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plus Christmas Day. How lucky am I?”<\/em>
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Toward the end of this post, I’ve also got some holiday illustrations from several illustrators, just ’cause I’m an illustration junkie and couldn’t help it. Let’s get right to it all … <\/p>\n Selina<\/font><\/strong>: I first thought about doing a book about blending holiday traditions when my daughter was a baby. (She is now almost five.) I used to stroll her to nap and then duck into caf\u00e9s to write and draw. This was around the time that I had just finished handing in the art for I’m Your Peanut Butter Big Brother<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, which is about a biracial boy who wonders what his sibling-to-be will look like (based on me + my husband, illustrator Sean Qualls<\/a><\/strong>—who is black, I am white—and our children). <\/p>\n It occurred to me that I didn’t know of any holiday books about both Hanukkah and<\/em> Christmas (also our religious\/cultural mix), and so I thought about creating my own story — for our children and for so many others with similar homes. We had been celebrating both Hanukkah and Christmas together (and with our son, then three years old) for several years, so I tried to remember what was joyful about each holiday. I thought about combining symbols and objects from each tradition in unusual ways, such as sprinkling Hanukkah gelt under the Christmas tree or hooking candy canes on Menorah branches. To me, this felt like a playful approach. <\/p>\n I wanted to have fun with this book and make the art a celebration! I didn’t want the tone of the book to be serious or give over to the tensions that can sometimes result from different religions, but rather focus on what’s positive about the holidays and how interfaith families can successfully combine celebrating both. <\/p>\n DADDY CHRISTMAS AND HANUKKAH MAMA. Copyright \u00a9 2012 by Selina Alko. Published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York. All images here reproduced by permission of Selina Alko.<\/em><\/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. New kickers are always welcome. <\/p>\n Happy holidays, everyone, and I’m pleased that Selina Alko is visiting and sharing art today. It’s two days before Christmas, which I can hardly believe, and here are my kicks:<\/p>\n 1)<\/strong><\/font> Yesterday, I got to see two high school friends. Here we are. I love these people (to my left and my right). They are so fun and smart and sparkly-souled. I just can’t quite say enough good things about them. Lucky me, that they’ve been my friends for over twenty years now. <\/p>\n 2)<\/strong><\/font> Holiday-music CD mixes from a friend and colleague, who is the mix-makin’ funkmaster DJ of all DJs. <\/p>\n 3)<\/strong><\/font> Other new music. It’s like all of a sudden, here in the last two weeks of the year, I’m discovering 2012’s best CDs, including Punch Brothers’<\/a><\/strong> latest CD and Shovels & Rope’s<\/a><\/strong> latest, too. Here’s a song off the latter, my very favorite song on the CD. See what I mean? Turn it up, man. <\/p>\nThis morning, I welcome author and illustrator Selina Alko<\/a><\/strong> to tell us all a bit about her latest picture book, Daddy Christmas and Hanukkah Mama<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, a story about a family who merges two holiday traditions. Sadie, the young girl narrating the story, has a father who has always celebrated Christmas, a mother who has always celebrated Hanukkah, and they annually combine the traditions of each holiday event in order to teach their daughter about both. Selina—using gouache, collage, and colored pencil, which result in such appealing textures here—lays it all out on the pages of this book with vibrant colors and great joy. She’s here today to share some artwork from the book (sans text), as well as early dummy images, and to tell us the story behind the book. <\/p>\n<\/a>
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I help Mama hang stockings by the fireplace. Daddy makes latkes to leave on the mantel with milk. Grandma’s recipe is Santa’s favorite treat.”<\/em>
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On ribbons, my decorations hang from the ceiling.”<\/em>
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Mixing music to bright smiles. I sing for both Daddy Christmas and Hanukkah Mama.”<\/em>
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which link us together today.”<\/em>
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Daddy plays mellow holiday jazz. Mama heats up leftover potato pancakes.
We take turns giving each other a final gift.”<\/em>
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