![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/7pics\/2017\/03\/9780763690014.int.1large.jpg\")
<\/a>\n
— From Lemniscates’s <\/em>Trees
(Click to enlarge spread)<\/center>
\n
\n
<\/a>\n
— From Isabelle Simler’s <\/em>The Blue Hour
(Click to enlarge spread)<\/center>
\n
\nThis post today is brought to you by my love for the color blue. <\/p>\n
Today, I’ve got some illustrations from Isabelle Simler’s<\/a><\/strong> The Blue Hour<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, which was originally released in France in 2015 but arrived on U.S. shelves last month (Eerdmans). Trees<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (Candlewick Studio, March 2017), written and illustrated by Lemniscates, has a 2015 copyright date, but I’m unsure if it was previously published elsewhere. You can read here<\/a><\/strong> all about the artist behind the name Lemniscates. (Please note that some of the colors in some of these illustrations from The Blue Hour<\/em> today appear a bit brighter than they do in the book. I tried to fix that but was unable to. It’s all the more reason to go find a copy of the book for yourself, right?) <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Blue Hour<\/em> is about the hour between when day ends and night falls. Simler brings readers eloquent, detailed paintings of the creatures of this hour. The book’s final endpapers show that the creatures we meet—a blue jay, a blue fox, songbirds, sardines, flowers, glass snails, and many more—live all over the world; a map of the world’s continents with symbols of each animal can be seen here at the book’s close. Those looking for back matter information with facts about the animals won’t find anything. This is one to be appreciated for the splendid artwork. (And the opening endpapers feature 32 different variations of blue in egg-like shapes.) These are full-bleed spreads that put readers right up against the creatures and landscapes of this silent, mysterious time of day. Blue is, of course, the star here. Here are a couple more spreads: TREES. Copyright \u00a9 2015 by Lemniscates. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.<\/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 1)<\/strong><\/font> Blue. <\/p>\n 2)<\/strong><\/font> We’ll see Regina Spektor<\/a><\/strong> live tomorrow night at the Ryman. I hope she plays this. I love it:
\n
\n<\/a>
\n
croaking to each other.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge spread)<\/center>
\n
\n<\/a>
\n
(Click to enlarge spread)<\/center>
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nThe textured mixed media illustrations of Trees<\/em>, also full-bleed beauties, serve as a tribute to trees. “Trees are marvelous beings,” Lemniscates writes after laying out the many ways in which trees make our world better. We follow a young child through the spreads, who at one point literally hugs a tree. There’s a heavy dose of blue here, but also a lot of greens and warm rust colors. “This peaceful and attractive offering,” notes the Kirkus<\/em> review, “will encourage young children and their caregivers to take a new look at a part of the landscape often taken for granted.” Indeed.
\n
\n
\n
\n<\/a>
\n
(Click to enlarge)<\/center>
\n
\n
\n
\nTHE BLUE HOUR. \u00a9 \u00c9ditions courtes et longues, 2015. Text and illustrations \u00a9 2015 Isabelle Simler. First published in the United States in 2017 by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Illustrations used here by their permission.<\/em><\/p>\n
<\/center><\/p>\n
<\/center><\/p>\n
\n
\n