{"id":4570,"date":"2018-02-25T00:01:45","date_gmt":"2018-02-25T06:01:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=4570"},"modified":"2018-02-24T14:10:01","modified_gmt":"2018-02-24T20:10:01","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-575-featuring-denise-fleming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=4570","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #575: Featuring Denise Fleming"},"content":{"rendered":"

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“These are the NESTLINGS, tufted and pink, that cracked the eggs, brittle and blue, that lay on the grass, fresh and sweet, that cushions the weeds, dotted with seeds, that bind the mud, soft not soupy, that plasters the straw, rough and tough, that covers the string, long and strong, that wraps round the twigs, not too big,
that anchor the nest that Robin built.”<\/em>
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\nI’ve some art today from Denise Fleming’s<\/a><\/strong> new picture book, This Is the Nest That Robin Built<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (Beach Lane, March 2018). This is what the Kirkus<\/em> review calls an “avian revision of a classic rhyme,” and that would be “This Is the House That Jack Built,” the popular cumulative rhyme. Here we meet the animals \u2014 squirrel, dog, horse, pig, mouse, and more \u2014 who, in one way or another, contribute to a nest (made of twigs, string, straw, mud, weeds, and grass) that a robin builds for her fledglings. The narrative’s structure is a cumulative one, just like the classic rhyme upon which it’s based, and these full-bleed spreads, which includes a gatefold towards the end, put readers right in front of the action. We are up close with these creatures, all the better to see the bold colors and textures of Fleming’s artwork. “After 28 years of paper-making,” she told me, “I decided to try a new medium. I make monoprints (using a gelatin plate) with texture and color and then cut up the prints and collage the bits and pieces. … I also use foam printing in the illustrations.” She says she will soon make a process video, which I look forward to seeing. <\/p>\n

The starred Horn Book<\/em> review calls this a “celebration of bits and pieces, of process, and of creation.” Yes. That! Here are some more illustrations so that the artwork can do the talking.
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“This is the DOG who brought the string, long and strong, that wraps round the twigs, not too big, that anchor the nest that Robin built.”<\/em>
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“This is the MOUSE who gathered the weeds, dotted with seeds, that bind the mud, soft not soupy, that plasters the straw, rough and tough, that covers the string, long and strong, that wraps round the twigs, not too big, that anchor the nest that Robin built.”<\/em>
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\nTHIS IS THE NEST THAT ROBIN BUILT. Copyright \u00a9 2018 by Denise Fleming. Published by Beach Lane Books, New York. Illustrations reproduced by permission of Denise Fleming.<\/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>
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1)<\/strong><\/font> The Parkland teens. <\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> Janelle Mon\u00e1e’s new tunes. <\/p>\n

3)<\/strong><\/font> I commissioned illustrator Ethan Aldridge<\/a><\/strong> to make a drawing of my daughters’ friend’s favorite D&D character for her birthday. (He is still doing drawings if anyone else wants one!) I love it so much, and I hope she likes it too:
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\n4)<\/strong><\/font> Cancelled plans. (This really was<\/em> a kick, even if cancelled plans usually aren’t.)<\/p>\n

5)<\/strong><\/font> At Parnassus story time yesterday, a young girl (at<\/em> storytime) came up to me and whisper-asked if she<\/em> could read to everyone. I told her she could stay and help me. She was fabulous. FUTURE LIBRARIAN. WOOT! <\/p>\n

6)<\/strong><\/font> I presented this week to Nashville Public Library’s children’s librarians about my favorite picture books and middle-grade novels of 2017, and it was a lot of fun to re-visit those books and speak to those librarians. <\/p>\n

7)<\/strong><\/font> This part (below) of this Fresh Air interview<\/a><\/strong> made me think of the weekly kicks we all share together. It’s the little things, isn’t it?
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\nWhat are YOUR<\/font><\/strong> kicks this week?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“These are the NESTLINGS, tufted and pink, that cracked the eggs, brittle and blue, that lay on the grass, fresh and sweet, that cushions the weeds, dotted with seeds, that bind the mud, soft not soupy, that plasters the straw, rough and tough, that covers the string, long and strong, that wraps round the twigs, […]<\/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-4570","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\/4570","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=4570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4570\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}