Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

This morning’s post is dedicated to a new picture book, Clever Jack Takes the Cake (Schwartz & Wade, August 2010), which jumped up and surprised me and was placed, soon after I first read it a few weeks ago, in the Top 10 Jules’s Favorite Picture Books of 2010 list in my noggin. I know: I speak in hyperbole. Is anyone actually keeping count of my 2010 favorites? Really, though. Hyperbole aside, this book is a winner on so many levels that it is a true joy to read. And I just noticed that it’s been met with a whole host of starred reviews, so it looks like I’m not alone in my adoration for it. (“The creators of Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! celebrate storytelling with a sparkling specimen of that very thing,” writes Publishers Weekly.)

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It’s a pleasure to welcome Richard Michelson to 7-Imp today. I don’t want to belabor this introduction, since I think this interview is full of all kinds of goodness and I want you to get right to Rich’s words, but for those who might need it, I offer a Rich Michelson 101:

Rich is a poet and children’s book author, whose books have received many honors, including the prestigious Sydney Taylor Book Award (Gold Medal) in 2009 for the stirring As Good As Anybody: Abraham Joshua Heschel and Martin Luther King’s Amazing March Towards Freedom, illustrated by Raul Colón. Clemson University named Michelson the R. J. Calhoun Distinguished Reader in American Literature for 2008. Rich has worked with a whole slew, to be precise, of talented illustrators — not only in his well-crafted picture-book writing and poetry work, but also as the owner of R. Michelson Galleries in Northampton, Massachusetts, a most wonderful-looking visual arts space I long to visit myself. It is in this space that Rich champions and showcases the work of many of today’s contemporary picture book illustrators (as well as the work of those who have passed). Read the rest of this entry »

I love the (as I’ve once described it) funky, free-form, Chagall-esque, kaleidoscopic mixed-media illustrations of Australian author and illustrator Chris McKimmie. His art is probably not for everyone, but it’s definitely for me.

Back in 2008, I covered another of McKimmie’s titles. If you want to read that here, you might get a good sense of what his art is like. (Let me tell you that about 99.9999998% of the time when I’m blogging, writing, etc., I am beating myself up over my words—not sufficient enough, I think to myself, to describe what I’m thinking or feeling, and self-deprecation is my good friend—but, dang, I like that little 2008 review I wrote, as I re-read it now. I think it nails that book, if I may say so myself. I guess maybe occasionally I make sense.)

This new title from McKimmie, Two Peas in a Pod (from Allen & Unwin in Australia, and I’m not clear on the publication date, though I think it was published in May over the pond) tells us the story of two good friends, Marvin, a.k.a. “Marvellous,” and Violet, who have “lived together in Raven Street since dinosaur time. Almost.”

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Meet Flora. Here she is, about to disappoint a sparrow who has asked for her baby brother, Crispin. Just a little while ago, Crispin had very much turned Flora’s day upside down, and let’s say she wasn’t feeling too sisterly. But, after a strong gust of wind blows Flora and Crispin away and all kinds of forces of nature (an eagle, the clouds, the moon, a rainbow) ask for Crispin’s hand, Flora discovers that she’s not quite that ready to give him up for good after all, as tempting as it might be — and even though little brothers can do things like spill your paints and altogether ruin your artistic process. Yeesh.

Flora’s Very Windy Day (Clarion, August 2010) sprung from the pen of Jeanne Birdsall, pictured left, and the paintbrush of Matt Phelan. Just as this beautiful picture book will, Jeanne’s previous novels on the Penderwick family will blow you away. I know. Ouch. Excuse my terrible pun. But it’s true. The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy, published in 2005 by Random House/Yearling, is—if you haven’t already read it and its 2008 sequel yourself—wonderful and funny, and it was Jeanne’s first novel, no less. The superb writing therein was acknowledged by The National Book Foundation as a 2005 National Book Awards Winner in the category of Young People’s Literature. The reviews for The Penderwicks on Gardam Street were nothin’ to sneeze at either. My favorite, which really nails the charm of both Penderwick titles, comes from School Library Journal’s starred review: “This is a book to cherish and to hold close like a warm, cuddly blanket that you draw around yourself to keep out the cold.”

And Flora? I already mentioned this book is beautiful. I mean to tell you BREATHTAKING. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, as I indicated in Sunday’s post, I was away and offline all last week, so having blog posts ready this week—though I have a ton of stuff planned, as you’ll see in a moment—is tough, since I had no time last week to compose posts, format images, etc. But I’m going to tide you over today with some illustrations from Elisa Kleven’s latest picture book title.

As you can see at this page of 7-Imp, where I archive all illustrator or author/illustrator visits of any kind, Elisa’s visited many times, because this blog is, for all intents and purposes, a fan site, and I’m the nerdiest of all fans of her work. (Her 2008 interview is still one of my favorites.) The book is Welcome Home, Mouse—a fitting post as I return from some time away from my own home—and it was released at the end of last month by Tricycle Press. In their starred review, Kirkus wrote, “Every word and brush stroke is spot-on in this luminous celebration of creativity, conservation and compassion,” which tells the story of Stanley, who loves to help but isn’t always so physically graceful about it. While running errands for his mom one day, he bounces his ball right on top of Mouse’s house, smashing it “to bits and pieces.” But Stanley makes up for his mistake by creating the Mouse her own brand-new home out of bits and pieces of items he sees while he’s out. And that’s all I’ll say, ’cause if you pick up a copy of this yourself, its wonders can then unfold for you.

As is always the case with Elisa’s titles, this exudes joy. I asked Elisa if she could please share some spreads from it… Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to 7-Imp’s 7 Kicks, a weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week, whether book-related or not, that happened to you.

As you regular readers know, normally I feature an illustrator every Sunday, but this week has been devoted to some straight-up chillaxin’, as the young ‘uns would say. Or Chillaxin To D Maxin, as the severely hip young ‘uns might say.

So, knowing I’d be at Disney World this week, I just took off altogether and didn’t even get an illustrator lined up for today. My apologies. Instead, you’re being greeted this morning with a photo of me and the girls at Epcot. I try to limit photos of my children at the blog, which are probably only interesting to me and the grandparental units, as I’ve said here before, but I GOTTA have at least one image this morning, don’t I? That’s right. Thanks for agreeing.

This trip was my first Disney visit, or what I now like to call The Land of Sanitized Children’s Lit. I don’t mean to sound as if I’m being snarky about an actual vacation, ’cause I got to ride some coasters and see my girls nearly explode from happiness upon meeting Marie from The Aristocats, which pretty much was their ultimate goal.

Looks like while I was gone, I missed this from The New York Times. Since I blog about picture books and illustration, am I panicking? Nope. I think I’ll keep on keepin’ on. If the NYT is right, it’s all the more reason to keep shining the spotlight on contemporary picture books.

Oh and kicks? It’s late on Saturday as I type this, and we just got home and unpacked, but I’d say, quickly: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios; visiting the countries of the world at Epcot, which is a nice break from mouse ears (mostly); getting to take a break from work and writing; the actual brewed coffee I’ll have this morning after a week of coffee-from-machines; reading the work-in-progress chapters of my writing partners-in-crime, Betsy and Peter; and the fact that I’m, as you read this, at the Southern Festival of Books to see friends, hear authors, and volunteer. I missed this yesterday but heard it went very well, and I got to see the documentary in advance, which was a treat.

Note: Don’t forget that nominations for The Cybils 2010 are open!

What are YOUR kicks this week?

First of all, y’all, I’m on blog break this week, so I’ll see you on Sunday for your kicks. (That’s the first line of a poem, I think, that someone needs to complete.)

Secondly, I’m happy to announce:

Yes, Nashville! A Vanderbilt professor of Education (whose research focus is children’s lit and who, incidentally, will be part of the panel this Saturday for Steven Withrow’s documentary, so go see and hear!) contacted me with this wonderful idea, and that would be the moment in which I smacked my forehead and proclaimed, “Yes! Why didn’t I think of that earlier?” Brilliant, I say. Brilliant notion.

Many of us not in New York City read with a happy kind of envy about Betsy Bird’s Kidlit Drink Nights up in the Big Apple (you know, like this); well, now middle Tennessee has one. Though I have absolutely no idea how many Tennesseans read my blog, here are the details. Be there, or be square. Or be there and be square. I have a soft spot in my heart for nerds, you know.

Here’s the announcement we’re emailing folks. If you’re a kidlit person in middle Tennessee, this is for you, too: Read the rest of this entry »

Well, I finally followed up on something I promised I’d try to do in my Caldecott-ramblings post, and that would be contact illustrator Sophie Blackall to see if she wanted to share some images and possibly some sketches from her latest illustrated picture book titles, Jacqueline Woodson’s Pecan Pie Baby and Rukhsana Khan’s Big Red Lollipop. In fact, as you all know, I like to feature student illustrators or those brand-spankin’-new to the field on the first Sunday of each month, but I’m breakin’ the rules today, since I promised this a couple weeks ago and can finally deliver.

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I’m so pleased that today marks Italian blogger Cristiana Clerici’s first contribution to 7-Imp. You may remember from this early September post that I invited her to come on over to the 7-Imp salon to discuss international picture book titles whenever the mood strikes her. Lucky for me, she was all fired up about that idea. You may also remember from my introductory post on Cristiana that over at her blog, The Tea Box, where she will cross post these reviews and interviews, she is following books from all over — with special attention to Italy, the United States, the UK, France, Spain, and South American countries. And she maintains three pages in three languages over at The Tea Box (Italian, English, and French). Hubba whoa did you say? Yes, hubba WHOA. Impressive, indeed.

Cristiana is working on an interview with the very talented Italian illustrator Eva Montanari, which she’ll also post over here, once she wraps that up. Today she’s contributed a review of the book you see pictured below, written by one of the leading authors in Italian children’s literature and illustrated by a Swedish artist. The book is being published in France by Hélium. It’s looking for a publisher in other countries, says Cristiana. (More information can be found here.)

Without further ado, here’s Cristiana to tell you more about it, and I thank her kindly… (By the way, I need a clever title for Cristiana’s series of sorts. Any ideas? It’s late, and “Cristiana Clerici’s International Spotlight” is the best I can do.)

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