{"id":4206,"date":"2016-11-27T00:01:23","date_gmt":"2016-11-27T06:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=4206"},"modified":"2016-11-26T20:39:27","modified_gmt":"2016-11-27T02:39:27","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-511-featuring-tomi-ungerer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=4206","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #511: Featuring Tomi Ungerer"},"content":{"rendered":"

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“With the axe, they smashed the carriage wheels.”
— From <\/em>The Three Robbers, originally published in German in 1963<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center>
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\nAfter it arrived in my mailbox, I may have walked around my living room hugging<\/em> the book I’m featuring in today’s post. I did. I hugged it hard. <\/p>\n

But it’s that<\/em> good. It is Tomi Ungerer: A Treasury of 8 Books<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, released last month from Phaidon Press. Included here, as the title tells you, are eight of his previously-released picture books, nestled inside a slipcase, including three well-known titles (The Three Robbers<\/em>, Moon Man<\/em>, and Otto<\/em>); Fog Island<\/em>, released as recently as 2013 (originally released in 2012 in Germany); and what the publisher calls “lost gems,” which includes some stories being published in this collection for the first time in 50 years — Zeralda’s Ogre<\/em>, Flix<\/em>, The Hat<\/em>, and Emile<\/em>. All of the stories in this tall collection, which range in publication from 1963 (The Three Robbers<\/em>) to 2012 (Fog Island<\/em>), are gloriously reproduced here.
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“One night as the Moon Man sat wondering why he was so cruelly treated, he noticed that his left side had faded. ‘Why, I must be in my third quarter,’ he thought happily. …”
— From <\/em>Moon Man, originally published in German in 1966<\/em><\/center>
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“When the head of the armed forces paid a visit to inspect the weird captive,
he found the cell empty. The general was furious.”
— From <\/em>Moon Man<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center>
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\nBut there’s more that makes this a must-have for Ungerer fans: An introductory note from Ungerer himself, as well as a “Behind the Scenes” section that closes the book, in which Phaidon’s Maya Gartner (Tomi’s editor) chats with him about each of these books. These chats include sketches and preliminary images from the books (preparatory drawings, storyboards, etc.), as well as (in some cases) reference photos and images that inspired stories. There’s also a biography, as well a short chat with his thoughts on children’s books. Evidently, this is being published to coincide with his 85th birthday on the 28th. (There’s a celebration going on here<\/a><\/strong> at Phaidon, in case you have not yet seen it. It’s a series of birthday wishes from other illustrators.)<\/p>\n

This is a beautifully designed book (the endpapers even feature sketches) that meets the needs of both die-hard Ungerer fans, as well as those who are coming to his work for the first time. The Times<\/em> put it best when they wrote, “There is not a dud in the pack – read them all.” Below are some more illustrations. <\/p>\n

There’s no one quite like Ungerer, is there?
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— From <\/em>Zeralda’s Ogre, originally published in German in 1970<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center>
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“Darkness slowly fell and the current carried them to a small inlet. …”
— From <\/em>Fog Island, originally published in German in 2012<\/em>
(Click to enlarge, and please excuse the vertical line in the middle of the illustration)<\/center>
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— From <\/em>Emile, originally published in German in 1980<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center>
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\nAll images reproduced by permission of Phaidon Press.<\/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> I took an archery lesson yesterday. I LOVED IT. <\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> Our Christmas tree is up — and in the new house, which is way more spacious. No more cramming a tree into the living room. <\/p>\n

3)<\/strong><\/font> I volunteered at Parnassus Books’<\/a><\/strong> Small Business Saturday\/IndieNashGiving celebration yesterday and did story time with a friend. There was a big group of ADORABLE CHILDREN there. <\/p>\n

4)<\/strong><\/font> I finally started watching The Gilmore Girls<\/em> with my daughters. If I’m Sam Phillips’<\/a><\/strong> biggest fan (and I’ve been a huge fan for nearly 30 years now), it’s kind of a shame I haven’t seen the show yet, since she does the “la la”s. We are enjoying it so far … <\/p>\n

5)<\/strong><\/font> … and every time I hear Sam strum her guitar or sing “la la” in the background, I whisper “SAM!” to my girls. <\/p>\n

6)<\/strong><\/font> AND she released a new EP this week! IT IS SO GOOD. Not surprisingly. If you click here<\/a><\/strong> and then click on the words “Sam Phillips — Troubles Won’t Stay” at the top there, you will hear a fabulous new song. It may put a smile on your face. <\/p>\n

7)<\/strong><\/font> Best kick for last: My cousin’s wonderful daughter learned last week that she had a brain tumor; however, not only did surgery take care of it, but it’s also benign. Whew. <\/p>\n

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

“With the axe, they smashed the carriage wheels.”— From The Three Robbers, originally published in German in 1963(Click to enlarge)   After it arrived in my mailbox, I may have walked around my living room hugging the book I’m featuring in today’s post. I did. I hugged it hard. But it’s that good. It is […]<\/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-4206","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\/4206","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=4206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4206\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}