing. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s author/illustrator John Rocco as a child. You can see that he and his barber weren’t super tight.

But you never know about big hair: It could be concealing superpowers.

Today I chat with John at Kirkus about life post-Caldecott Honor, as well as his two new picture books, Super Hair-o and the Barber of Doom (just released from Disney/Hyperion and which he both wrote and illustrated) and Jason Carter Eaton’s How to Train a Train, coming from Candlewick this Fall.

Next week here at 7-Imp, I’ll have some art from John.

The Q&A is here.

I’m so pleased that author/illustrator Tom Lichtenheld is visiting today. I’ve wanted him to visit the blog for a while, and we just haven’t pulled it off. (Till now!) I enjoy his work. Did you all see Exclamation Mark (Scholastic, March 2013), his most recent collaboration with Amy Krouse Rosenthal? It’s exceedingly clever, that one. Yet I never got around to blogging about it, despite my best intentions.

Tom’s newest book, Sing (to be released this week from Christy Ottaviano Books/Henry Holt) is so joyous and so just-the-right-book-for-him that I’m extra pleased he’s visiting today to tell us all about it. My regular readers know I’m a ginormous music-lover, and for that reason—and lots of others having to do with Tom’s abundant talents as an illustrator—I think this book is special. It’s unabashedly cheerful without being the slightest bit cloying about it.

As Tom explains below, this is a picture book adaptation of Joe Raposo’s song, made famous on Sesame Street. “The most interesting part,” Tom told me, “was that the song, though sweet and well-known, doesn’t have or need any semblance of a story. To turn it into a picture book I had to not only come up with a story, but one that was completely visual, so the lyrics could remain pure. Being handed this challenge was an honor, so the book holds a special place for me. I also like that it has a quieter mood than my usual zany stuff; I like books at opposite ends of the spectrum — mindlessly ridiculous or thoughtfully sweet.”

Let’s get right to it so that Tom can tell us more about it, and I thank him for sharing today. Read the rest of this entry »

It was one year ago at this time that, sadly, Peter D. Sieruta passed away. For those of you who knew Peter and plan to attend this summer’s annual conference of the American Library Association in Chicago, please note the following information and join us on June 28th, if you can.

What: Celebrate the Life of One of Children’s Literature’s Luminaries: A Peter Sieruta Event
When: Friday, June 28th, 4:30 p.m.
Where: The Lake Erie Room at the Hilton Chicago

How did you best know Peter Sieruta? Was it through his remarkable blog, Collecting Children’s Books (a go-to site for wit and historical tidbits)? Was it from his countless Horn Book articles or his work on the Horn Book Guide? Maybe you met Peter in a bookstore or you were a close personal friend.

Whatever the case, come, mix, and mingle with other friends and fans of the often urbane, always scintillating fellow. This event will be held as a celebration of Peter and his book (co-written with myself and Betsy Bird), Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Children’s Literature, slated to hit bookstore shelves in spring 2014.

Please RSVP to Fusenumber8 [at] gmail.com if you would like to attend this gathering.

Note: The above photo is an older one of Peter and is used with permission of John Sieruta.