Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Two weeks ago, I decided to check in with some of the Men of Children’s Lit (or, in one case, his publisher) Who Have Previously Visited the Blog and see if they’d let me showcase some of the illustrations from their latest titles. (No slight to the women; it just started out with a couple of men, and then it kept building. Let’s check in with the women next, shall we?) I kicked it off with Lane Smith and David Ezra Stein. Today, Sean Qualls stops by again. He was here in April, one of my favorite 7-Imp interviews, I confess — not only because his art makes me happy, but because he sent tons of illustrations and sketches to share in that post. It’s right up there in the Dave-McKean category for Most Art Sent for a Post. This is a good thing in my book.

And that interview included sketches from the book I’m featuring today, Vaunda Micheaux Nelson’s Who Will I Be, Lord? If you like the cool (in more ways than one — check out his blue palette) spreads you see here, then head on over to that interview to see some of his early sketches for the book.

Nelson’s book, released in October from Random House, is about a young girl, looking ahead to her future, wondering what she’ll be, by looking back at her own family tree.

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This is undeniably backwards, but I’m here to talk a little bit today about a book I have yet to read. It’s called Only a Witch Can Fly (published by Feiwel & Friends in August), and it’s by the prolific and talented Alison McGhee. The illustrations were done by Taeeun Yoo, who has illustrated enough picture books to count on one hand, but whose work I very much like. Every time she illustrates a new title, I’m all over it. (I featured two spreads from Yoo’s The Little Red Fish way back in ’07, when 7-Imp’s 7 Kicks was but a wee babe. As I said then, that book is utterly captivating. And it has a CLOTH COVER, which for some reason makes me squealy.)

I’m eagerly awaiting my library copy of Only a Witch…. Crafted by McGhee as a sestina, it’s been met with rave reviews all around: “This sophisticated picture book is rich with imagination… More personal, quiet, and transcendent than most Halloween books…” from Booklist and “{t}he effortless quiet of McGhee’s words is beautifully matched by Yoo’s pictures — linoleum block prints done in rapturously moody greens and browns” from The New York Times, just to name two. (Plus, when Adrienne tells me a picture book is good, I know I’m gonna like it. And she very much likes this one.)

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A quick note this morning, in the category of Interesting to Others Who Are Hip to Kids’ Lit Blogs (well, and also those who are interested in reading about the ever-changing world of contemporary book-reviewing):

Betsy Bird has a great article about children’s lit blogs and their place in the world in the current issue of School Library Journal. Pictured here is the cover. How great is that? Look at those babes. The article is linked online at the SLJ site. It’s here.

Tremendous thanks to Betsy for including 7-Imp in the “Ten Blogs You Can’t Live Without” list. Very flattering, as 7-Imp’s in excellent company there. Most excellent company.

Enjoy the read!

Note: A commenter over at that online article wrote: “Sadly, I understand Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast is ending soon. (Please correct me if I’m wrong!)” Nope, I’ll still be here, as Jama quickly noted in a comment (thanks, Jama!), running my mouth. Eisha is backing out—by choice, but I admit we had too much fun entertaining the notion of staging a fake fight (heh)—but I remain. I’ve got my coffee cup and breakfast in hand, still. Ready and waiting to chat with more folks.

Happy November to one and all, and I hope everyone had a great Halloween yesterday.

I love the first Sundays of every month at 7-Imp, in which either a student illustrator, a newly-graduated illustrator, or someone otherwise new to illustration stops by to share some art. This week we have Tess Bailey, who recently graduated from the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a concentration in Illustration. Tess, who I believe is in Maryland now, is sharing with us this morning some of her thesis art work, which I think is beautiful stuff. Pictured above is Spirit Horse, probably my very favorite piece. Pictured below is Hawaiian Legend (click on that image to enlarge and see more details), followed by a little bit from Tess herself about her work.

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Hi there. I’ve had something I needed to say to ya’ll for a while, so please bear with me for a bit.

I am officially resigning from 7-Imp, and henceforth this here blog is solely the property and responsibility of one Ms. Jules Kick-Ass Take-Names Danielson.

Really, I’m just stating the obvious here. For months, nay, years now I’ve barely contributed any content beyond the occasional Poetry Friday post and the weekly 7 Kicks. I’ve been doing a lot of soul-searching and priority-rethinking lately, and the fact is this: I’m in a very different place than I was three years ago when we started this endeavor. My current job doesn’t really lend itself to keeping up with the latest in children’s lit. And… I’m okay with that. I didn’t expect to land on the career path I’m taking now, but I LIKE it. And I don’t expect it to change any time soon.

My only regret is how much I’ll miss all of you guys. Jules, I know, will be my best friend forever and ever. And while I’ll miss having this shared adventure with her, I think we’ll still have plenty to talk about. But I will sorely miss this community of readers and bloggers and writers and such who I’ve come to think of as another family. So, I’ll try to keep in touch, reading your blogs and checking in with you on all our other online hangouts.

Thanks, everyone, for everything. Further up and further in!

I’ll be back next week with a continuation of this post, the Men of Children’s Lit and What They’re Up to Now (my unofficial title). Instead, I’m making a quick art-and-poetry stop today with some spreads from J. Patrick Lewis’ new title, Spot the Plot: A Riddle Book of Book Riddles, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger (Chronicle Books, August 2009). Lewis, on each page, is riddling us, quizzing children—and children’s lit aficionados—on children’s titles: “Her hair’s the stairs,” pictured above, is my favorite one. With answers listed in the back, you’ve got Charles Perrault’s Cinderella; Charlotte’s Web (“Do you know this spider, / this spiderweb writer?…”); Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio (“Toy / boy / cries, / lies. / Nose / grows.”); and Doreen Cronin’s Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type (“No bedding? No butter. / No blankets? No udder.”)… Plus much more. This is for delighting and challenging the bookworm children in your lives. Or riddle-lovers. (Hey, I live with a five-year-old, learning the art of knock-knock jokes and riddles. It’s painful sometimes. She’s even fond now of saying “Get it? DOUBLE GET IT?!” for jokes that are hardly jokes. Ah, it’s a challenge, this learning-of-wordplay. She’ll get there.)

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Dude. I have to say I’ve wanted to interview award-winning author/illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi for yeeeeears now. I like his books; I really like his art; and I like it pretty much whenever he speaks. (Really, have you explored yet the videos at his web site? Big fun.) So, I’m happy he’s made it by this morning for breakfast. He and his wife, Angela—who are pictured above (and whose glasses I covet somethin’ fierce)—have recently collaborated on a new series of titles for the wee’est of children, called Adventure of Meno. These books, which make me laugh (and whose series was launched this month by Simon & Schuster), are about none other than an elf. A toddler elf. A toddler SPACE elf. Whose best friend is a jellyfish. And who says things like “sunshine snack” for breakfast and “moo juice” for milk. (There’s even a “happy fun bowl” in Book Two, which brings to mind probably my VERY FAVORITE Saturday Night Live commercial parody EVER, but I seriously digress.)

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Jules: How funny is that illustration? I love it.

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You all know I like to shine the spotlight on up-and-coming illustrators here at 7-Imp, but I also like to keep up with some of my favorites. So, I went asking for some spreads from new titles to share with you — from folks whom I’ve previously interviewed or otherwise featured here at the blog. That includes Lane Smith, Sean Qualls, David Ezra Stein, Adam Rex, Matthew Cordell, Steve Jenkins, and more. Heaven help me, I keep adding to the list, too, and somehow it’s become The Men of Children’s Lit series of posts. Anyway. I’m going to break this up into a few posts, starting today with Lane Smith and David Ezra Stein. I’m talkin’ a quick stopping-in here to simply summarize their in-one-way-or-another fabulous new titles and then let the art speak for itself.

First up: Lane Smith, who stopped by 7-Imp during August of last year. In that interview, Lane said:

I am working on a book with my idol, Florence Parry Heide… It’s about a princess who floats. It’s called Rescuing the Princess. I wrote to Florence nearly twenty years ago to tell her how much I loved the Treehorn books that she did with Edward Gorey. It’s taken us all this time to finally collaborate. Better late than never. It will be out in 2009.

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1). I think Adam is one of the most exciting contemporary illustrators at work, quite frankly, and I enjoy following his career. His answer to a question posed to him (in this October interview) about what inspires him pretty much sums up his appeal for me:

Making light of the darker things, allowing the strange and ridiculous in the front door whenever possible. Avoiding trends, like antlers and ironic bunny rabbits. Making it personal.

2). The illustrations for Vivian Walsh’s new picture book, June and August (Abrams, September 2009):

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