![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/mei6.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Jules:<\/font> We have Mei Matsuoka<\/strong><\/a> to thank for this wintery-yet-warm illustration this morning as we prepare to list our kicks. Mei, as you can read here<\/strong><\/a> at her site, is half English and half Japanese (born in Tokyo and moved to England at age eleven), graduated from Kingston University<\/strong><\/a> in London with a degree in Illustration, is also an animator, collects hats and wears toe socks, and is learning Philosophy. I’m rather partial to bios like that, which provide random, appropros-to-nothing fun facts. Somehow, they tell us more about a person than the lengthier, more formal ones. Feel free to leave one or two or seven random fun facts about yourself in your kicks. Me? I collect suns. And I once saw The Hoodoo Gurus<\/strong><\/a> live. <\/p>\n That opening image is from Mei’s most recent title Footprints in the Snow<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, originally published in Great Britain in 2007 but published here in the U.S. this year by Henry Holt. Here’s Wolf at his writing table:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He had been reading all the books in his library about wolves and was getting seriously bummed that the wolves in those books were all nasty, scary, and greedy. “I think it’s time somebody wrote a story about a NICE wolf,” he said. The above spread is the beginning of his tale. Here’s a bit more: <\/p>\n And here are some more spreads (without the text) from the book, courtesy of Mei — the cover, the front endpages, and title page spread:<\/p>\n About this book, Mei says, “I enjoy writing and hope to continue producing more of my own stories. <\/em>Footprints in the Snow was an idea I really liked working on and continues to inspire me through the readers of the book. From young children right up to adults, everybody has a different take on it and it is so interesting for me to hear their thoughts. I like to ask children what they think is going to happen, as it has such an open ending.<\/em>“<\/font><\/p>\n Mei is also sharing this morning some illustrations from a forthcoming title she’s illustrated. I’ll let her tell you a bit more about it: <\/p>\n Here are a couple of images from <\/em>The Great Dog Bottom Swap, which is a quirky story about all the dogs in the world who go to a dog’s summer ball. They are asked to take their bottoms off at the door and hang them up in the cloak room, which then consequently get muddled up in the panic of an unexpected fire — caused by an over-excited hound who gets out of control on the dance floor! All the dogs end up going home with the wrong bottoms…It was written by Peter Bently and is due to be published in the UK by Andersen Press next July.<\/em><\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Oh, I love images like that — the ones that make children want to belt out their Favorite One. <\/p>\n “{This} final image,<\/em>“<\/font> Mei said, “is of a piece of personal work I did. I really enjoy working with textures, and doing personal work gives me the opportunity to really play around with my favourite media (oil pastels, inks, collage, etc).<\/em>“<\/font><\/p>\n Many thanks to Mei for stopping by and sharing this morning. We wish her the best and look forward to what comes next. <\/p>\n As a reminder, our 7 Kicks posts are the 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. <\/p>\n P.S. Eisha, what’s your appropros-to-nothing fun fact? <\/p>\n 2* Lovin’ the art this week. It’s about time there was a story with a nice wolf, although it sounds like he’s not too<\/em> nice. I must read that book.<\/p>\n 3* I made it safe to Seoul.<\/p>\n 4* While there, I saw and learned and ate some amazing things.<\/p>\n 5* And I met some very lovely people.<\/p>\n 7* As I’m typing this, I’m in the Detroit airport on the last leg of our journey home, so I can almost say I’ve made it home safe, too. *whew*<\/p>\n Yay, Eisha!<\/p>\n 2). One of my best friends, whom I’ve known since high school, and her family came to visit. They had to move away to West Virginia this year. Her daughter is my daughters’ best friend (both girls adore her). It was great to see them. Here are my girls putting the DON’T-LEAVE grip on Hadley. <\/p>\n 3). We picked out our Christmas tree yesterday. A big, healthy Douglas fir. <\/p>\n 4). I got a real wreath for the front door. I usually hang one made of jingle bells, but I thought I’d shake things up this year. Bad pun intended. <\/p>\n 5). Robert Downey Jr.’s performance in “Tropic Thunder,”<\/strong><\/a> one seriously whacked-out movie. Actually, Tom Cruise cracked me up, too—particularly with his dancing—and that pretty much never happens. <\/p>\n 7). I snagged a seven-questions-over-breakfast interview with author\/illustrator\/designer Carin Berger<\/strong><\/a>, whose Little Yellow Leaf<\/em><\/strong><\/a> is one of my favorite books of the year (and I’m not alone. It’s been named a New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book of 2008). I checked my online library record yesterday and literally yelled, “NO!” when I saw I had to turn it in that day. That’s going to be one title to purchase and add to my collection for sure. <\/p>\n Anyway, Carin not only agreed to the interview but says she loves my interview series. This is doubly good (and humbling and flattering, too)…<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/mei.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/mei2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/mei3.jpg\")
\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/mei5.jpg\")
\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/mei4.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/finthesnow.jpg\")
I like this mysterious, honest, little tale, the first one which Mei has both written and illustrated (she has illustrated three picture books previous to this one, one of which I reviewed here<\/strong><\/a> last year). Wolf becomes Mr. Nice Wolf in his story. He’s following the footprints of an animal in the snow and trying so earnestly to determine to whom they belong — all so he can make a friend. All the animals he stops to ask don’t buy his sincerity and are convinced he really just wants to devour them. When he finally figures out they belong to a big, brown duck and he’s chatting with him, suddenly he “forgot all about what he was saying. For the duck looked so fat, so juicy, . . . and mouthwateringly TASTY . . .” And, mwaha, I’ll leave the story dangling there for you, in case you want to read it yourself. Suffice to say it’s a clever tale-within-a-tale, I like its Jekyll-and-Hyde vibe, and I also like its rather cryptic open ending. As Fuse put it in her detailed review<\/strong><\/a> from September, the book “manages to balance out the sweet with the knowing and in doing so comes up with a book faithful to the predator and honest with the prey.” So, where was this book when Adrienne<\/strong><\/a> and I did this post<\/strong><\/a>? <\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/meidogbottomswap.JPG\")
\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/meiswap.JPG\")
<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/meirabbit.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![mmm\u2026 beer.](http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/blue-moon-pale-ale.thumbnail.jpg "\\"mmm...")
1* See, here’s yet another reason why you and I are best friends, Jules. My random fun-fact is: I have a thing for moons. It may also be one of the reasons that Blue Moon is my favorite beer – I love the label.<\/p>\n![Seoul, as seen from Gihieh\u2019s apartment building\u2019s roof.](http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/seoul-rooftop.jpg "\\"Seoul,")
<\/a>6* This is a pretty big deal for me: since B. had to work most of the time, I managed to find my way around almost entirely on my own. I only had to call B. once to say I couldn’t quite figure out where I was in relation to where we were supposed to meet. I never, ever, not-even-once had to call and say I’d gotten lost and ended up detained in the DMZ by accident. (Seriously, any of you who really know me can attest that this is kind of a feat for me. I’m directionally-challenged nearly to the point of it qualifying as a disability.) (Okay, I just realized I should look into that – maybe I could get a government-funded GPS system or something.)<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/hadleytouse.JPG\")
1). I had a lovely Thanksgiving with family. <\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/lyl2.jpg\")
6). When people have great ideas like this<\/strong><\/a>. <\/p>\n