Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

I’m going to keep short the introduction to today’s featured picture book, Animal Masquerade (published by Kids Can Press in March and originally published under the title Au carnaval des animaux), ’cause it’s just so fun that I want to get right to it.

Anyone, by any chance, remember this 2010 book from Canadian illustrator Marianne Dubuc? (That was her first picture book to be translated into English.)

Well, she’s back with a similar book. Similar, that is, in terms of format — it’s another small, square, snug book. But it’s also similar in that, once again, there’s really no dramatic action or complicated narrative thread to speak of here. This time there’s an animal masquerade—“Disguises are a must!”—and each animal chooses a disguise, as you can see below in the art featured here today. As with the last book, page turns are the stars here; each animal’s disguise is revealed after each turn. This propels the book forward with a brisk energy. There’s occasional funny commentary, such as: “The hen didn’t dress up. She didn’t understand a thing. (She isn’t very smart.)” But, for the most part, the child reader can kick back to enjoy the surprises and costume-reveals. And revel in the deliciousness of an animal masquerade. (To be clear, some human animals are involved, too, as well as chocolate cake — perhaps even one disguised as another, as you can see below.) Read the rest of this entry »

This morning over at Kirkus, I chat with Elisha Cooper (pictured here from my 2008 7-Imp interview) about Homer, his newest picture book and one of my favorite picture books of 2012 thus far.

Here’s a brief excerpt:

‎”When I was painting the book, I’m sure I was thinking about my daughters. They were heading off to summer camp before returning to me at the end of their day. But in some larger sense, I knew they were also heading off into their lives. This letting-go stuff still sort of kills me. But I know it’s important. If we create space for those we love, then love will come into that space.”

Here’s the rest.

As always, next week here at 7-Imp, I’ll have some more art from it.

Until next time …

“Becoming an artist,” writes author/illustrator Eric Velasquez at his site, “was a natural choice for me. I have never thought of being anything else.” Born to Afro-Puerto Rican parents and growing up in Harlem, Eric developed a love for art, music, and film from his mother, father, and grandmother. In 1983, he earned his degree from the School of Visual Arts and moved on to a career in freelance illustrating.

And if you follow children’s lit—particularly if you’re a fan of those illustrators who work in oils, pastels, and realism—it’s likely you know his work. The growing list of book jackets and illustrations he’s done is getting hard to keep up with, to be frank. “To describe illustrator Eric Velasquez as a ‘prolific artist,'” wrote The Brown Bookshelf in 2010, “would be an understatement.” In 1999, he was awarded the Coretta-Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent for the illustrations in his debut picture book, Debbi Chocolate’s The Piano Man, published by Walker Books for Young Readers.

Read the rest of this entry »

In the bio on the jacket flap for self-taught illustrator Naoko Stoop’s debut picture book, Red Knit Cap Girl (to be released mid-month by Megan Tingley Books/Little, Brown), she writes that she was inspired to write this story after participating in an event called Earth Hour, which encourages people to turn off the lights for an hour. She explains that she once lived in New York City and that it was challenging to see the night sky, given the abundant city lights.

Well, she up and did good with this story, one that could have easily been heavy-handed, given she was trying to make a point about enjoying the beauty of the night sky, no matter where you live.

“In the forest, there is time to wonder about everything,” the book opens. Red Knit Cap Girl sits on a log with her sidekick bunny friend and ponders such things as flowers, butterflies, leaves, and clouds. Mostly, though, she ponders the Moon and wants to get close enough to talk to her. Since her attempts fail, Hedgehog suggests she asks Owl, who knows everything. In a spread showing Stoop isn’t scared of a little dark mystery, we see Owl’s menacing eyes—and only his eyes—peering at her in the darkness from a tree, an effectively goosebump-inducing moment. Eventually, she coaxes an answer from Owl: “The Moon is too far to reach, but if you want, she will bend down to listen to you … You will find a way.” Read the rest of this entry »

It’s the first Sunday of the month, which means it’s time here at 7-Imp to shine the spotlight on a student or new-to-the-field illustrator.

Today I’ve got illustrator, artist, and mural-maker Robert Trujillo, who is from Oakland, California. Robert has yet to be published as an illustrator but is, as he told me, trying to learn more about the field and meet like minds “in real time or through the Web.”

Speaking of the Web, Robert’s site is the cool side of satin, especially if you dig art and jazz (and/or funk and/or soul). Case-in-point is here.

Okay, digression over.

The illustration above, rendered in watercolor and ink, is one of two illustrations Robert created from a short story he’s written about a mother and daughter who build their own lowrider. The second illustration, as well as more artwork from Robert, is below.

And here are more words from Robert, who is pictured above at a recent visit to an elementary school in Sacramento. (More on that visit and more pictures are here at Robert’s site.) Read the rest of this entry »

I can’t help myself. I’m sharing art from a handful of books today. Here are but some of the illustrations, and there are more after the “read the rest…” below:

Last week at Kirkus, I wrote (here) about Belle Yang’s two new bilingual board books for young children—Summertime Rainbow: A Bilingual Book of Colors
and A Nest in Springtime: A Bilingual Book of Numbers, both written in English and Mandarin Chinese—and today, as always, I’ve got a bit more art from each book.

But what I decided to throw into the mix today is art from six other new picture books, the theme here being that these are also books about summer. Or the beach, where I’d happily kick back my feet right now, if I could. (Maria’s book is for when you’re on the way to the shore. But of course.)

Enjoy. (P.S. The endpapers in Mini Grey’s Traction Man and the Beach Odyssey may very well be the funniest endpapers you’ll see all year.) Read the rest of this entry »

I wrote a tribute at Kirkus today to my friend and co-author Peter D. Sieruta. It is here.

I’ll be back tomorrow with art. Till then …

Over the years, I’ve found Valeri Gorbachev’s picture books (both ones he’s written and illustrated, as well as those written by others that he’s illustrated) to be a breath of fresh air. To be sure, I think he has a contemporary Richard-Scarry vibe—more than any other illustrator working today—but his artwork still possesses, at the same time, a style that is all his own.

(Pictured left is his self-portrait, which won me over right away.)

As I’ve written previously here at 7-Imp, when Valeri, who immigrated to the United States from the Ukraine in 1991, illustrates a new children’s title, I always go running to get a copy. (If you do the same, you stay busy, huh? He’s illustrated over fifty books in his career. Well over that number, I would bet. And I should have clarified this, but let’s carry on.) What do I love about his work? His pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations are terrifically kid-friendly — without being condescending to child readers. His colors are always cozy and warm. His expressive, detailed character work—always anthropomorphized animals who are endearing, yet never saccharine—always wins me over, and there’s a subtle humor in his work as well. There’s also usually a real sense of community that pervades his titles, and he creates original cumulative tales that really work.

With the recent release of a new title he both penned and illustrated, Catty Jane Who Hated the Rain (Boyds Mill Press, April 2012), I invited Valeri over for a 7-Imp cyber-breakfast. I’ve wanted to do this for years, and I’m pleased he’s here. “I’m not very creative in my breakfast,” he told me. “Usually, I like sausage. In my life, I’ve probably eaten enough sausages at breakfast that they can be looped around the world a few times. And, of course, I have to have my cup of coffee. Or two. Or three.”

Three cups of coffee always works in my kitchen, so let’s get right to it. I thank Valeri for stopping by. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, this marks the first time in 7-Imp history—at least since 7-Imp started doing weekly “kicks” posts on Sundays—that I’m not kickin’ on a Sunday, but it’s Saturday night as I write this and I just received the news that the one and only Peter D. Sieruta, with whom Betsy Bird and I have been researching and writing a book since 2009, passed away Friday night. I’m still lacking details about what exactly happened, but his brother has announced the news.

I am still shocked about the brand-new, intractable fact that there’s a Peter-shaped hole in the world now, and I don’t really want to accept it, to imagine further manuscript conversations without Peter, as much as I adore working with Betsy. I have no doubt she feels the same.

(In fact, Betsy has written a tribute as well, and readers can also leave memories/comments at that post on Sunday. Betsy chose just the right words and remembers him well.)

I had planned on featuring an illustrator tomorrow, listing kicks, and inviting others to do so, as I do every Sunday. But it seems only right now to say some words about Peter and invite those who knew him to do the same.

It was my pleasure to work and write with Peter over the past three years. He had a keen wit, a kind heart, and a brilliant mind. He was an avid reader; every time we turned around Betsy and I were amazed, but not surprised, by the number of children’s lit-related stories he had stored in his brain and the knowledge he held on the subject. I remember one of us asking him early on in our research, seriously, Peter, how do you KNOW all this stuff?, and he replied simply, “lifelong interest in kids’ books!”

He would get a bit anxious at times about the editing process—joking about all of his portions of the book getting hacked and removed altogether from our manuscript—and this would leave me shaking my head in wonder. And that’s because his writing was very tight and always entertaining. I often turned to him to help me find more economy with my own words. Oh, RIGHT. Why didn’t I think of that? I’d wonder, after Peter got a hold of one of my sentences. (Or, as Betsy wrote, “He was such a professional, modest to a fault, always willing to help us out when we were feeling stuck. It is intolerable to lose him.”)

Ever curious, he seemed to be always reading, writing, and learning. And his blog, Collecting Children’s Books, was a true delight, where his unique voice as a writer was on display weekly.

Peter also adored his family. This I know. He spoke so fondly of them. His brother and parents remain, and I’m sure they are devastated. I extend my deepest and most heartfelt sympathies to them. Peter and I were writing partners but also had conversations of a personal nature about friends, family, and … life in general. And I know that he loved his family more than my words could possibly say here.

It was also clear to me and Betsy that Peter was very excited about our book’s publication (scheduled for next year), and it won’t be the same at all now. Not with his absence.

If anyone else would like to share memories of Peter here or leave a tribute, please know that you are welcome to do so.

I re-read these beautiful words from Walt Whitman just last week, and the least I can do is offer them up now in Peter’s honor, though I do so in shock and sadness:

All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses,
And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier.

I hope and hope that’s true. May Peter rest in peace. And may his family be sustained by happy memories.

Today over at Kirkus, I write about a pair of brand-new, bilingual board books from Belle Yang that are presented in both English and Mandarin Chinese. The link is here this morning.

Last week, I wrote about The Man in the Clouds, originally released in 2010 in the Netherlands and released here in the States this April, from author and songwriter Koos Meinderts and renowned Dutch illustrator Annette Fienieg. That link is here, if you missed it and want the low-down on this book.

Today, I feature some more art from it. Enjoy. Read the rest of this entry »