Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

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I’ve got a review over at BookPage of Jessica Love’s Julián Is a Mermaid (Candlewick, April 2018), a book you’ll want to be sure to read this year. The review is here. Please, do go read all about this spectacular book.

And then come back, because I’m following up here at 7-Imp today with a chat with Jessica, as well as some art from the book (and some preliminary images). That is below.

Enjoy!

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“‘Sun,’ said Big Momma, ‘you take care of this day business for me.'”
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I’m featuring one spread today from an older picture book, one of my very favorites of all-time — Phyllis Root’s Big Momma Makes the World, published in 2002 and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. This is in honor of Mother’s Day.

If you’ve never read the book, be sure to click on the image above to see the goodness inside — and be sure to find a copy and experience it. It is spectacular in many directions.

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— From Kate Hosford’s Mama’s Belly,
illustrated by Abigail Halpin
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— From Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow’s Mommy’s Khimar,
illustrated by Ebony Glenn

 
Last week, I wrote here at Kirkus, in anticipation of Mother’s Day this Sunday, about Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow’s Mommy’s Khimar (Salaam Reads, April 2018), illustrated by Ebony Glenn, and Kate Hosford’s Mama’s Belly (Abrams, April 2018), illustrated by Abigail Halpin.

I’m following up with some art from each book today.

Enjoy!

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“Having international children’s books by authors and illustrators from different cultures and countries helps boost the energy of young readers, since it’s exciting to get to learn amazing new stories from all over the world.”

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Over at Kirkus today, I talk with illustrator Rashin Kheiriyeh, whose newest picture book, Saffron Ice Cream, is one she also wrote, her first book in English as an author-illustrator. She also talks about illustrating a new board book about Ramadan, written by Hannah Eliot.

The Q&A is here. Next week, I’ll follow up here at 7-Imp with a bit more art from each book.

Until tomorrow . . .

 
It’s the first Sunday of the month, dear Imps, which means we look at the art of a student or debut illustrator. Today it’s the latter. Shanda McCloskey’s debut picture book, Doll-E 1.0 (Little, Brown, May 2018), is on shelves now. It’s the story of tech-savvy Charlotte, whose parents (worried she may be “too techy”) give her a doll for her birthday. (“I was thinking you could play house or doctor with it,” her mother tells her.) “How do you use it? Are there instructions?” Charlotte asks. She’s dismayed that the doll just sits there. Charlotte is itchin’ to build something new. Needless to say, Charlotte is pumped when she discovers that the doll (who says “Ma-ma” repeatedly) has a set of two batteries — a power supply!

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“They eat their bedtime snacks and do crossword puzzles. ‘Time for bed, off you go!’
says Bo. ‘I DON’T WANT TO!’ says Koko. ‘Stay here then,’ says Bo.”
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Today at Kirkus, I’ve got mamas on the mind.

That is here.

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Last week, I wrote here about a Swedish picture book import, Lisen Adbåge’s Koko and Bo (Enchanted Lion, April 2018).

I’m following up with some art from the book today.

Enjoy!

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“… I wanted to know every part of this garden. I reached down to feel the ground.
The earth was damp and cool. It felt like it was giving me something I couldn’t see.
‘How did you create this, Miss Tillie?’ I wanted to know.”
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Last week at Kirkus, I talked to author-illustrator Cozbi A. Cabrera about her new picture book, My Hair Is a Garden (Albert Whitman, April 2018). That is here.

I’m following up today with a bit of art from the book. Below are the images from the book’s endpapers.

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Over at BookPage, Eric and Terry Fan, who co-illustrate as the Fan Brothers, talk about their new book, Ocean Meets Sky; the Sendak Fellowship; their Taiwanese grandfather and the tradition of oral storytelling; and more.

Click here (or on the image above) to head over there.

From “The House of Stairs”: “Ms. Danko loves to climb.
She’s built herself a house of stairs that looks just like her in every way.”
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Today, I’ve a book written and illustrated by artist Koki Oguma (and translated by Gita Wolf), a set of genuinely quirky stories in which the author-illustrator wanders around his Tokyo neighborhood and tells readers tales about the residents. The Barber’s Dilemma: And Other Stories from Manmaru Street (Tara Books, May 2018) all kicks off with “The Artist and his Cat,” where Koki introduces himself:

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“Teddy!”

 
Today over at Kirkus, I’ve got a Swedish picture book import.

That is here.

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Last week, I wrote here about a Belgian import, Sarah V. and Claude K. Dubois’s The Old Man (Gecko Press, March 2018).

I’m following up with art from the book today. Read the rest of this entry »