Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

If you saw Jama Rattigan’s April 2009 interview with author/illustrator Melissa Sweet (pictured above with her dog, Rufus)—or if you’ve visited Melissa’s site—you know that these words by poet Mary Oliver are posted above Melissa’s drafting table: “To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.” And when you see Melissa’s work, you know this is an artist who pays careful attention, indeed. Her mixed-media collage illustrations are detailed and exuberant, always visually appealing; her watercolors, luminous. Full of graceful details for young children and picture book aficionados alike, they clearly mark the work of an illustrator with a keen eye — for nature and for children, in particular. In fact, one of the many images Melissa sent for this interview is this below:

Having explored her books, I’d say this captures well how Melissa succeeds in her writing and illustrating: There is a refreshing child-centeredness to her work that draws readers. She know her child audience and knows it well. We see her illustrations, our imaginations are stirred, and we’re on our way.

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A good, long while ago (I’m just impressively slow sometimes), illustrator Bill Carman made a lovely and smart suggestion to me: That illustrators stop by 7-Imp occasionally and share some sketches from their sketchbooks. As in, a sort of regular feature, if you will (along with those who share sketches in interviews). I like this idea a lot, not to mention 7-Imp readers seem to like to peek into illustrators’ sketchbooks to see how their right brains work.

Today, I welcome author/illustrator Dan Yaccarino. Dan joined me last April for a breakfast interview; he brought along a Swiss, mushroom, and onion omelette, along with a toasted bialy and some “exceedingly strong” coffee. (Man after my own heart.) He has a brand-new book out (released by Alfred A. Knopf this month), which I very much like. So does the world of print reviewers so far.

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Congratulations to all the authors and illustrators who have been recognized by ALA this morning at the 2010 ALSC Awards. Here is the comprehensive list of winners. So many people to individually congratulate, those who have stopped by the 7-Imp cyber-bungalow this year to have a chat and whom I feel I know a bit better, but if I list them, I’m afraid I’ll forget someone.

The Caldecott winner (since I cover illustration and picture books so often here)? Jerry Pinkney’s beautiful The Lion and the Mouse (cover pictured above). Excellent choice. The Caldecott Honor winners? Well, go see! They’ve been snacking with me over breakfast here at 7-Imp this year.

Congratulations again to all the winners! Once again, to see the comprehensive list, go here. That doesn’t seem to include, however, the Coretta Scott King winners (including TANITA S. DAVIS!), the Pura Belpré winners, and some others, so be sure to look for those separately. As of this morning, when I type this, Heavy Medal: The Mock Newbery Blog has the truly comprehensive list here.

Good morning to all…Notice this week’s number? 150, dear friends. 150 times, listing both our big and small gratefuls — and me being lucky enough to be graced by your collective classy presence for 150 weeks.

Do you like that opening spread? I very much do. Lately here at 7-Imp, I’ve shone the spotlight on some international author/illustrators (Roberto Innocenti, Dorothée de Monfreid, Sebastian Meschenmoser), which I always enjoy doing for many reasons, and today I’m happy to show some art from Canadian illustrator Geneviève Côté, whose books I’ve reviewed previously here at 7-Imp.

I follow Geneviève’s work with interest: I like her loose lines, the vibe to her work that seems both fragile and free-spirited, and her expressive characters. There is a lot going on in her art, yet she manages to make it look effortless. In her latest title, featured here today, Me and You (Kids Can Press, August 2009), she shows us an instance of when Cute Fluffy Bunnies Are Okay In Fact They’re More Than Welcomed.

This is a simple tale that goes a lot like this:

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Yup, a stretch. Sorry: No poetry today. But my post can sort of wedge its way into Poetry Friday, given that I’m simply linking to a list of resources posted over at The Poetry Foundation’s web site.

At their blog, Harriet, Don Share’s got some information on the best ways to help out those who are suffering in Haiti, given this week’s tragic earthquake. The information is here.

If you want some actual poetry, the round-up is being hosted today by Mary Ann at Great Kid Books.

It’s a pleasure to have illustrator Stephen Alcorn visiting today: I’ve wanted to highlight his work since I first saw Lee Bennett Hopkin’s America At War in 2008. Stephen is most likely known for his striking relief-block prints, which he manages to infuse with metaphor and great emotion.

But Alcorn also works in watercolors, oils, and mixed-media. And, no matter his medium, you can bet you’ll see his imaginatively-rendered illustrations in books beautifully-designed. Always beautifully-designed.

Take last year’s A Gift of Days: The Greatest Words to Live By (Atheneum), a book of days with an accompanying portrait of a legendary figure, along with a quote from the famous person. Wrote Kirkus, “Alcorn lays this out on each double-page spread with a stunning polychrome-relief block-print bordered with pattern on one leaf and, facing, a week of birthdays and quotes. These images are often brilliantly inventive: Billie Holiday’s camellia has a death’s head in its center; John Lennon {pictured below} is figured as the King of Hearts with a Mozart overlay; Leonardo da Vinci is posed like the Mona Lisa.”

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If I didn’t have the above image caption, would you even guess for one second that this illustration from the German-born yet U.S.-raised designer and illustrator Jeremy Holmes comes from the mother of all cumulative children’s folk songs, “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly”? Yup, it’s one of my favorite creepiest picture book adaptations of the story/song, released in August of ‘09 by Chronicle Books.

Well, you could say “book” or you could say—as Drawn! did in October of last year—book-as-objet-d’art. And that’s because this book is … well, let me just show you. It goes a little something like this:

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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.

I’m here once again on a Sunday to share art from a book I was hoping I’d feature in an illustrator interview, but it looks like the interview might not happen. Boo. That’s okay: Let’s go ahead and enjoy the art this morning, shall we?

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{Note: You can click on that spread to enlarge and see it in more detail; you’ll just have to wait a bit for the download.}

On this Poetry Friday I highlight a book published by Creative Editions (hubba whoa, they make some beautiful books) in August of ‘09, written by J. Patrick Lewis and illustrated by Italian illustrator Roberto Innocenti. It’s an over-sized, lovingly-designed book (as many of Creative Edition’s books are), called The House, which chronicles—via quatrains—the life of a stone-and-mortar house, the “House of twenty thousand tales,” constructed in 1656.

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So, I certainly haven’t read all of French author/illustrator Dorothée de Monfreid’s titles. Far from it. I’ve only ever seen I’d Really Like to Eat a Child, written by Sylviane Donnio and published first here in the States by Random House in ‘07. (Here is my enthusiastic post about that title.)

Let me be clear, too, that I’m not one of those bloggers who is going to stop talking about 2009 titles, simply because 2010 has presented herself. Oh heavens, no. Clearly, I like to focus on illustration anyway, and so—as I shine a spotlight on Dorothée today—I mention her latest title, which was published in September of ‘09, Dark Night, originally published in France in ‘07 as Nuit Noire. (O, French, how I wish I had learned you better. “Nuit Noire” is just so fun to say. Say it with me now, dear readers.)

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