{"id":2556,"date":"2013-04-28T00:01:28","date_gmt":"2013-04-28T06:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2556"},"modified":"2013-04-28T00:01:37","modified_gmt":"2013-04-28T06:01:37","slug":"7-imp%e2%80%99s-7-kicks-328-featuring-vladimir-radunsky-mies-van-hout-frank-viva-including-a-brief-visit-with-viva-and-a-sneak-peek-at-his-next-picture-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2556","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #328: Featuring Vladimir Radunsky, Mies van Hout, & Frank Viva (Including a Brief Visit with Viva and a Sneak Peek at His Next Picture Book)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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“Good little girls always show marked deference for the aged.
You ought never to ‘sass’ old people unless they ‘sass’ you first.”
— From Mark Twain’s<\/a><\/strong> <\/em>Advice to Little Girls<\/a><\/strong>,
illustrated by Vladimir Radunsky<\/a><\/strong><\/em>
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— From Mies van Hout’s<\/a><\/strong> <\/em>Friends<\/a><\/strong>
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— From Frank Viva’s<\/a><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>A Long Way Away<\/strong><\/a><\/center><\/p>\n

I’m feeling ambitious today and am featuring three picture books this morning — not just one, as I usually do on Sundays. Actually, since Frank Viva<\/a><\/strong> is also giving me a sneak peek at his upcoming Fall picture book, I’ve got four<\/em>.<\/p>\n

What I have in mind is this: Each of these books is a follow-up book in one way or another — at least in my mind. See the Radunksy-illustrated title above? I featured another picture book illustrated by him recently (remember this one<\/a><\/strong>?), having forgotten altogether that I also wanted to show art from this book at the same time. As for the van Hout-illustrated title, I featured this book by van Hout<\/a><\/strong> last year, so I’m following up here today with his latest. And, finally, I’m following up with Frank Viva<\/a><\/strong> to see what he’s up to now (and this Fall, as already mentioned). Hence, the follow-up-ness of today’s post. <\/p>\n

Let’s get to it. <\/p>\n

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If you follow Brain Pickings<\/em>, you’ve read (here<\/a><\/strong>) about the April release from Enchanted Lion Books of Mark Twain’s<\/a><\/strong> Advice to Little Girls<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, illustrated by Vladmir Radunsky<\/a><\/strong>. These words from Twain began their life as a satirical short story, originally published in 1867 — and then appearing in his short story collection The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories<\/a><\/strong><\/em>. Radunsky brings them to vivid life here (“[c]risply satirical and a little subversive,” the Kirkus<\/em> review notes) with his spontaneous line work and unbridled energy, as you can see in the spreads featured here. The Kirkus<\/em> review also notes, “the intended audience for this handsomely designed clothbound edition is unclear, as the humorist’s irony will evade most young children and a fair number of adults” (though my own daughters seemed to get a kick out of it). “Those who do get it will relish it,” the review adds, calling it an “elegant curiosity for admirers of Twain, Radunsky or both.” Indeed. When it comes to the illustrations, if you’re a fan of Radunsky this one’s a keeper. <\/p>\n

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“Good little girls ought not to make mouths at their teachers for every trifling offense.
This retaliation should only be resorted to under peculiarly aggravated cicumstances.”<\/em>
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“If you have nothing but a rag-doll stuffed with sawdust, while one of your more fortunate little playmates has a costly China one, you should treat her with a show of kindness nevertheless. And you ought not to attempt to make a forcible swap with her unless your conscience would justify you in it, and you know you are able to do it.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

Mies van Hout’s<\/a><\/strong> Friends<\/a><\/strong><\/em> was originally published last year in The Netherlands as Vriendjes<\/em>, and Lemniscaat brings it to U.S. readers this month. Laid out on twelve black spreads, with dynamic and very animated pastel drawings, van Hout shows young readers a series of monster friendships. When Emily Jenkins<\/a><\/strong> wrote about van Hout’s Happy<\/a><\/strong><\/em> from last year at the New York Times<\/em>, she wrote<\/a><\/strong> that he “showcas[es] what an artist can do with a few pastels, black paper and something fundamental to express.” He does it again here, but this time the verbs get to steal the show; each spread is assigned one—“play,” “bore,” “tease,” “fight,” “make up,” and much more—as we witness the ups and downs of very furry friendships. You just might find yourself gravitating to your own pastels and blank pieces of paper. <\/p>\n

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\nAnd because you know you wanna see one of the spreads in Dutch (this being the “tease” spread) …
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Last, but not least, is the latest from illustrator, designer, and New Yorker<\/em> cover artist Frank Viva<\/a><\/strong>, A Long Way Away<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, released in April by Little, Brown. Seen this one, which has been met with good reviews all around? Publishers Weekly<\/em> wrote, “[i]ntelligently conceived and handsomely executed, it\u2019s a potential classic.” School Library Journal<\/em> calls it “ingenious.” And Kirkus<\/em> wrote, <\/p>\n

… Viva is his own master, as he uses the constraints of the two-way format to great effect. Readers will be taken on a cosmic odyssey, while encouraged to experience a book in multiple ways — to think of a story as an interpretation, not an edict. Meticulously designed, from its art direction to the print and finish on the pages, this is a thoughtful and thought-provoking work.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The book is designed to be read vertically, and readers can read it from the top down or the bottom up. It’s the trippy story of an alien creature’s journey from outer space to the depths of the ocean (and then vice versa). It’s another fascinating study in line from Viva, who loves the journey itself, and he uses his limited colors to great effect here — the creature’s journey, down the center of the book’s vertical line, in bright yellow, surrounded by black sky and then blue waters. <\/p>\n


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“As a sort of follow up to Along a Long Road<\/a><\/strong><\/em>,” Frank told me, “this new book was created as a single continuous twenty-six-foot-long piece of art. And while the first book was a horizontal journey, A Long Way Away<\/em> is a vertical journey that can be read front-to-back or back-to-front. Start from one end, and the journey takes you from outer space down to the bottom of the sea. Start from the other end, and the journey takes you from deep in the sea up to a dark and distant planet. And here’s a very compressed description: up, down, deep, dark.”<\/p>\n

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“My next book comes out this Fall,” Frank added. “It’s for the MoMA<\/a><\/strong> in New York City. It’s their first picture book. My editor is Charles Kim, associate publisher at MoMA. Abrams is the distributor. … In my mind, the [book’s] underlying theme is: Question authority.”<\/p>\n

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Book jacket<\/em>
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“Young Frank’s apartment is on the top floor of this tall building. He is an architect. He lives with his spotted dog, Eddie, and his grandpa, Old Frank, who is also an architect.”<\/em>
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“Just before lunch, Young Frank designed a whole city. ‘Hmm,’ said Old Frank,
‘cities are made one building at a time and take hundreds of years.”<\/em>
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“That evening, Young Frank and Old Frank made chairs. Chairs with zigzags.
Chairs with crazy legs. And a little chair that was perfect for Eddie.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

ADVICE TO LITTLE GIRLS. First American edition published in 2013 by Enchanted Lion Books. Illustrations \u00a9 2010 by Vladimir Radunsky. All spreads here reproduced with permission of the publisher.<\/em><\/p>\n

FRIENDS. Copyright \u00a9 2012, 2013 by Lemniscaat, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Text and illustration \u00a9 2012 by Mies van Hout. All images here reproduced with permission of the publisher.<\/em><\/p>\n

A LONG WAY AWAY. Copyright 2013 by Frank Viva. Published by Little, Brown and Company, New York. All spreads from A LONG WAY AWAY and YOUNG FRANK ARCHITECT are reproduced with permission of Mr. Viva, Little, Brown, and MoMA.<\/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. New kickers are always welcome. <\/p>\n

* * * Jules’ Kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font>
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This post is long enough, huh? But I always like it when I’ve got lots of art to share. <\/p>\n

I still have a syllabus<\/a><\/strong> to build, so I’ll keep it brief today. I’m grateful for thoughtful surprises from friends in the mail; good, new music; and when my friends get good news. <\/p>\n

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

“Good little girls always show marked deference for the aged.You ought never to ‘sass’ old people unless they ‘sass’ you first.”— From Mark Twain’s Advice to Little Girls,illustrated by Vladimir Radunsky(Click to enlarge) — From Mies van Hout’s Friends(Click to enlarge) — From Frank Viva’s A Long Way Away I’m feeling ambitious today and am […]<\/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-2556","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\/2556","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=2556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2556\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}