Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Since, after Tuesday’s post, I’ve still got monsters on the brain, let’s check in quickly with another monster title this morning. This one comes from British author/illustrator Thomas Docherty, who was once shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal. Originally published in 2009, Big Scary Monster was released in the U.S. in July by Templar Books, an imprint of Candlewick.

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I thought I’d check in quickly this week to add to the ever-growing list of Slightly Demented Picture Books. Some of you may remember that librarian and blogger extraordinaire Adrienne Furness and I discussed our favorite slightly demented titles back in April of 2008, and I’m always happy when I see titles to mentally add to the list. (For the record, I’m speaking for myself here. For all I know, Adrienne may not care for these titles. I’ll just have to ask her, won’t I? Any excuse to talk to Adrienne.) 2010 brings us a couple I want to feature today. I’m talkin’ the wickedly funny, the mighty irreverent, the subversive little gems that surprise you. Sure, there’s a place for The Sweet and the Cute, but you all know I have a big, cushiony, pillowy, feathery soft spot in my heart for the subversive little gems, too.

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I’m so pleased to be featuring the illustrations this morning from one of my top-five favorite picture books of 2010. Oh yes, I have formed such a geek-tacular list in my head! The presentation I made weeks ago at The University of Tennessee’s Center for Children’s and Young Adult Literature—about my favorite picture book titles thus far in 2010—forced me to really consider my very bestest favorites from the year, and this book is one of them. It was actually published in 2009 in Belgium as De Boomhut, but Lemniscaat, an imprint of Boyds Mills Press, published the first U.S. edition this year.

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Because I had less time for blog-writing last weekend, today’s post is another quickie art-stop post. Have you all seen yet Marjorie Blain Parker’s A Paddling of Ducks, illustrated by Joseph Kelly? Published by Kids Can Press in March, it’s subtitled Animals in Groups from A to Z. And, it occurs to me just now, wouldn’t it be fun to pair with this, seeing as how both books feature collective nouns for creatures (whether real or imaginary)? Woot! Good times.

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It’s been two years since my breakfast interview with author/illustrator Tricia Tusa, whose work I love so very much. She’s got a new illustrated title out, Once Upon a Baby Brother (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2010), written by Sarah Sullivan, so I thought I’d share some spreads from it today. Read the rest of this entry »

If you haven’t had your coffee or hot tea yet, the art work of Sonia Lynn Sadler just might wake you up instead. Sadler has illustrated the picture book debut—Seeds of Change from Lee & Low Books (April 2010)—of author Jen Cullerton Johnson, a biography of 2004 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan environmental and political activist. In the 1970s, Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental organization focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation, and women’s rights. Johnson, as noted in the back of the book, relies upon Maathai’s autobiographical writing (indeed, her own memoir) to bring us the story of her life — from her childhood in Kenya to 2004, in which she was awarded the “prestigious peace prize.” Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s another quick international art stop today, featuring two 2010 picture book titles illustrated by Australian artist Nina Rycroft, who has been honored by the Children’s Book Council of Australia. I need this first title to help wake me up, as I haven’t had the sweet brown lifeblood that is coffee. Yet.

That first very joyous picture book comes from Australian author Phil Cummings. First published in ’08 in Australia, Boom Bah! was published here in the U.S. in March of this year. (Click on each image in this post to enlarge the spreads and see in more detail.) Read the rest of this entry »

Gianna Marino, my 7-Imp visitor this morning, debuted her picture-book work in 2005 in a book Kirkus called a “lively, engaging debut,” Zoopa: An Animal Alphabet (Chronicle Books 2005). Just when you think you’d seen every approach to alphabet books, along came Gianna with a fresh one in this wordless picture book, featuring a bowl of alphabet soup and a colorful menagerie of creatures surrounding it. In Spring of this year, Gianna followed the title up with One Too Many: A Seek & Find Counting Book, also released by Chronicle Books. This one features one flea, bouncing between farm animals, its path traced in a thin silver arc. Kirkus wrote, “Marino’s illlustrations are marvelously striking, positioning animals that are largely black and white, with a bit of sepia, against blue sky (that modulates to pink and then to night) and sandy barnyard,” adding that it’s “a rare counting book with wide appeal.” This nearly wordless title definitely holds some treasures for the eager, observant child reader.

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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. Whew. It’s already the first Sunday of August, and the first Sunday of each month is when I like to shine the spotlight on a student illustrator or someone otherwise brand-new to the field. Let’s get right to today’s featured illustrator, Ben Clanton, who—according to his site—has spent most of his time in Oregon and Montana classrooms. But he tells us a bit more below, so without further ado…Welcome to Ben:

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Hi, dear readers. I’ve got my work cut out for me this week. I’m coming up on a self-imposed writing deadline, and I’m also preparing for this, a presentation at The University of Tennessee’s Center for Children’s & Young Adult Literature, in which I have one hour to talk about the best picture books thus far of 2010. Can you even try to imagine for one second how I’m having trouble narrowing here, dear people, since I love me my excellent picture books ever so muchly? But I’m having fun, and I think the presentation will be very fun, too. The best part is that I get to hear my former East Tennessee librarian colleagues—who are brilliant and will also be presenting—talk about books for other ages, and I particularly look forward to hearing about YA novels in the afternoon, since I’ve not had as much time for reading those on my own this year. (Good thing I love my picture books, right?)

So, for those reasons, I probably won’t be back here at 7-Imp until Sunday. But I promise to return for some kickin’. In the meantime, I’m leaving you this week with some collage illustrations from the great Ed Young. His latest illustrated title is by Brenda Z. Guiberson, who has been writing and illustrating children’s books for over 15 years. It’s called Moon Bear (Henry Holt, May 2010), a lyrical tribute to the Asiatic black bear, becoming rare in the wild. Read the rest of this entry »