{"id":3600,"date":"2014-12-07T00:01:52","date_gmt":"2014-12-07T06:01:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=3600"},"modified":"2014-12-06T20:58:26","modified_gmt":"2014-12-07T02:58:26","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-409-featuring-roger-duvoisin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=3600","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #409: Featuring Roger Duvoisin"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n

“‘Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! On, Cupid!
On, Donder and Blitzen! To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away, all!'”<\/em><\/center>
\n
 

\nI’m going vintage today, you all. <\/p>\n

Want to know one of my favorite things about this holiday season? Back in September, Knopf re-released Caldecott Medalist Roger Duvoisin’s<\/a><\/strong> very tall The Night Before Christmas<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, which was originally published in 1954. <\/p>\n

Duvoisin’s take on the classic Christmas poem includes his vivid colors, robust line, and elegant shapes. Know what I just read in the Publishers Weekly<\/em> review, too? “The illustrator\u2019s fans may notice that the stuffed yellow lion among Santa\u2019s gifts bears a notable resemblance to Louise Fatio\u2019s<\/a><\/strong> The Happy Lion<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, which Duvoisin illustrated the same year.” Well, huh. That hadn’t occurred to me. <\/p>\n

That same review also notes the use of primary colors in Duvoisin’s illustrations here, which you can see for yourself in the images featured here today. <\/p>\n

This is one of many Christmas stories Duvoisin illustrated. In the classic American Picturebooks from Noah’s Ark to the Beast Within<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, Barbara Bader writes, “Nobody celebrates Christmas like Duvoisin — except children.” <\/p>\n

Here’s some more art (without the text). Enjoy. <\/p>\n


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“The children were nestled all snugs in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.”<\/em><\/center>
\n
 

\n
\n
“As I drew in my head, and was turning around, Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound. He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot, And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot. A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.”<\/em><\/center>
\n
 

\nTHE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. Originally published in 1954. Illustrations copyright \u00a9 1954 by Roger Duvoisin. New edition published September 2014 by Alfred A. Knopf, New York. Illustrations reproduced by permission of the publisher.<\/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

* * * Jules’ Kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font>
<\/center><\/p>\n

I have a big ‘ol writing assignment I’m working on now, and I’m holed up today, working on that. Please do tell me your cheery kicks so that, during my breaks, I can come read them. You can even DOUBLE them, if you’re so inclined, to make up for my lack of them this week. (Not that I didn’t have<\/em> any; I just gotta write write write!)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“‘Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! On, Cupid!On, Donder and Blitzen! To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away, all!’”   I’m going vintage today, you all. Want to know one of my favorite things about this holiday season? Back in […]<\/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-3600","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\/3600","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=3600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3600\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}