{"id":5614,"date":"2022-06-26T00:01:53","date_gmt":"2022-06-26T06:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=5614"},"modified":"2022-06-24T09:50:19","modified_gmt":"2022-06-24T15:50:19","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-800-featuring-richard-jones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=5614","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #800: Featuring Richard Jones"},"content":{"rendered":"

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“Trace the drops … a dot-to-dot that
makes a secret map.”<\/em>
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\nMeg Fleming’s<\/a><\/strong> meditative Wondering Around<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (Beach Lane, May 2022), illustrated by Richard Jones<\/a><\/strong>, is an ode to wondering at, observing, and engaging with the natural world and features children who “wander on the outside … and wonder on the in.” <\/p>\n

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In richly colored acrylic illustrations (remember his illustrations for this year’s Marshmallow Clouds<\/a><\/strong><\/em>?), Richard Jones depicts wide-eyed children taking it all in \u2014 whether it’s looking closely underneath a rock (where “tiny feet become a street” and an insect world forms a “city block”), looking out of an apartment window at a growing storm, or wondering at the life that brims alongside a pond or in a snowy forest. The book’s mood shifts slightly (and delightfully) throughout these 48 pages \u2014 always wondrous but sometimes playful (a squirrel, a mouse, a frog with a bowtie, and a snail having a tea party behind a rock), sometimes mysterious (a child isn’t sure she’ll stick around the forest when she sees a creature she is unsure about but that ends up being a deer), and sometimes fantastical (a child rides a tiger). We see children through the seasons, and Jones fills these pages with bursts of color. Fleming’s rhyming text flows beautifully: “Wonder way up branches. \/ At all the wings that fly. \/ A leaf bouquet says swip, swip, sway. \/ Hello, forever sky.”<\/p>\n

In the end, the children take their perceptions and put them to paper: “Wonder out a pencil. \/ Or paint or stick or brush. \/ A thought. A shape. A great escape that settles in a hush.” This deep breath of a book can usher in contemplation and a place for wonder in a child’s otherwise hectic day. <\/p>\n

Here are some spreads. …
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“WONDER out the window.
A storm. A flash. A clap.”<\/em>
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“Wonder down a pathway.
A nest. A bog. A trail.”<\/em>
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“Chik-chik chirp. Ribbit. Slurp.
Could that be someone’s tail?”<\/em>
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“Wonder with a paddle.
A swoopy loop of jade.”<\/em>
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“Spinning swirl. Water curl.
Here comes the deep parade!”<\/em>
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(Click cover to enlarge)<\/em><\/center>
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\nWONDERING AROUND. Text copyright \u00a9 2022 by Meg Fleming. Illustrations \u00a9 2022 by Richard Jones and reproduced by permission of the publisher, Beach Lane Books, 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’s Kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font>
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What a week. I’m with Liz<\/a><\/strong>:<\/p>\n

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I have two young adult daughters, and I could not be more ashamed of, enraged by, or terrified about the world we are handing them.<\/p>\n

— Liz Garton Scanlon (@LGartonScanlon) June 24, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n