Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

— From David Covell’s Run Wild
(Click image to enlarge)

 

“Crows charge and chase, darting and diving,
driving Father Hawk from their roost.”
— From Maria Gianferrari’s Hawk Rising, illustrated by Brian Floca
(Click image to enlarge)

 
Over at Kirkus today, I’ve got a picture book I find to be a bit of a balm for one’s soul right about now.

That is here.

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Last week, I wrote here about Maria Gianferrari’s Hawk Rising (Roaring Brook, June 2018), illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Brian Floca, as well as David Covell’s Run Wild (Viking, June 2018). Today here at 7-Imp, I’ve got some art from the books, and both Brian and David visit to share some thoughts on their respective books, as well as preliminary images (early sketches, etc.) I thank both of them for sharing.

Enjoy!

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“… we see each other for the first time.”
— Early sketches and final art from Drawn Together
(Click each to enlarge spread)

 
Here today at 7-Imp are some early sketches, cover designs, and final art from Minh Lê’s Drawn Together (Disney-Hyperion, June 2018), illustrated by Dan Santat. Last week at Kirkus, I chatted here with the two of them about this book.

Enjoy!

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“… They can be all these colors, too. Have you ever tasted a Granny Smith apple?
Or a Pink Lady or a Golden Delicious?”

 
Here’s a post about my new favorite board book, These Colors Are Bananas (Phaidon, May 2018) by Jason Fulford and Tamara Shopsin and published in association with the Whitney Museum of American Art. This is a book, as you can see below in the spreads I’m sharing today, that asks children to see many sides of one thing — in particular, colors. Roses aren’t always red; fire can be many colors; and “grass is not always green.”

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“Possum climbed down. A chipmunk hopped by. ‘Where’s your brush pile?’ she squeaked. ‘Gone,’ sighed Possum, ‘washed away.’ ‘Oh! Bad luck,’ the chipmunk sympathized.
‘I could help you dig a new home,’ she offered. ‘Dig?’ he asked. ‘Yes, you know,’ she said. ‘We’ll dig a bedroom, bathroom, larder …’ Possum’s eyes widened.
‘Yes,’ said Possum. ‘That sounds very nice.'”
(Click to enlarge spread, which is sans art)

 
Today, author-illustrator Anne Hunter visits 7-Imp again (she also visited early last year and, in fact, gave a sneak-peek at this book back then) to share some preliminary images and final art from Possum and the Summer Storm (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, May 2018). This is the story of Possum and his family, finding themselves homeless after a thunderstorm. There’s not a brush pile in sight after the heavy winds and rains. “Don’t worry, children,” Possum says. “We’ll find a new home.”

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Over at Kirkus today, I’ve got the outdoors on the mind.

That is here.

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Last week, I wrote here at Kirkus about Michael Ian Black’s and Debbie Ridpath Ohi’s I’m Sad (Simon & Schuster, June 2018). I’m following up here at 7-Imp today with some preliminary/process images from Debbie, as well as a bit of final art from the book. I thank her for sharing.

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“While some of the cultural details are slightly different from mine, the story as a whole is very much still true to my experience. I think that’s because, at its heart, it’s a story based on the very real relationships with our grandparents. So there’s a personal emotional truth poured into each page that hopefully comes through for the reader.”

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Over at Kirkus today, I talk with author Minh Lê, quoted above and pictured left, and Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat, pictured right, about their new picture book, Drawn Together.

That is here.

Next week, I’ll follow up here at 7-Imp with some art from the book, as well as some preliminary images.

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Photo of Minh Lê taken by Lauren Ackil.

“And they were off, sailing left on the high seas.”
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
I’ve a review over at BookPage of Linda Urban’s Mabel and Sam at Home (Chronicle, June 2018), illustrated by Hadley Hooper.

That is here, and I’m following up here at 7-Imp today with a few spreads from the book.

Enjoy!

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“With Dad by my side,
there’s nothing we can’t do.”

 
In honor of Father’s Day, here’s a peek inside Dad By My Side (Little, Brown, May 2018), written and illustrated by Soosh. Soosh is a self-taught artist from Europe (from a “country that doesn’t exist anymore,” she writes in the book’s closing author’s note), and this is her debut picture book.

This is a series of illustrations of a young girl and her father, spending their days together — the girl noting the many ways in which her father makes her feel safe and comforted. Soosh creates the girl’s father as “deliberately big,” she writes in that same author’s note …

“… much bigger than the figure of the little girl, his daughter, because this is how she sees him — and this is how many of us see our heroes or parents (which, if we are lucky, are the same thing). His beard makes me think of something ancient, strong, solid. He is someone who is there just because: to love you without any reason, unconditionally and forever. …”

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This guy. He’s got a bad case of impostor syndrome (or does he?) in Mac Barnett’s and Jon Klassen’s newest book in the Shape trilogy, Square (Candlewick, May 2018).

I set out at Kirkus last week to write (here) about how much I like this book, but I ended up rambling about children’s books and intent and reading and pranksters and mischief instead. But today here at 7-Imp, I do have two spreads from the book. They are below. To read more about Square, you can read the Kirkus review.

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Today over at Kirkus, I write about Michael Ian Black’s and Debbie Ridpath Ohi’s I’m Sad. That is here.

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Last week, I chatted here over at Kirkus with author-illustrator and graphic novelist Vera Brosgol about her new graphic novel, Be Prepared (First Second, April 2018).

Today, I’m following up with some art from the book, plus some preliminary artwork Vera sent along. (Pictured above is a sketch from Vera’s pitch for the book.)

Enjoy!

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