{"id":1806,"date":"2009-09-28T00:01:43","date_gmt":"2009-09-28T06:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=1806"},"modified":"2016-02-15T13:33:40","modified_gmt":"2016-02-15T19:33:40","slug":"seven-questions-over-breakfast-with-bonnie-christensen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=1806","title":{"rendered":"Seven Questions Over Breakfast
with Bonnie Christensen"},"content":{"rendered":"

As many sites around the kidlitosphere today celebrate nonfiction titles<\/strong><\/a> (as they do every Monday<\/strong><\/a>), I am having a cyber-breakfast with author\/illustrator Bonnie Christensen<\/strong><\/a>, pictured here, who has brought us a handful of engaging nonfiction titles over the years — either illustrating them or both writing and illustrating them herself. Perhaps best known for Woody Guthrie: Poet of the People<\/strong><\/em><\/a> (Alfred A. Knopf), for which she was given the Horn Book-Boston Globe Honor Award in 2002<\/strong><\/a>, she has illustrated fifteen beautiful books for young readers, her primary media being oils and wood engraving or dry point engravings, though she seems to have no fear and has also attempted such artistic adventures as old-skool fresco. (More on that below.) <\/p>\n

You do remember the Woody-Guthrie title (rendered in mixed media) from 2001, right? I do. It blew me away. It was a dramatic and powerful tribute to someone whose music most of us know, whether we realize Woody was behind it or not: <\/p>\n

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(Click to enlarge.)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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Bonnie’s newest title, which she both wrote and illustrated, is a picture book biography of jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, published this month by Roaring Brook Press. Django: World’s Greatest Jazz Guitarist<\/a><\/strong><\/em> has been described by Publishers Weekly<\/em> as a “sensuous tribute”; indeed, with her oil paintings and spare, lyrical prose, she brings to vivid life the fascinating biography of one of the world’s most renowned jazz guitarists, whose hand was so badly burnt in a fire in Paris in 1928 that doctors thought he would never play guitar again. <\/p>\n

“Django Reinhardt,”<\/em> Bonnie told me, “is a fascinating subject in so many ways. His music is simply ‘the stuff that dream’s are made on,’ from the early Paris dance hall music to the sophisticated jazz style he developed later. When I first read his story, I was hooked. Gypsies, Paris in the ’20s, jazz, and a debilitating injury to overcome—wow! And not only did Django overcome adversity, but {he} turned it to his advantage through artistry and sheer determination.”<\/em> <\/p>\n

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“Django doesn’t hear the chatter \/ Listening to the saxes sigh. \/ Trombones moan, clarinets wail \/ Jazz riffs curling through the night. \/<\/em> Jazz Americain, jazz like Django— \/ moving bending \/ clanging blending \/ Try that rhythm, stretch that measure, \/ syncopation. Twist that line.”
(Click to enlarge spread.)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n


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(Cover)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

Bonnie’s got some more art from Django<\/em>—as well as art from many other titles—to share this morning, so let’s get right to it. For our breakfast this morning, she opts for “a toasted English muffin with butter and orange marmalade and home-made espresso with a frightening amount of frothy milk”:<\/font> <\/p>\n

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This does not frighten me. I’m all for that, actually, and I think I’ll put out two mugs. Thanks to Bonnie for stopping by — and especially for sharing all the art. <\/p>\n

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7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Are you an illustrator or author\/illustrator?<\/font><\/p>\n

Bonnie<\/font><\/strong>: Author\/illustrator.<\/p>\n

7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Can you list your books-to-date?<\/font><\/p>\n

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Bonnie<\/font><\/strong>: <\/p>\n