{"id":5271,"date":"2021-01-31T00:01:59","date_gmt":"2021-01-31T06:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=5271"},"modified":"2021-04-21T06:51:27","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T12:51:27","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-728-featuring-mariachiara-di-giorgio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=5271","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #728: Featuring Mariachiara Di Giorgio"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nA fair has come to town. A group of animals, watching from the nearby treeline, sees humans setting it up. As night falls, they continue to watch as people filter in. They watch from the shadows, taking in the bright lights and constant movement. (It’s here you can almost smell<\/em> the funnel cakes.) But after the people filter out and the fair is closed for the night? Well, the creatures make their way in and experience all the fair has to offer. <\/p>\n

Wanna see a couple spreads from Gideon Sterer’s<\/a><\/strong> The Midnight Fair<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (Candlewick, February 2021), illustrated by Mariachiara Di Giorgio<\/a><\/strong>? It is captivating. <\/p>\n

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Di Giorgio, who lives in Rome and illustrated this entertaining 2017 book<\/a><\/strong>, lays out the story here in not only full-bleed spreads, but also spreads with panels of varying sizes \u2014 which pick up the pace, when needed, and provide abundant details. For instance, in an early spread we see a groundskeeper closing the fair for the night. A top horizontal panel on the verso shows people exiting the fair. The three smaller panels under it show the groundskeeper, as the lights are distinguished and the night’s shadows grow darker, lock everything up. The (very funny) illustration on the recto (sans any panels) shows all the forest creatures looking directly at us, covered in darkness with their eyes glowing. They are determined to make their way into the fair, no two ways about it. Is this something they are doing for the first time? Is it a regular occurrence? In this wordless book, that’s up to readers to decide. <\/p>\n

There’s a lot of humor here. The animals aren’t anthropomorphized (in that they are, say, dressed in clothing) but do<\/em> work with human-oriented goals, such as the moment we see a raccoon lift up another raccoon, who then pushes the large switch neceessary for lighting up the fair. And once it’s activated, Di Giorgio does a splendid job of capturing all the fair’s sights, sounds, and wonders \u2014 the popcorn, the cotton candy, the games. A wolf even wins a goldfish at the ring toss; the fish swims in a small plastic bag. (What the wolf does with it at the book’s close is genuinely touching.) <\/p>\n

Di Giorgio also treats us to thrilling perspectives (see below), and she captures with detail and precision the beguiling, magical atmosphere of the evening. The smudgy, velvety lights. The swirling colors and movement of the rides. The sparkling lights of the carousel. The animals also find creative ways to pay for treats; these visual delights are there for readers who don’t rush through the book. A bear cub, for instance, slides an acorn across a counter in exchange for some ice cream. <\/p>\n

I won’t give away whether or not they make it out of the fair before the groundskeeper returns. (He does<\/em> become suspicious after seeing, from his home, a hazy glow in the night sky.) This is one you’ll want to hold in your hands anyway and take in for yourself. Below are two spreads.
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\nTHE MIDNIGHT FAIR. Storyline \u00a9 2020 Gideon Sterer. Illustrations \u00a9 2020 Mariachiara Di Giorgio. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA on behalf of Walker Books, London.<\/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> It was very fun a couple of weeks ago to be a part of the virtual Caldecott Club Voting Party 2021 with the young patrons at Lincolnwood Public Library and Evanston Public Library in Illinois. (There we all are below.) Thanks to Brian Wilson and Eti Berland for the invitation. Eti wrote a recap here<\/a><\/strong>.
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\n2)<\/strong><\/font> The ALA Youth Media Awards<\/a><\/strong> this past week and the 2021 Robin Smith Picture Book Prize<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

3)<\/strong><\/font> One Night in Miami<\/a><\/em><\/strong>. Soooo good. <\/p>\n

4)<\/strong><\/font> Sign language interpreters (which I was in my 20s and 30s) being a part of the Biden administration’s daily news briefings. <\/p>\n

5)<\/strong><\/font> R. L. Stine<\/a><\/strong> appearing in a scene in a recent episode of Search Party<\/em>. <\/p>\n

6)<\/strong><\/font> People singing, including Simone Istwa, Sam Phillips’s<\/a><\/strong> daughter, doing a five-song set of Sam covers<\/a><\/strong> in honor of Sam’s birthday, and<\/em> Wilson Cruz<\/a><\/strong> …
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A post shared by Wilson Cruz (@wcruz73)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n