Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

 
There’s been a long history of anthropomorphic vehicles in children’s books and in children’s entertainment — from Little Toot and Pedro to Cars. Robert Neubecker’s Little Smokey (Knopf, August 2019) provides a modern twist with an environmental edge, given the frequency of forest fires in this country. Read the rest of this entry »

— From Mark Lee’s What Kind of Car Does a T. Rex Drive?,
illustrated by Brian Biggs

 

— From Brian Pinkney’s Puppy Truck
(Click to enlarge spread)

 

“Steam engine, gas engine, electric engine too. …”
— From George Ella Lyon’s and Benn Lyon’s Trains Run!, illustrated by Mick Wiggins
(Click to enlarge spread and see text in its entirety)

 

“They’d never ridden this way before.”
— From Carter Higgins’s Bikes for Sale,
illustrated by Zachariah OHora
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
Over at Kirkus today, I’ve got Laurel Snyder’s beastly new picture book.

That is here.

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Last week, I wrote here at Kirkus about Brian Pinkney’s Puppy Truck (Atheneum, June 2019); Carter Higgins’s Bikes for Sale (Chronicle, April 2019), illustrated by Zachariah OHora; Mark Lee’s What Kind of Car Does a T. Rex Drive? (Putnam, May 2019), illustrated by Brian Biggs; and George Ella Lyon’s and Benn Lyon’s Trains Run! (Richard Jackson Books/Atheneum, June 2019), illustrated by Mick Wiggins.

I’m following up today with some art from each book.

Enjoy!

Read the rest of this entry »

 
I’ve a review over at BookPage of Blair Thornburgh’s Skulls! (Atheneum, July 2019), illustrated by Scott Campbell.

That is here, and today at 7-Imp I’ve got some spreads from the book.

Enjoy!

Read the rest of this entry »

“They caught the babies, / and catch them still, /
welcome them into the world, / for loving.”
(Click image to see spread in its entirety)

 
“Midwives have been in the world probably as long as there have been human babies on earth.” Thus opens The Women Who Caught the Babies, a picture book by the legendary Eloise Greenfield, coming to shelves in September (Alazar Press) and illustrated by Daniel Minter. A five-page introduction kicks things off and is followed by a series of poems that follows African American midwives from slavery to the early 2000s. The book closes with a poem about the midwife who caught Greenfield herself, as well as some family photos.

Read the rest of this entry »

 
Over at Kirkus today, I’ve got some new picture books about things that go vroom, zoom, beep — and bark.

That is here.

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Last week, I wrote here about Carlos Aponte’s Across the Bay (Penguin Random House), coming to shelves in September. Today, I’ve got some spreads from the book.

Enjoy!

Read the rest of this entry »

“That night, Ultrabot had trouble sleeping.”
(Click to enlarge and see spread in its entirety)

 
Over at BookPage, I’ve a review of Josh Schneider’s Ultrabot’s First Playdate (Clarion, July 2019). Or: Even robots can feel insecure. (Also, as you can see above, they also need nightlights.)

That is here, and today here at 7-Imp are some spreads from the book.

Enjoy!

Read the rest of this entry »

 
Today, I’ve some illustrations from The Girl Who Named Pluto: The Story of Venetia Burney (Schwartz & Wade, May 2019), written by Alice B. McGinty and illustrated by Elizabeth Haidle (who is also the creative director of Illustoria magazine).

This is the story, set in 1930 in Oxford, England, of (as the book’s sub-title tells you) Venetia Burney, the only child to have named a planet. In the book’s opening spreads, we are invited into her world, as we walk with her and her schoolmates outside in a classroom lesson about the solar system. Venetia and her mother live with her grandfather, a former Oxford library head, and the inquisitive girl loves to tell him all about her lessons. Venetia is fascinated by not only outer space, but also Greek and Roman mythology; she’s intrigued by the links between science and literature. So, when a new planet is discovered . . . Read the rest of this entry »

 
Over at Kirkus today, I’ve got an upcoming picture book from author-illustrator Carlos Aponte.

That is here.

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Last week, I wrote here about Andrea D’Aquino’s A Life Made by Hand: The Story of Ruth Asawa (Princeton Architectural Press, September 2019). I’m following up with some art from the book.

Enjoy!

Read the rest of this entry »

 

Back in March, the Horn Book posted about new picture books for “embracing friendship and community.” David Soman’s How to Two (Dial, March 2019), which I reviewed for the Horn Book, is included in that post, as well as three more excellent picture books. That is here.

If you missed Soman’s book earlier this year, be sure to find a copy. It’s a keeper.

 
In case you missed it earlier this year, by chance, I’m spotlighting the engaging ¡Vamos! Let’s Go to the Market from Mexican American artist and illustrator Raúl The Third. This was released in April from Kwame Alexander’s new imprint, Versify. Read the rest of this entry »