Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

 

I had the pleasure once again of interviewing author Renée Watson. We chat over at Tennessee’s Chapter 16. Renée will speak at the 2020 Southern Festival of Books (a Nashville event that will be virtual this year). She will be in conversation with Meg Medina on October 8; see the full festival schedule here.

She and I discuss Ways to Make Sunshine, illustrated by artist Nina Mata; the future of the I, Too Arts Collective; Portland; her hopes for children’s book publishing today; and more.

That interview is here.

“Old dog and small girl walk side by side.”

 
Oh, the beautiful places Martha Brockenbrough goes in her newest picture book. This Old Dog (September 2020), illustrated by Gabriel Alborozo, is one of the first releases from Arthur Levine’s new independent publishing house, Levine Querido. And it’s a story about not letting life pass you by.

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I’ve a review over at BookPage of one of the most splendid picture books you will see this year. I Talk Like a River (Neal Porter Books/Holiday House, September 2020), written by Jordan Scott and illustrated by Sydney Smith, is nothing less than a masterpiece.

My review is here, so you can read my thoughts over there if you are so inclined.

As always, I have some spreads from the book to show you here at 7-Imp today, but illustrator Sydney Smith also shares some preliminary images (for which I thank him). If you read 7-Imp, you’ll know from previous Smith visits that you’re in for a treat. Pictured above is an early painting from Sydney, followed by the final art (the opening to the book’s dramatic double gatefold spread).

Enjoy!

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It’s a pleasure to welcome author-illustrator Mike Curato once again to 7-Imp. Today, we discuss Flamer (Godwin Books/Henry Holt, September 2020), his new graphic novel for teens. Flamer is fictional but based on some of Curato’s own personal experiences.

The book tells the story of 14-year-old Aiden, who is away at summer camp (awash in toxic masculinity) and trying to figure out a lot of things about himself, including the fact that he has a crush on a boy. He dreads the return to school (he’s about to transition from a Catholic school to a public high school) and is accustomed to being bullied — for his size and weight, for being effeminate, for not playing sports, and for his Filipino heritage. It’s a powerful and poignant coming-of-age story and a departure for Curato, who until now has made picture books.

I thank him for visiting today to discuss the book and share some art.

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“There’ll be me and Mama.”
(Click spread to enlarge)

 
I’ve a review over at BookPage of Cozbi A. Cabrera’s Me & Mama (Denene Millner/Simon & Schuster, August 2020). That review is here, and here today at 7-Imp I’ve some of the book’s spreads.

Enjoy!

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I know I regularly post here at 7-Imp about picture books and illustration, but sometimes I see a book cover that blows me away. In this case, it’s the cover art (pictured above) for the YA novel Punching the Air, written by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam and coming to shelves next month. I read an early copy, and it’s a beautifully crafted and compelling story.

How about that cover art, right? See below to take in the whole package, the cover with its lettering. The jacket art is by Temi Coker; the portrait is by Alexis Franklin; and the jacket design and lettering is by Jenna Stempel-Lobell. (I highly recommend following all of them on Instagram — respectively, @temi.coker; @alexis_art; and @jstempellobell. I don’t know about you all, but that’s my primary reason for being over at Instagram — to see art.)

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If you’ve seen Thao Lam’s previous picture books, you know that she works in a distinctive paper collage style and that her books have been consistently quirky. (Case in point is last year’s very funny My Cat Looks Like My Dad.) Coming to shelves next month, though, is a personal story from her, called The Paper Boat: A Refugee Story (Owlkids, September 2020). Here today at 7-Imp are a few spreads from it.

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(Click to enlarge spread)

 
Here’s a post in honor of an upcoming begining reader that makes me laugh — David LaRochelle’s See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog (Candlewick), illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka. Coming to shelves in September, it’s an entertaining set of stories for new readers.

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I’m pleased today to share some spreads from Deborah Hopkinson’s Butterflies Belong Here: A Story of One Idea, Thirty Kids, and a World of Butterlies (Chronicle, August 2020), illustrated by Meilo So. It’s an empowering story about children working together as grassroots activists, and it’s a smart pairing of text and illustration.

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I’m pleased today to welcome illustrator Kristy Caldwell to 7-Imp as part of a blog tour for Deborah Hopkinson’s Thanks to Frances Perkins: Fighter for Workers’ Rights (Peachtree, August 2020). Hopkinson frames this biography of the groundbreaking workers-rights advocate, who served as the U.S. Secretary of Labor (the first woman appointed to a presidential cabinet) for twelve years, with “math questions” for the young readers at whom the book is aimed: “How many yeras will it be until you turn sixty two?” and “What year will that be?” You’ll want to thank Frances Perkins, Hopkinson writes, when you get to that age.

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