{"id":2278,"date":"2012-01-15T00:01:42","date_gmt":"2012-01-15T06:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2278"},"modified":"2012-01-15T00:01:43","modified_gmt":"2012-01-15T06:01:43","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-264-featuringbob-barner-and-bob-kolar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2278","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp’s 7 Kicks #264: Featuring
Bob Barner and Bob Kolar"},"content":{"rendered":"

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“Pigs wallow over itches in a muddy pool.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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“Puffins have two legs, too! Not another thing that’s something like a puffin. . . .
Look out for the goldfish! Of course, a goldfish is nothing like a puffin.
A gold fish has scales and fins. A goldfish swims.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

This morning, I’m featuring the last two 2011 titles I had planned to feature last Fall in a very short series of posts highlighting some good picture books for the wee’est of readers. <\/p>\n

Over the years, I’ve enjoyed many of Bob Barner’s<\/a><\/strong> picture books for very young children. Last September, he released Animal Baths<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (Chronicle Books). Using cut paper, ribbons, and pastels, he very colorfully shows the various ways different animals get themselves clean. His rhymes are appealing for the youngest of listeners, and the cut paper and ribbons in his artwork make for very textured spreads, which also cover every inch, these animals ready to burst forth from the pages. It all works. Bob’s pig spread opens this post, and even more spreads are included below. <\/p>\n

In September, Candlewick released Sue Soltis’s Nothing Like a Puffin<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, illustrated by Bob Kolar<\/a><\/strong>, which Kirkus<\/em> gave a starred review. “Look, a puffin! What a marvelous creature, one of a kind and amazing,” the book opens. “Indeed, there is nothing like a puffin.” Bob’s friendly puffin is here to greet us readers at the start, and he makes his presence known to many, usually wreaking havoc. Soltis, giving readers a subtle lesson in comparisons and inferencing (all disguised in great fun), pairs this puffin up with a ladder, a house, a newspaper, a pair of jeans, a goldfish, a penguin, and just about everything in between, asking whether or not they really are that different. Barner’s digital illustrations give clues to young readers, and the energy and movement in the illustrations really propel the book along with a brisk, happy pace. There’s lots of humor here, too, given that the puffin usually leaves confusion and slight chaos in his wake. <\/p>\n

This is a great one for teachers about to cover comparing and contrasting, making inferences, etc. It’s very fun. A spread from this one is featured above, too, and below is some more art from Bob. (Well, both Bobs. We’re seeing double here at 7-Imp today with Bob-squared.)<\/p>\n

Enjoy. <\/p>\n

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From <\/em>Animal Baths:
“Bats keep wings soft and neat with lots of little licks.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

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From <\/em>Animal Baths:
“Bears scratch against tall trees to rub off mud and ticks.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

* * *<\/center><\/p>\n

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From <\/em>Nothing Like a Puffin:
“…a puffin is black and white, too! What are the chances?
A newspaper is something like a puffin, after all.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

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From <\/em>Nothing Like a Puffin:
“But look—a penguin can’t fly! A penguin is more than a little like a puffin —
more than, say, a newspaper or a goldfish. But it’s not <\/em>exactly like a puffin.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

* * * * * * *<\/center><\/p>\n

ANIMAL BATHS.<\/em> Copyright \u00a9 2011 by Bob Barner. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA.<\/em><\/p>\n

NOTHING LIKE A PUFFIN.<\/em> Text copyright \u00a9 2011 by Sue Soltis. Illustrations copyright \u00a9 2011 by Bob Kolar. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.<\/em><\/p>\n

* * * * * * *<\/center><\/p>\n

Note for any new readers: 7-Imp\u2019s 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> Snow Days (even if it’s laughable here in the South — really, we barely got a dusting, and by 9AM all snow had disappeared), which means more time to cuddle up with my children and read … <\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> … but also having time to have coffee with a good friend on said Snow Day. <\/p>\n

3)<\/strong><\/font> The way a kind word from a friend can turn a bad day on its head (and shake its fist at the bad day).<\/p>\n

4)<\/strong><\/font> I feel like lately I’ve been doing this<\/a><\/strong>, even if only in my own little neurotic ways. And I’m still in one piece. <\/p>\n

5)<\/strong><\/font> Laura Veirs’<\/a><\/strong> CD of folk songs for children, Tumble Bee<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, is very, very good. The last song is this tiny gorgeous, soft piano number that stops me in my tracks every time. (Recognize the style of the cover art? Yup, it’s Carson Ellis<\/a><\/strong>, who visited here<\/a><\/strong> last year.)<\/p>\n

6)<\/strong><\/font> I look forward to the Steadbery and Phildecott Awards every year. Here was this year’s announcement<\/a><\/strong> from earlier this week. <\/p>\n

7)<\/strong><\/font> When author\/illustrator Elisha Cooper<\/a><\/strong> ponders beauty, as he does here<\/a><\/strong> … <\/p>\n

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

“Pigs wallow over itches in a muddy pool.”(Click to enlarge) “Puffins have two legs, too! Not another thing that’s something like a puffin. . . .Look out for the goldfish! Of course, a goldfish is nothing like a puffin.A gold fish has scales and fins. A goldfish swims.”(Click to enlarge) This morning, I’m featuring the […]<\/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-2278","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\/2278","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=2278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2278\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}