{"id":4012,"date":"2016-03-13T00:01:10","date_gmt":"2016-03-13T06:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=4012"},"modified":"2016-03-12T20:48:22","modified_gmt":"2016-03-13T02:48:22","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-474-featuring-masamitsu-saito","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=4012","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #474: Featuring Masamitsu Saito"},"content":{"rendered":"

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“But I’m all right.
The snow covers me like a fleecy blanket.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge spread)<\/em><\/center>
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\nOkay, you all. Before Spring officially gets here, I must take some time to tell you about Yuki Kaneko’s Into the Snow<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, illustrated by Masamitsu Saito and released by Enchanted Lion Books last month. This is a book that captures the glee and exhilaration of a beautiful day of play in the snow. It’s captured with such exuberance — the textured artwork (rendered via oil pastels, gouache, acrylics, and colored pencil) nearly leaps off the page and pulses with an infectious energy. <\/p>\n

A young boy wakes to see the snow from his window and bundles up to head outside. He feels the snow, finds an icicle, and heads to the top of a hill for a sled ride. He barrels down the hill, and his joy (and probably a fair share of fear) at this moment are captured in four dynamic spreads. His mother comes for him, and he heads home — to hot chocolate, no less. <\/p>\n

The colors here pop off the page — bright blues, warm greens and oranges, vivid yellows. Saito’s lines are delightful, particularly as the boy sleds down the hill; they’re a swirling jumble of movement and speed. The whole book is a snapshot in time for the boy, perfectly capturing the joyous parts of Winter. <\/p>\n

Let me just show<\/em> you what I mean with a few more spreads. Enjoy! <\/p>\n


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\n<\/a>
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“Mommy tells me to bundle up and have fun. I put on my hat and gloves to keep warm. Here’s my sled. I’m ready to go into the snow!<\/strong><\/font>“<\/em>
(Click to enlarge spread)<\/em><\/center>
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\n<\/a>
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“Whoosh!<\/strong><\/font> I’m flying down the slope. Wheee!<\/strong><\/font>“<\/em>
(Click to enlarge spread)<\/em><\/center>
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\n<\/a>
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“The sled is spinning around and around.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge spread)<\/em><\/center>
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\n<\/a>
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“Look! There’s Mommy! She’s come to get me.
‘I think it’s time for your favorite snow day treat.'”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge spread)<\/em><\/center>
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\nINTO THE SNOW. Copyright \u00a9 2016 by Yuki Kaneko. Illustrations copyright \u00a9 2016 by Masamitsu Saito. Illustrations reproduced by permission of Enchanted Lion Books, 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>
<\/center><\/p>\n

1)<\/strong><\/font> My oldest turned twelve yesterday! <\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> I was absolutely pleased as punch to read about protesters in Chicago cancelling a Trump rally. Mic drop, Chicago. <\/p>\n

3)<\/strong><\/font> My oldest daughter’s librarian was one of the organizing forces behind this first-ever book festival<\/a><\/strong> in the county I live in, which was a huge success. I love firecracker librarians like her. Rah rah!<\/p>\n

4)<\/strong><\/font> Warmer weather and blooming flowers. <\/p>\n

5)<\/strong><\/font> Making a tough decision and sticking to it. <\/p>\n

6)<\/strong><\/font> This<\/a><\/strong> was really wonderful to hear. <\/p>\n

7)<\/strong><\/font> We had to bury a cat this week, which isn’t a kick. But the kick is that she was a sweet cat and was part of about 13 years of my life. <\/p>\n

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

“But I’m all right.The snow covers me like a fleecy blanket.”(Click to enlarge spread)   Okay, you all. Before Spring officially gets here, I must take some time to tell you about Yuki Kaneko’s Into the Snow, illustrated by Masamitsu Saito and released by Enchanted Lion Books last month. This is a book that captures […]<\/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-4012","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\/4012","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=4012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4012\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}