{"id":2205,"date":"2011-09-18T00:01:34","date_gmt":"2011-09-18T06:01:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2205"},"modified":"2011-09-18T00:01:44","modified_gmt":"2011-09-18T06:01:44","slug":"7-imp%e2%80%99s-7-kicks-237-featuring-alison-friend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2205","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #237: Featuring Alison Friend"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Today, I’m featuring an illustrator whose latest picture book title I haven’t seen yet. It comes out in October, and I don’t have an early copy, but a) I like what I see and b) it’s written by Phyllis Root<\/a><\/strong>, and boy howdy and howdy boy does she have a great track record with picture books. So, it’s with confidence that I say: I bet this book is goooood. If I’m wrong, one of my readers can come back later and scold me. I guess. <\/p>\n

The book I speak of is called Scrawny Cat<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (Candlewick), and its illustrations come from Alison Friend<\/a><\/strong>, who lives and works in Sheffield, England. Alison, who previously worked in greeting cards, illustrated her first picture book in 2010, Maxine Kumin’s<\/a><\/strong> What Color Is Caesar?<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, also published by Candlewick. <\/p>\n

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Evidently, Scrawny Cat<\/em> is about a feline who used to belong to someone who loved him, but who now just hears a lot of “get out of here!”s. As you can see from the post’s opening illustration, the cat becomes a sailor cat, and I hear he finds a kindred soul at the end of his journey. (As you can also see below, a big, growl’y dog chases Scrawny Cat, poor thing. Looks like he’s got it rough for a while there, so I’m glad to hear about that kindred soul.) The book’s trailer is here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

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Alison’s here today to share some illustrations from the book, as well as some early sketches and roughs. She tells me that Phyllis’s manuscript was a pleasure to illustrate. I thank her for visiting, and those of you wanting to see more from Alison can do so here<\/a><\/strong> at her site or here<\/a><\/strong> at her blog. <\/p>\n


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Interior spot illustrations<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n


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Two final images from the book<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n


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Early cover ideas<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n


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Early sketches<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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More early sketches<\/em>
(Click each to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

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Color roughs<\/em>
(Click each to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

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SCRAWNY CAT. Text copyright \u00a9 2011 by Phyllis Root. Illustrations copyright \u00a9 2011 by Alison Friend. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.<\/em><\/p>\n

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> I really could just stop here with this kick, as in this could be kicks one through seven: Laura Marling’s<\/a><\/strong> new CD, A Creature I Don’t Know<\/em>, is absolutely stunning. Sweetmotherofmary, I marvel at these songs and at Marling’s abundant talent. I really would just like to stop time, like with one of those gold Twilight Zone sundial pendant thingies<\/a><\/strong>, and only listen to this CD over and over and over and have nothing else to do. Here she is performing “Sophia” live in WNYC’s studios for Spinning on Air<\/em>:<\/p>\n