{"id":3696,"date":"2015-03-15T00:01:19","date_gmt":"2015-03-15T06:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=3696"},"modified":"2015-03-14T20:13:34","modified_gmt":"2015-03-15T02:13:34","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-423-featuring-ed-young","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=3696","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #423: Featuring Ed Young"},"content":{"rendered":"

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— From Gary Golio’s <\/em>Bird & Diz
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“Should you be a vaporous smoke, I’ll lift you to touch the heavens.”
— From <\/em>Should You Be a River
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It’s an Ed Young<\/a><\/strong> kind of day here at 7-Imp. <\/p>\n

Over at BookPage<\/em>, I have a review of Gary Golio’s<\/a><\/strong> Bird & Diz<\/em> (Candlewick, March 2015), which Ed illustrated. That review is here<\/a><\/strong>. I’ve got some spreads from it here at 7-Imp today. <\/p>\n

To boot, I’ve got some spreads from Ed’s Should You Be a River<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, which will be on shelves in mid-April from Little, Brown. This is a poem that, as he explains in the closing Author’s Note, Ed wrote two years after the death of his daughters’ mother, his late wife. Ed’s friend, photographer Sean Kernan<\/a><\/strong>, contributed his photography to the project, and the book is a series of collages with these photos as a base. Calligrapher Barbara Bash<\/a><\/strong> also contributed to the book (hand-lettered calligraphy). <\/p>\n

The poem is, at turns, intense (“Should you be a waterfall, I’ll scream when you plunge”) and poignant (“Should you be a rain shower, I’ll be a gentle valley to receive you”). The Kirkus<\/em> review describes it as “mystifying and ultimately uplifting.” It’s quite possibly a book that will appeal more to adults, but people of all ages should see Ed’s cut-paper collages in this one, breathtaking in spots. <\/p>\n

I’ll just let the art speak for itself. Below are some more spreads. Enjoy. <\/p>\n


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“Two hearts—one heartbeat. You can’t even tell whose notes are whose!
But then Diz’s cheeks swell up, like a frog with glasses.
He points his trumpet and shoots out fireworks. Tag, Bird—you’re it!”
— From Gary Golio’s <\/em>Bird & Diz
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“Should you be a great forest, I’ll caress your branches and make you sway.”
— From <\/em>Should You Be a River
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“Should you be a breeze, I’ll be ripples dancing to your tunes.”<\/em>
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“Should you be a beach, I’ll build a fire to keep you warm.”<\/em>
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“Should you be a flame, I’ll hold you snugly in my hearth.”<\/em>
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\nBIRD & DIZ. Text copyright \u00a9 2015 by Gary Golio. Illustrations copyright \u00a9 2015 by Ed Young. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.<\/em><\/p>\n

SHOULD YOU BE A RIVER. Copyright \u00a9 2015 by Ed Young. Illustrations reproduced by permission of the publisher, Little, Brown and Company, New York.<\/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>
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1)<\/strong><\/font> My oldest daughter turned eleven this week!<\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> She is sweet and kind and clever and pretty much wonderful. She really loves the magnet I got her that says “YAY WEIRD,”<\/a><\/strong> if that gives you any idea how great she is. (Of course, I had to grab this one<\/a><\/strong> for myself.) <\/p>\n

3)<\/strong><\/font> New music from Lowland Hum<\/a><\/strong>:<\/p>\n