{"id":1843,"date":"2009-11-29T00:01:03","date_gmt":"2009-11-29T06:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=1843"},"modified":"2009-11-29T00:01:33","modified_gmt":"2009-11-29T06:01:33","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-143-featuring-jon-j-muthand-melissa-sweet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=1843","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp’s 7 Kicks #143: Featuring Jon J. Muth and Melissa Sweet (& a New 7-Imp Mad Tea Party Image!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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“Suddenly, a warm tingling spreads from his whiskers to his soles. And around him, the night begins to thrum with magic, the kind of magic that makes reindeer fly.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge spread.)<\/center><\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

I guess whether we’re ready for it or not, the holiday season has descended upon us. I have to say that this time of year is particularly exciting with young children. In celebration, I’ve got some holiday illustrations today. Above is a spread from the talented Lauren Thompson’s<\/strong><\/a> The Christmas Magic<\/strong><\/em><\/a> (Scholastic, September 2009), illustrated by Jon J. Muth<\/strong><\/a>. I’ve been a long-time fan of Muth, and he was the perfect choice for illustrating this enchanting title. And I’ve also got some spreads from David Martin’s Hanukkah Lights<\/strong><\/em><\/a> (Candlewick, September 2009), illustrated by Melissa Sweet<\/strong><\/a>: <\/p>\n

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

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Hanukkah Lights<\/em> is a wee board book, and Martin and Sweet also collaborated on this<\/a><\/strong> companion board book, called Christmas Tree<\/em>, also released by Candlewick. Both of Martin’s and Sweet’s titles celebrate the joys of each holiday and include simple concepts perfectly suited to the wee’est of children. Melissa’s pencil and watercolor illustrations are bright and happy. The School Library Journal<\/em> review writes, “In both books, it is the clever illustrations with their sunny colors, charming compositions, and multicultural casts of characters that really shine, making these titles satisfying choices.” I love Sweet’s work, and she will be stopping by 7-Imp some time in the near future for a breakfast chat (though nothing will ever top Jama’s detailed and wonderful April ’09 interview<\/strong><\/a>). <\/p>\n

Here are two more illustrations from the Hanukkah title. They actually comprise one spread from the book. Click on each to see the spread in its entirety: <\/p>\n

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As for Thompson’s tale, which is all about Santa’s preparations for the holiday, this isn’t your loud, ho-ho-ho’ing, jolly Santa with the bright red suit. This is a more subdued Santa—not yet hitched, living alone in the woods—who WEARS BUNNY SLIPPERS. (This is my favorite part, so I’m yelling it.) Because I’m a review-reading nerd, I’ll share how David Barringer put it in the New York Times<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. Plus, he nails it, so why mess with perfection?<\/p>\n

…{T}he water\u00adcolor illustrations are glowing and pure and nostalgic. Tree boughs are light in cottony mittens of snow, and in the middle of a snowy field glows a humble yellow house with a red door and a smoking chimney: Santa\u2019s house. The story, however, brings a twist to tradition. <\/p>\n

This Santa differs from the usual rotund elf: he is thinner, more human, with a pointy mustache. With Christmas on the way, Santa, like a gentleman farmer, gets to work. He calls the reindeer, feeds them, struggles to push open a huge barn door and readies the sleigh in the barn, which, with a workbench and tools, looks like a garage. Santa oils boots, knits stockings and trims his mustache. He is a bachelor living alone in the woods \u2014 no Mrs. Claus, no elves, no factory. He is an at-home Claus, elf-employed and as content as Thoreau. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a charming conceit, this stripped-down Santa. If he were to steer his sleigh into a nearby village, hop out and distribute toys, the conceit would be taken to a pleasant kind of logical end. The “magic,\u201d however, grabs the reins and returns the story to a more familiar course. There is the impossibly large sack of toys for every child in the world, and the sleigh, pulled by flying reindeer, rising into the starry sky. The story ends with liftoff. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a curious tale. The prose is as spartan as this new Santa, and the watercolor art is inviting, rich and warmly wintery, with the soft edges that artists love to impart to children\u2019s sugarplum dreams. The transformation of Santa from chubby C.E.O. to single guy with a barn is welcome and endearing.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Let’s just let the art and text do the talking now. These two illustrations also come from one spread. (Again, click to enlarge and see the entire spread.) The moustache-trimming is my favorite. <\/p>\n

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Toward the book’s close, we’re treated to this beautiful spread, one of many: <\/p>\n

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“With a shake of the reins, Santa calls to his team: ‘Hie! Let’s be off!’ The reindeer pull hard at the harness, and the bells begin to jingle.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge.)<\/center><\/p>\n

That Jon J. His art work makes me swoon a lot. <\/p>\n

Isn’t all this art just wonderful? I always look forward to new holiday illustrated titles. I can’t help myself. <\/p>\n

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Boring But Very Necessary Copyright Info Before Kickin’:<\/p>\n

HANUKKAH LIGHTS. Text copyright \u00a9 2009 by David Martin. Illustrations copyright \u00a9 2009 by Melissa Sweet. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.<\/em> <\/p>\n

THE CHRISTMAS MAGIC. Text copyright \u00a9 2009 by Lauren Thompson. Illustrations copyright \u00a9 2009 by Jon J. Muth. Published by Scholastic Press, New York, NY.<\/em><\/p>\n

* * * Jules’ kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font><\/center><\/p>\n

1). Giving thanks. Honestly, my Thanksgiving with extended family is annually rife with dysfunction. But then I know many people suffer this. And, as Jon J. Muth has at his site (if he’s new to you, I implore you to go explore!<\/strong><\/a>), I’m still “astonished at my good fortune.” I hope all of you (American readers) had good Thanksgivings. <\/p>\n

2). The Thanksgiving meal my husband cooked.<\/p>\n

3). Especially the fudge pie.<\/p>\n

4). See this? <\/p>\n

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It was created specifically for 7-Imp by illustrator and cartoonist Dan Krall<\/strong><\/a>. He sent this a while ago, actually, and my husband, 7-Imp’s tech support, finally found some time to work it into the header of another page at the blog — in my continuing efforts to collect Mad Tea Party images. It’s now at this page<\/strong><\/a>. You like? I think it’s quite unlike any other Mad Tea Party image created thus far for the blog, and I like the March Hare’s over-the-top lunacy, as in he just had some crazy for breakfast. Also I think the Mad Hatter needs to find the nearest dentist after their little shindig. I also love the colors. Many, many thanks to Dan Krall for this contribution. (If anyone’s interested, here<\/strong><\/a> it is up close and personal.)<\/p>\n

5). So, okay. I think I talked about this last week. (Or two weeks ago? Whatever. This’ll be the last time I mention it. Promise.) But HBO’s Deadwood<\/strong><\/a><\/em>, which we’re watching on DVD. This week, my husband and I had to pause the DVD during one episode, seeing as how all our laughing at one of Calamity Jane’s<\/strong><\/a> lines was keeping us from hearing further dialogue. (She gets the best lines of all.) Then, we had to rewind and watch it with captioning, just to appreciate it in all its glory. <\/p>\n

Jane has just wandered off from the camp again, and if she doesn’t come back, I’m gonna be sad. (Then again, the creators of the show seem to have great disregard for the normal “rules” of killing off major characters, so I’m nervous.)<\/p>\n

Such a great character. Such great acting from Robin Weigert<\/strong><\/a>. <\/p>\n

6). Even if Santa brings me coal in my stocking, my holiday is SET with Sam Phillips’<\/strong><\/a> new Christmas EP and its wonderful jangly guitars and the gifted Jay Bellerose on drums. It’s called “Cold Dark Night,” and each song is about night in some way. Her rendition of “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” may quite possibly be the most beautiful thing she’s ever done. She shifts the song to a minor key (BRILLIANT), and it just. slays. me. She originally did this rendition way back as the song that plays during the final credits of an anti-war movie called Midnight Clear<\/strong><\/a><\/em>, and I’ve had this scratchy, lousy, barely-there copy on a CD for years. Her decision to re-record it makes us Geeky Fans very happy, indeed. This little YouTube thingy gives a sample of each song on the EP: <\/p>\n

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7). Surely, I’m being redundant and you’ve seen this. Two different sites I saw today (one popular yet one obscure) suggested I watch this. So, I did. And I laughed. Sorry if it’s a repeat for you, but I suppose it’s only even more enjoyable the second time ’round:<\/p>\n

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How ’bout you? What are YOUR<\/font> kicks this week?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Suddenly, a warm tingling spreads from his whiskers to his soles. And around him, the night begins to thrum with magic, the kind of magic that makes reindeer fly.”(Click to enlarge spread.) 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-seven-good-things-before-monday","category-picture-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1843\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}