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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. <\/p>\n
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<\/a><\/strong>, Doroth\u00e9e de Monfreid<\/strong><\/a>, Sebastian Meschenmoser<\/strong><\/a>), which I always enjoy doing for many reasons, and today I’m happy to show some art from Canadian illustrator Genevi\u00e8ve C\u00f4t\u00e9<\/strong><\/a>, whose books I’ve reviewed previously here at 7-Imp. <\/p>\n I follow Genevi\u00e8ve’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<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (Kids Can Press, August 2009), she shows us an instance of when Cute Fluffy Bunnies<\/strong><\/a> Are Okay In Fact They’re More Than Welcomed.<\/p>\n This is a simple tale that goes a lot like this: <\/p>\n <\/p>\n On and on they go. Someone, please direct them to the self-help aisle: They obviously think the grass is greener on the other side. Their imaginations go wild—the rabbit wishing for short and stubby ears and the pig wishing for long and floppy ones, while they adorn their heads with socks, etc. and on and on they go, altering their appearances—and before we know it, they both declare they each look…well, funny. “You look like ME!” they each say to the other, finally telling each other, “I like it better when you are you!” It’s an imaginative and sweet tale, not too heavy-handed in its lesson-learnedness. <\/p>\n Writes Kirkus<\/em>, <\/p>\n The spare text is complemented by nuanced, mixed-media illustrations in a soft palette set against a white backdrop, while the loose, energetic lines enact the antics. The banter of the first-person dialogue is childlike and exuberant and will have kids smiling while subtly reinforcing individuality. Simply charming.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Preschoolers will delight in its rampant silliness, too. <\/p>\n Looking forward to what C\u00f4t\u00e9 brings us next, as always…<\/p>\n {Selection from Me and You by Genevi\u00e8ve C\u00f4t\u00e9 reprinted by permission of Kids Can Press Ltd., Toronto. Text copyright \u00a9 2009 Genevi\u00e8ve C\u00f4t\u00e9. Illustrations copyright \u00a9 2009 Genevi\u00e8ve C\u00f4t\u00e9.}<\/em><\/p>\n As a reminder, 7-Imp’s 7 Kicks is 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 The news has been very sad this week. I have often wished this week that my lifestyle were such that I could drop everything and go really help in Haiti. As in, hands-on. Physically there<\/em> and making a difference. (Translated: I can’t just ditch my kids. You know?) I think this is a good week for doing our best to accentuate The Good Things:<\/p>\n 1). A pesky new virus<\/a><\/strong> attacked my computer this week, but the kick is that my very smart tech-y husband found it and deleted it and got my computer all straightened out. <\/p>\n 3). A lovely, thoughtful gift from illustrator Pamela Zagarenski<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n 4). All the Caldecott buzz<\/strong><\/a>. Part of me wishes I had time to do my own 7-Imp predictions, but then the other part of me is happy to leave it to those smart folks instead.<\/p>\n 5). An illustrator telling me that she teaches a book illustration class at a college of art and that she suggests 7-Imp on the first day “as a great resource…They really enjoy reading about all the illustrators, and it inspires them all term!” Whoa. Just whoa. That is really<\/em> nice to hear. As in, tremendously. <\/p>\n 6). NEW MUSIC COMING SOON FROM PATTY GRIFFIN<\/a><\/strong>. I’m YELLING THIS in all my excitement. Imagine me doing those spirit fingers like a cheerleader, too. She’s staggeringly talented and one of my favorites. Check it out.<\/a><\/strong> If the tunes are still there on Sunday, when this posts, and you immediately go listen to “I Smell a Rat” (turn it up, too, man), you’ll be rewarded. Pinky promise. <\/p>\n 7). Introducing my five-year-old to the song “It Had to Be You.” (I can’t remember how that<\/em> came up, but we’ve had fun dancing around, pretending we’re talented enough to be in a musical. Or maybe I should speak for myself. Shut up. You don’t do that?) So, for your listening pleasure, here’s Sinatra:<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/MeAndYou_2081_spr2-a.jpg\")
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2). I took a bookstore gift card I was given for Christmas to splurge on the original and authorized volume of the complete Beatrix Potter tales and have been reading them with my girls this week. We just got to The Tale of Mr. Tod<\/strong><\/a><\/em>, which Potter wrote at the point in her career in which she claimed to be tired of writing “goody goody books about nice people”: “I have made many books about well-behaved people,”<\/em> the story opens. “Now, for a change, I am going to make a story about two disagreeable people…”<\/em> I love that. <\/p>\n