Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

 
I am sharing a picture book review today, if you’re so inclined to read it. Over at the Horn Book, they’ve posted my review of Daniel Miyares’ Night Out (Schwartz & Wade, May 2018). That is here.

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— From Steve Lights’s Builders & Breakers

 

“The wind tickles us as we ride.”
— From J.M. Brum’s Our Car, illustrated by Jan Bajtlik
(Click to enlarge spread)

 

“A tugboat lugs big ships.”
— From Jeanne Walker Harvey’s Boats on the Bay,
illustrated by Grady McFerrin
(Click to enlarge spread)

 

“Good night, playground turning white. Good night, snowplow? Not tonight!
Start the engine. Try the lights. Check both signals — left, then right.”
— From Deborah Bruss’s Good Morning, Snowplow!,
illustrated by Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
Over at Kirkus today, I write about three new picture books that are nothing less than bursts of joy. (This is what happens when your Kirkus deadline is yesterday, yet you spend most of the day watching the DEPRESSING Kavanaugh hearings. Afterwards, you turn to picture books to cheer you.)

That is here.

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Last week, I wrote here about J.M. Brum’s My Car, illustrated by Jan Bajtlik (Neal Porter/Roaring Brook, August 2018); Jeanne Walker Harvey’s Boats on the Bay (Cameron + Company, August 2018), illustrated by Grady McFerrin; Deborah Bruss’s Good Morning, Snowplow! (Levine/Scholastic, October 2018), illustrated by Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson; and Steve Light’s Builders & Breakers (Candlewick, October 2018).

I’m following up with art from each book today. By the way, I noted in last week’s column that I was unsure of the medium Grady McFerrin used in the beautiful Boats on the Bay. A little bird told me that it’s pen, brush, and ink, scanned and pieced together in Photoshop. Evidently, there are also a few spots in the book where old found woodcuts have been repurposed and used in the digital collages.

Enjoy!

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Illustrator Rafael López visits 7-Imp today for an art-filled discussion about his illustrations for Jacqueline Woodson’s The Day You Begin (Nancy Paulsen Books, August 2018). I mentioned this book in a recent Kirkus column as being a wonderful back-to-school title, but it’s a book to share with children any day of the year, this story of how our differences make us special. Centered in a school room, readers meet Angelina. “There will be times when you walk into a room,” the book opens, “and no one there is quite like you.” It’s a story of making connections and finding one’s voice, but it’s more, as Rafael explains below. It’s about accepting people as they are.

Let’s get right to it, since Rafael shares so generously below. I thank him for sharing today. (If you want more of Rafael’s art, his 2011 breakfast interview here at 7-Imp is one of my favorites.)

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(Click to enlarge)

 
I don’t want to tell you too much about the plot of Ethan Aldridge’s graphic novel Estranged (Harper, August 2018), because should you find a copy to read yourself, I don’t want to have ruined the plot for you. Regular 7-Imp readers may remember that Ethan’s artwork was featured here at 7-Imp when he was but a student. (EXCITING! to see his debut book be released.)

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(Click to enlarge)

 
You know those toddlers who are ob-sessssed with cars, trucks, and all things that go? The world is populated with many such children. Over at Kirkus today, I’ve got four new picture books all about Things That Go Zoom.

That is here.

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Last week, I wrote here about a new picture book import, coming to shelves next month, Raúl Nieto Guridi’s The King of Nothing (New York Review, October 2018), which was originally published in Spanish in 2013 as El rey de nada and has been translated by Saul Endor. I’m following up with some art today.

Enjoy!

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Tomorrow, September 21, the world observes the International Day of Peace. That means it’ll be a good time (though it’s always a good time) to read Ali Winter’s Peace and Me (Lantana, September 2018), a book that highlights 12 Nobel Peace Prize winners. I don’t normally share book trailers here at 7-Imp, but I’m sharing this book’s trailer today, because it gives you a brief opportunity to see some of the beautifully-patterned art from illustrator Mickaël EL Fathi.

 

“The next morning she heard knocking. No one ever knocked at her door.
Why would they? She certainly wouldn’t answer it. But the knocking didn’t stop.”
(Click image to enlarge)

 
Over at BookPage, I’ve a review of Antje Damm’s The Visitor (Gecko, August 2018), a German picture book import on shelves now.

The review is here, and below at 7-Imp today are some of Damm’s 3-D illustrations.

Enjoy!

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Are you all up for some magical doors this morning? Who isn’t up for a magical door, right?

If you read and enjoyed JiHyeon Lee’s Pool (which I blogged about here in 2015), you may be happy to know she has a new book, also wordless, coming to shelves next month, called Door (Chronicle Books). It’s the story of a boy who finds a key, walks through a door, and encounters a fantastical world of creatures alien, but friendly, to him.

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This morning over at Kirkus, I’ve got a picture book import from Spain.

That is here.

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Last week, I wrote here about Andrea Dorfman’s Flawed (Firefly, September 2018). I’m following up today with some art from the book.

Enjoy!

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Over at the Horn Book’s Calling Caldecott today, I talk to author Karen Blumenthal about Kidlitwomen*, which Karen co-founded with author-illustrator Grace Lin.

That is here. Read! Ponder! Follow them on social media!

Until tomorrow …