{"id":3826,"date":"2015-08-23T00:01:49","date_gmt":"2015-08-23T06:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=3826"},"modified":"2015-08-23T09:04:47","modified_gmt":"2015-08-23T15:04:47","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-446-featuring-marc-boutavant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=3826","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #446: Featuring Marc Boutavant"},"content":{"rendered":"


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“‘You must tell me honestly if you’re getting angry,’ he went on.
‘It would be too bad if you didn’t tell me, squirrel. It would be insulting.'”
— From <\/em>The Day No ONe Was Angry<\/em><\/center>
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Title page art from <\/em>Edmond, the Moonlit Party<\/center>
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\nWant to join me this morning, dear Imps, in looking at some artwork from French illustrator Marc Boutavant<\/a><\/strong>? I’m looking at two new books, in particular, here — Astrid Desbordes’<\/a><\/strong> Edmond, The Moonlit Party<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, which was originally published in France two years ago but came to American shelves in June, thanks to Enchanted Lion Books, as well as Toon Tellegen’s<\/a><\/strong> The Day No One Was Angry<\/a><\/em><\/strong>. I believe Toon’s stories originally published in 2002, and this is the First American Edition from Gecko Press (March 2015). <\/p>\n

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Edmond, the Moonlit Party<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, translated by Claudia Zoe Bedrick, is the enchanting story of a squirrel who lives in a tree also populated by an owl and a bear (his neighbors, that is). Edmond is shy, so he spends time alone, making nut jam and being “an amazing pompom maker.” He makes things like pompom hats in “no more than a day or two.” It’s very fun to spot his pompom creations, and the character himself is quirky and funny in such a way that is never too precious or cloying. His neighbor, the owl, likes to dress in disguises and eventually invites him to the party bear throws — and Edmond comes out of his shell. The story is laugh-out-loud funny in spots, and Boutavant’s illustrations are a perfect fit here, Leonard Marcus describing them<\/a><\/strong> in the New York Times<\/em> as “a stylish retro-Pop brew with winsome notes of Takashi Murakami and Richard Scarry.” Yes. That. <\/p>\n

The Day No One Was Angry<\/a><\/strong><\/em> is quite unlike any other story collection you’ll read this year — and different from the way many American books would handle such a thing. Here, Tellegen explores anger in 12 stories featuring a variety of creatures. The stories are funny and bizarre and thought-provoking — sometimes all three at once. Think: An elephant who argues with himself for having climbed a tree (and fallen, as he suspected he might). Or think: A lobster who sells anger door-to-door from his suitcase. (“I’m the lobster. Can I interest you in some anger?”) It’s an intriguing collection of stories and worlds apart from your typical story set. <\/p>\n

Here’s a bit of art from each book so that you can see for yourself. …<\/p>\n

[Pictured above left is a spot illustration from “The Hedgehog” from Tellegen’s <\/em>The Day No One Was Angry.]<\/em>
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From The Day No One Was Angry<\/em>:<\/font><\/strong><\/center>
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“The hedgehog was sitting under the rose bush, thinking of all the things he’d been. I’ve been joyful, he thought. On the squirrel’s birthday, for instance,
when I danced with the cricket. …”<\/em><\/center>
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“The shrew sat at the table and tasted the cake the squirrel put in front of him. ‘Squirrel,’ he said, after two bites, ‘I think this really will make you angry,
but I have to tell you: I don’t like this cake. …'”<\/em><\/center>
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From Edmond, the Moonlit Party<\/em>:<\/font><\/strong><\/center>
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(Click either image to see spread in its entirety)<\/em><\/center>
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(Click either image to see spread in its entirety)<\/em><\/center>
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(Click either image to see spread in its entirety)<\/em><\/center>
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\nTHE DAY NO ONE WAS ANGRY. First American edition published in 2015 by Gecko Press, and all illustrations here used by their permission.<\/em><\/p>\n

EDMOND, THE MOONLIT PARTY. First published in 2015 by Enchanted Lion Books, and all illustrations here used by their permission.<\/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>
<\/center><\/p>\n

1)<\/strong><\/font> Well, this<\/a><\/strong> is so wonderful for obvious reasons. <\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> I didn’t think it could be possible to like Lily Tomlin even more than I already did, but then I listened to her Fresh Air<\/em> interview<\/strong><\/a>. <\/p>\n

3)<\/strong><\/font> I’m driving a bit more these days, and I’m getting caught up on podcasts, both long-time favorites and brand-new delights. I’m sorry to the environment, but my ears and brain are happy. <\/p>\n

4)<\/strong><\/font> My girls and I are reading this below, and it is very funny. We are racing through it, because we can’t put it down. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

5)<\/strong><\/font> Invitations. <\/p>\n

6)<\/strong><\/font> My middle-schooler continues to like her new school — and especially that the library opened this week. <\/p>\n

7)<\/strong><\/font> Re-discovering old CDs and songs, such as Crowded House’s “Nails in My Feet.” Those guys and their lyrics. So good. <\/p>\n

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

“‘You must tell me honestly if you’re getting angry,’ he went on.‘It would be too bad if you didn’t tell me, squirrel. It would be insulting.’”— From The Day No ONe Was Angry   Title page art from Edmond, the Moonlit Party   Want to join me this morning, dear Imps, in looking at some […]<\/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-3826","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\/3826","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=3826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3826\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}