Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Early sketch
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Final spread
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Over at Kirkus today, I’ve got K-Fai Steele’s debut as an author-illustrator.

That is here.

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Last week, I chatted here with author-illustrator Steve Light about his new board book, Mama Tiger, Tiger Cub (Candlewick, May 2019). Today here at 7-Imp, I’m following up with some art from the book, as well as a peek at some of Steve’s early sketches for the illustrations. He also shares some sample pieces from his upcoming book, A Whiskers Hollow Adventure: The Road Trip. I thank him for sharing.

Enjoy!

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“to the wildflowers painting the warming hillsides;
to the pronghorn chewing the grass of her first spring: you are home.
[Great Sand Dunes]”
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Over at BookPage, I’ve a review of Evan Turk’s You Are Home: An Ode to the National Parks (Atheneum, June 2019).

That is here, and today here at 7-Imp, Evan shares some early process images, as well as some final spreads from the book. This book, he tells me, didn’t have as much in the way of traditional sketches, as he painted the final art either on location without very much preliminary sketching or, inspired by the drawings he did while visiting parks, he painted the final art when back home. That said, I thank Evan for sending some behind-the-scenes images.

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“With a sling, Dede shot supper until even the prairie dogs grew scarce.”
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Illustrator Nicole Tadgell visits 7-Imp today to share some art and process images from A. LaFaye’s Follow Me Down to Nicodemus Town (Albert Whitman, January 2019). It’s the story of a 19th-century African American family who saves money in order to leave the sharecropping life and secure land in Kansas. After they’re finally to able leave and stake a homestead claim in the town of Nicodemus, they create a home for themselves in the bank of the Solomon River; they survive a hard winter; they meet their Ni-u-kon-ska (Osage) neighbors, who bring them food; and young Dede, the narrator, gets a job shining shoes at the St. Francis Hotel. In the end, they have established a “home where they could tell stories, use the stars to guide them, and make plans for the things to come.”

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— From Ximo Abadia’s The Farmer
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— From Micha Archer’s Daniel’s Good Day
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— From Jan Greenberg’s and Sandra Jordan’s Two Brothers, Four Hands:
The Artists Alberto and Diego Giacometti, illustrated by Hadley Hooper
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Over at Kirkus today, Steve Light talks to me about making board books.

That is here.

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Last week, I wrote here about Micha Archer’s Daniel’s Good Day (Nancy Paulsen Books, May 2019); Jan Greenberg’s and Sandra Jordan’s Two Brothers, Four Hands: The Artists Alberto and Diego Giacometti (Neal Porter Books, April 2019), illustrated by Hadley Hooper; and Ximo Abadia’s The Farmer (Holiday House, March 2019). I’m following up today with art from each book.

Enjoy!

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If you missed it earlier this week, over at the Horn Book’s Calling Caldecott, we take a look at some exceptional 2019 picture books.

That is here.

Happy reading!

— From John Hare’s Field Trip to the Moon

 

— From Tom Sullivan’s Out There

 
Want to head into inky-black outer space with me today? I have a BookPage feature about John Hare’s entertaining Field Trip to the Moon (Margaret Ferguson Books/Holiday House, May 2019) and Tom Sullivan’s trippy and thought-provoking Out There (Balzer + Bray, May 2019).

That’s here, if you’d like to head to BookPage and read about both books. Today here at 7-Imp are some illustrations from each book.

Enjoy!

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— Title page spread from Fiona Woodcock’s Hello
(Click to see spread, sans text, in its entirety)

 

— From Stephen Savage’s Sign Off
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Over at Kirkus today, it’s Picture Book Happy Hour.

That is here.

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Last week, I wrote here about Fiona Woodcock’s Hello (Greenwillow, May 2019) and Stephen Savage’s Sign Off (Beach Lane, May 2019).

I’m following up today with some art from each book.

Enjoy!

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“The righteous marching ones / who sang we shall not be moved /
because black lives matter.”
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It’s likely you’ve already heard this year about Kwame Alexander’s The Undefeated (April 2019), illustrated by Kadir Nelson. For one, it received NPR coverage: You can listen here to an interview with Kadir.

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Today, I’m celebrating two things — the fact that the Poetry Foundation named poet Naomi Shihab Nye the 2019–2021 Young People’s Poet Laureate and the art of Melissa Sweet.

When Melissa heard the news about Naomi this week, she was inspired and created this collage above. (I saw it on Melissa’s Instagram feed, squealed, and secured her permission to share it here today.) This is an excerpt from Naomi’s poem, “Famous.” You can read the poem in its entirety here, which I highly recommend. It’s always been one of my favorite poems by her (and, really, simply one of my favorite poems). Naomi’s work has meant so much to me over the years — as a reader, as a librarian, as a writer, and as a parent. I’m thrilled she’s the next Young People’s Poet Laureate. She will do good work.

I thank Melissa for sharing. She says she’d like to be a buttonhole (or a button!). Yes. Me too.

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“polka dot polka dot / you are not at all what i thought …”
(Click to enlarge spread and read poem in its entirety)

 
Over at Kirkus today, I write about new picture books from Stephen Savage and Fiona Woodcock.

That is here.

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Last week, I wrote here about Shannon Bramer’s Climbing Shadows: Poems for Children (Groundwood, March 2019), illustrated by Cindy Derby. I’m following up here today with a few spreads.

Enjoy!

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