{"id":5268,"date":"2021-01-24T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-24T06:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=5268"},"modified":"2021-01-24T14:58:32","modified_gmt":"2021-01-24T20:58:32","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-727-featuring-leo-timmers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=5268","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #727: Featuring Leo Timmers"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\nHow about a Dutch picture book import today? Let’s take a look at some spreads from Where Is the Dragon?<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (Gecko, February 2021) from Belgian author-illustrator Leo Timmers<\/a><\/strong>. It’s the story of a king who orders three knights \u2014 One, Two, and Three \u2014 to rid the kingdom of a menacing dragon. <\/p>\n

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Off march the knights. “Save the realm!” says the “brave” king. “But mainly me.” The knights aren’t without fear (they’ve never seen<\/em> a dragon before), particularly Knights One and Two, as they trek through the dark forest. They do so almost as if on a stage, as each spread is underlined by a white stripe where the text is laid, and they continue forward, making their way through the book. In four separate instances (you can see some below), they see the shadowy outline of what they assume is a dragon \u2014 but things are revealed to be otherwise when Knight Three gets close to shine a candle (their single source of light) upon the shape. That shape that looked like a vicious sleeping dragon? It’s only a bed of bunnies, dining on carrots. Cue squeals of delight from the preschoolers with whom you’re sharing this one (and expect to spend some time poring over these reveals to see the clever ways in which Timmers matches imagination to reality). <\/p>\n

The end, however, is a bit different. Just after the knights (well, most of them) have convinced themselves that there’s “no dragon taking wing” in the forest and the king is safe, readers are met with a surprise, which I won’t ruin for you here. (There may be fire involved.) <\/p>\n

Timmers’s rhyming text has been translated from the Dutch by James Brown, and it would make for a fabulous story-time choice. Timmers’s illustrations feature rich colors, lots of textures, and characters that seem to stand off the page. He works wonders with light and shadow here \u2014 to great comic effect. <\/p>\n

Below are some illustrations. Enjoy!
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\nWHERE IS THE DRAGON? Copyright text and illustrations \u00a9 2019 Leo Timmers. Originalliy published by Em. Querido’s Uitgeverij, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, under the title <\/em>Waar is de draak? English-language edition \u00a9 Geck Press Ltd 2021. Translation \u00a9 James Brown 2021. Illustrations reproduced by permission of the publisher, Gecko Press.<\/em><\/p>\n

* * * Jules’s Kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font>
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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> The inauguration! Kamala! It feels good to feel hope again. It feels good to have someone with empathy in the White House.<\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> Amanda Gorman<\/a><\/strong>. Here is Rahele Jomepour Bell’s<\/a><\/strong> painting of her:
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A post shared by Rahele Jomepour Bell (@rahele_studio)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n