{"id":2180,"date":"2011-07-31T00:01:28","date_gmt":"2011-07-31T06:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2180"},"modified":"2011-07-31T03:39:38","modified_gmt":"2011-07-31T09:39:38","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-230-featuring-maureen-hydeand-the-anarchy-contest-winners-not-to-mentionone-more-note-about-literacyhead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2180","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp’s 7 Kicks #230: Featuring Maureen Hyde
(And the Anarchy Contest Winners, Not to Mention
One More Note About Literacyhead)"},"content":{"rendered":"


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“Francis knelt at his window, crumbling some of the bread into his palms. And when the birds saw that their friend was already up, calls of joy filled the hills as they flitted into town. The birds bustled into Francis’ hands, their twiggy feet pinching,
their horn-like beaks swiping left and right.”<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

This morning I’m featuring the oil paintings of Maureen Hyde<\/a><\/strong>, and evidently this is her first illustrated title (from Gingerbread House) in about twenty-five years. What she has illustrated here is an imagined boyhood story from the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, written by Josephine Nobisso<\/a><\/strong>. (Yes, since I posted about this picture book<\/a><\/strong> so recently, I figured I should mention this one sooner rather than later.) “Our story is set in the very early morning—before anyone else is awake to observe it—in order to propose an imagined moment in the boyhood of Saint Francis of Assisi,” the author writes. “Do forgive our taking liberties with history! Even though the details may not be true, they are, at least, possible. When one is a saint, after all, any goodness is possible.”<\/p>\n

Seven possible goodnesses before breakfast. I like it. <\/p>\n

And this one involves one growly wolf before breakfast, too, Nobisso basing this on two famous incidents from the childhood of the saint — one of them being when he converted the fierce wolf of Gubbio. <\/p>\n

Deciding one morning to gather up the animals in the barnyard and collect breakfast, the boy sets off before anyone else in his house is awake. Before collecting eggs, however, he spies the shadow of a wolf, and this shadow follows him, hungrily, throughout his chores. Francis carries on—collecting those eggs, milking the goats, breaking the eggs into a bowl, pouring the milk—all the while reassuring the animals. Turning a corner, he then sees the wolf, “huge and beautiful,” and he catches his breath. “Her intelligent eyes flitted, as though wanting to speak. She pulled back her magnificent head, muscular ears nimbly twitching, listening, because now, the child was speaking to her.” <\/p>\n

And…well, I don’t want to give away every inch of the book, so I’ll stop there. Nobisso writes with an immediacy that draws in the reader, and Hyde’s bucolic oils—she traveled often, “over two decades and two continents,” the author’s postscript says, doing these paintings—are rich and finely-detailed, bringing the boy saint vividly to life. <\/p>\n

Here are some more spreads. Enjoy. <\/p>\n


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“The horses whinnied and stamped as the wolf’s shadow moved over the boy’s shoulders, but Francis reassured them as he broke one of the eggs into a stone bowl, and poured out some of the milk.”<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n


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“Francis carried the bowl to the base of the hill, away from the barnyard. Soon, the wolf’s shadow seeped around him, from behind. Francis turned then, and the sight of that wolf—huge and beautiful—made his breath catch…”<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n


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“When they reached Francis’ kitchen door, the animal bounded onto a rise and looked the town over. Licking milk from her jowls, she turned. Wolf and child gently studied each other. Francis smiled, and passing through the wolf’s shadow,
he let himself into the sleeping house.”<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

FRANCIS WOKE UP EARLY. Copyright \u00a9 2011 by Josephine Nobisso. Illustration \u00a9 2011 by Maureen Hyde. Published by Gingerbread House, New York. Spreads reproduced by permission of the publisher.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Note for any new readers: 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

* * * Jules’ Kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font>
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1)<\/strong><\/font> Well, best kick of all is that, as you read this, I’m either in the air, on my way to New York City, or—depending on when you make it to this post—I’m already there, walking around with wide eyes. And that’s ’cause I’ve never been to NYC before. No, really. <\/p>\n

Today is devoted to wandering and exploring and quite possibly seeing some illustrator-type people I’ll get to meet in person for the first time. (No computer screens between us.) Yes, I’m wearing comfy shoes. <\/p>\n

I’m in NYC for this<\/a><\/strong>. That’s tomorrow, and I’m super excited about it. <\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> An illustrator told me a neat story this week about landing a book deal after being featured here. Those kinds of connections make me so happy, I can’t even say. Connecting is why I blog. No other reason for it. <\/p>\n

3)<\/strong><\/font> I saw Biutiful<\/a><\/strong><\/em> with Javier Bardem, and it was so powerful and beautiful that I can’t get it out of my head. Let’s just take a moment, shall we, to look at Mr. Bardem in this role (as Uxbal) and wonder and stare and admire and quite possibly applaud, because that was some<\/em> acting, let me tell you WHAT. <\/p>\n

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4)<\/strong><\/font> Here’s<\/a><\/strong> the wonderful Sendak portrait in Vanity Fair<\/em> that I mentioned last week. <\/p>\n

5)<\/strong><\/font> What’s that? You’re wondering why I haven’t mentioned Elbow<\/a><\/strong> in a while and are hankerin’ to hear them? Happy to oblige: <\/p>\n