{"id":4382,"date":"2017-06-25T00:01:49","date_gmt":"2017-06-25T06:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=4382"},"modified":"2017-06-24T20:28:49","modified_gmt":"2017-06-25T02:28:49","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-540-featuring-julia-denos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=4382","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #540: Featuring Julia Denos"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nI saw this image, created by author-illustrator Julia Denos<\/a><\/strong>, on Instagram this week, and I secured her permission to share it here. I like it. It makes me think of not sweating the small stuff in life. You can click on it to see the entire image in her sketchbook.<\/p>\n

When I asked her about it, she wrote: <\/p>\n

I’ve been really moved lately by exploring space and local nature. There is so much to learn. Finding stories in the nonfiction of stars and flowers and trees.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Because I had her attention, I also asked her what’s next on her plate. She said she has just finished illustrating a picture book bio about Jackie Kennedy, written by Margaret Cardillo<\/a><\/strong> (with whom Julia has collaborated previously<\/a><\/strong>) and called Just Being Jackie<\/em> (Balzer + Bray, 2018). “It focuses on her love of the written word through her life,” Julia says, “and how she eventually became a prolific editor.” <\/p>\n

Also, Julia’s next book will be out in October of this year from Candlewick. It’s called Windows<\/em>, and it’s illustrated by E. B. Goodale<\/a><\/strong>. I happen to have an early copy of this book, and it’s really wonderful. I look forward to writing about it in the coming months. Julia says that she and E. B. also just collaborated on another book, called Becoming<\/em> (a Fall 2019 release with Houghton Mifflin).
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\nOne more thing! Julia is also writing a YA novel that she says has been in the works for a few years. “Now that the plate is clear,” she tells me, “I can sink time into it.” And she’s still making art, as always. “As far as illustrating, I make art every day,” she says. “I’ve been painting a lot of scenes from our solar system and nature around me here in Massachusetts, which will find their way into a picture book eventually.”<\/p>\n

I thank Julia for sharing. <\/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.<\/em><\/p>\n

* * * Jules’ Kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font>
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1)<\/strong><\/font> My friend, Robin Smith. She had a two-year struggle with bone cancer and died this past week. This is the most<\/em> unkicky thing, I’m tellin’ you. It is STAGGERING in its unkicky-ness. I miss her. There’s already been about 7,000 things I’ve wanted to tell her in the past couple of days, and I can’t anymore. <\/p>\n

But the kick is that I knew her when she was here. <\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> All the tributes to her that have come pouring in. She was such a wonderful teacher and human, who impacted countless lives. (I wrote my own tribute<\/a><\/strong> and hope I did her justice.) <\/p>\n

3)<\/strong><\/font> All the time I got to spend with her in the last two years, in particular. Once she was unable to continue teaching, I’d visit her weekly. A great many of her friends did — to keep her company and because we all loved her. <\/p>\n

4)<\/strong><\/font> She taught all of Faith Hill’s and Tim McGraw’s children, and evidently they gave a shout-out to Robin—and all teachers—at a concert the other night. I can hear Robin laughing in my head over the fact that her name was shouted out at a big ol’ mainstream country music concert in a ginormous auditorium. She would have gotten a kick out of that on many levels, I think. That was awfully kind of those two. <\/p>\n

5)<\/strong><\/font> Reading Lauren Wolk’s<\/a><\/strong> new book<\/a><\/strong> aloud to my girls. I’m not surprised that I love it thus far. <\/p>\n

6)<\/strong><\/font> When you get to pick up that new novel at the library that’s been on hold for months and you can’t wait to crack it open. <\/p>\n

7)<\/strong><\/font> Last but far from least, when smart people say yes to collaboration. <\/p>\n

BONUS:<\/strong><\/font> Tonight’s the night of the Newbery, Caldecott, and Wilder award speeches at the ALA conference in Chicago. I wish I could be there to hear them, but I’m looking forward to reading about them. <\/p>\n

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

  I saw this image, created by author-illustrator Julia Denos, on Instagram this week, and I secured her permission to share it here. I like it. It makes me think of not sweating the small stuff in life. You can click on it to see the entire image in her sketchbook. When I asked her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-seven-good-things-before-monday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4382","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=4382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4382\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}