{"id":5129,"date":"2020-06-21T00:01:28","date_gmt":"2020-06-21T06:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=5129"},"modified":"2020-06-20T17:14:09","modified_gmt":"2020-06-20T23:14:09","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-696-featuring-piret-raud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=5129","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #696: Featuring Piret Raud"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\nToday’s featured picture book is from Estonian author Piret Raud<\/a><\/strong>, a book first published in France in 2016. Coming to shelves this August, Ellie’s Voice: or Tr\u00f6\u00f6\u00f6mmmpffff<\/a><\/strong><\/em> was translated from Estonian by Adam Cullen and comes from Yonder, an imprint of Restless Books. <\/p>\n

Ellie the bird is puzzled and sad to have no voice, especially when everyone and everything around her does<\/em>: “The trees rustle. The waves crash. Even the rain sings when it falls.” When a trumpet washes ashore, Ellie is thrilled to create sounds with it, even if those sounds are awfully strange. <\/p>\n

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Everyone revels in Ellie’s newfound “voice” \u2014 that is, untile a fish tells her that the instrument belongs to Duke Junior, who is desolate about having lost it. When Ellie returns the trumpet, she hears Duke Junior play not the weird “tr\u00f6\u00f6\u00f6mmmpffff” sounds she manages to create; instead, Duke Junior plays “wondrous and beautiful” music. And, as it turns out, Duke Junior’s music is “more than enough for her.” <\/p>\n

It’s an intriguing story about acceptance, knowing when it’s best to listen, and knowing when it’s wise to give over one’s voice to someone else. As an American reader, I can’t help but think of the notion of #ownvoices<\/a><\/strong>; this could almost be a literal translation of the idea. And Raud has a distinctive style. The book’s bizzare creatures are intricately drawn in copious white space. As you can see here today, it’s a surreal landscape Raud creates, much different from what we tend to see in American picture books. Here are some spreads so that the art can do the talking. …
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“One morning, Ellie found a strange object
that the waves had washed up onto the shore.”<\/em>
(Click spread to enlarge)<\/center>
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“‘Tr\u00f6\u00f6\u00f6mmmpffff!’ Ellie blew. …”<\/em>
(Click spread to enlarge and read text in its entirety)<\/center>
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(Click spread to enlarge)<\/em><\/center>
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(Click image to see spread in its entirety)<\/em><\/center>
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(Click cover to enlarge)<\/em><\/center>
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ELLIE’S VOICE: OR TR\u00d6\u00d6\u00d6MMMPFFFF. Copyright \u00a9 2016 by Piret Raud. Translation copyright \u00a9 2016 by Adam Cullen. First published in France. Illustrations reproduced by permission of the publisher, Restless Books, Brooklyn, 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>
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1)<\/strong><\/font> Celebrating, in a socially distant way, a friend’s birthday this week. <\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> The Thursday night town hall<\/a><\/strong>, “How to Raise and Teach Anti-Racist Kids,\u201d with panelists Cornelius Minor, Tiffany M. Jewell, Pam Allyn, Noni Thomas L\u00f3pez, and Karyn Parsons. If I’ve got this right, this was put on by the International Literacy Association<\/a><\/strong>, SCBWI<\/a><\/strong>, and Versify<\/a><\/strong>. If you decide to watch this, which I recommend, it kicks off with slides around minute 7:45, and the discussion begins around 10:40.
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