Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Here’s a post that is a bit of a preview of a picture book coming out in September (because I can’t help myself). Our Little Kitchen (Abrams) is from Caldecott Honoree Jillian Tamaki and tells the story of a group of neighbors who come together to make a meal in a community kitchen. “Every Wednesday, we come together in this little kitchen,” the book opens. “Our little kitchen, a tiny, small place, is just big enough, so squeeze in and make space ….”

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“Here is Keith Haring painting a mural with hundreds of children in Tama City, Japan. Keith draws the outlines and the kids fill them in with their own designs.”
(Click spread to enlarge)

 
Note that today’s book, as the subtitle tells us, is “a” story of legendary artist Keith Haring. It’s not “the” story of Keith Haring, because it’s not as if only one story could capture his life and his spirit. This subtle word choice is one of many thoughtful details that went into the creation of this spectacular picture book biography.

Drawing on Walls: A Story of Keith Haring (Enchanted Lion, May 2020), written by Matthew Burgess and illustrated by Josh Cochran, opens with the spread pictured above, which so perfectly communicates the essence of Keith’s artistic vision—and legacy. At this page turn, we then meet Keith as a child. …

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“I know it might take a little while.
But that’s okay—I can wait.”

 
Sepideh Sarihi’s My Favorite Memories (Blue Dot Kids Press, August 2020) is a truly international affair. This story comes from an author born in Iran, who has lived in Germany for nearly a decade now. Illustrator Julie Völk is Austrian, and the book was translated from the German by the award-winning translator Elisabeth Lauffer. The original German-language edition of this book was released in 2018.

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(Click spread to enlarge)

 
Khalil lives in a new house. He lives upstairs, and downstairs lives elderly Mr. Hagerty, whose life is signficantly more quiet than the “big and busy and noisy” lives of Khalil’s family. The two tenants share a backyard, and each loves it. Mr. Hagerty works in his garden; Khalil hunts bugs and “interesting rocks.”

This is the story of Khalil and Mr. Hagerty and the Backyard Treasures (Candlewick, May 2020), written by Tricia Springstubb and illustrated by Elaheh Taherian.

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It’s time for one more Niblings introduction!

If you saw this post from a couple weeks ago, then you’ll remember what it means when I say “The Niblings” and that we welcomed librarian Erika Long into the fold.

We’d also like to welcome yet another librarian extraordinaire to our social media presence — Edith Campbell. This means that Edith will join us in sharing posts of interest in the field of children’s and YA lit.

Edith is an associate education librarian in the Cunningham Memorial Library at Indiana State University. As part of the Reference and Instruction team, she serves as the liaison to the Bayh College of Education. Edith has served on several book committees, including the Walter Awards (We Need Diverse Books), YALSA’s Printz Award, and ALSC’s Sibert Award. She currently reviews for the Journal of Children’s Literature and serves on the Advisory Board for the online peer-reviewed journal, Research on Diversity in Youth Literature. Her research interests include valuing Black children in youth literature and implementation of critical literacy practices in libraries. Edith was a founding member of See What We See and We Are Kidlit Collective. She blogs to promote literacy, decolonization, and social justice in young adult literature at CrazyQuiltsEdi. Edith received her B.A. in Economics from the University of Cincinnati and her M.L.S. from Indiana University.

To connect with Edith on Twitter, head to @CrazyQuilts. And to follow her at The Niblings, visit our Facebook page, as well as our Twitter feed.

Welcome, Edith!

Louis: “I wish I was alone. …”
(Click image to read poem in its entirety)

 
I Wish is a Dutch import, originally released in 2011 and now on American shelves (March 2020), thanks to Elsewhere Editions. Translated by David Colmer, this striking collection of poems, over a hundred pages long, was written by famed Dutch writer Toon Tellegen (a 2006 finalist for the Hans Christian Andersen Award) and includes portraits by the award-winning Flemish illustrator Ingrid Godon.

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(Click to enlarge)

 
Today, I’ve some spreads from A. E. Ali’s Our Favorite Day of the Year (Salaam Reads, June 2020), illustrated by Rahele Jomepour Bell. It’s a sweet, earnest story — one about budding kindergarten friendships and learning to accept diverse ways of life. Other than one’s home, where else but in classrooms can we better instill such an appreciation in children? Pictured above are the book’s endpapers, which depict symbols from various cultures around the world.

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“White sand. Green field.” The first spread of Tara Dairman’s Desert Girl, Monsoon Boy (Putnam, May 2020), illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan, is divided into horizontal strips — one image, dominated by copper colors, of a dry, hot desert and the second, dominated by lush greens, blues, and purples, of fields that have seen plenty of rain. Turn the page to meet the families who live in each locale.

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Today, I’ve got some spreads from one of my favorite summer reads, Gillian Goerz’s Shirley & Jamila Save Their Summer (Dial, July 2020). Gillian also shares some early sketches and such from this, her first graphic novel. (Pictured above are drawings of the two main characters.)

This is the story, set in Canada, of two girls who strike up a friendship and — bonus! — solve a mystery together. But that basic summary doesn’t quite capture the many delights of this book. It’s a story whose biggest strength lies in its detailed, whip-smart characterizations.

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Many of you 7-Imp readers may know that I am part of a Facebook page and Twitter feed that serves as a resource page of sorts in the field of children’s literature. It’s called The Niblings, and I share it with other bloggers. Here’s the low-down (from back in 2013 when it was started).

We Niblings would like to welcome librarian extraordinaire Erika Long to our social media presence. This means that Erika will join us in sharing posts of interest in the field of children’s and YA lit. Erika’s social media presence is one of my favorites in this world, and I’m so pleased she’s joining us.

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