“Each day at dawn, at noon, and at twilight, Ellen lifted her sextant from its flannel nest and took her measurements. In the evening, she went belowdecks to
the great oak table, where she ran her daily calculations. …”
(Click to enlarge and see full text)

 

I hope to be back tomorrow with an interview, but for now here’s a quick art stop:

I recently wrote a review for BookPage of Tracey Fern’s Dare the Wind: The Record-Breaking Voyage of Eleanor Prentiss and the Flying Cloud, illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully and released by Margaret Ferguson Books/Farrar Straus Giroux in February. The review is here.

As always, I’m following up with some art here at 7-Imp. (My 2012 breakfast interview with McCully is here.)

Enjoy …

“Ellen Prentiss had always felt the sea tug at her heart, strong as a full-moon tide.
Her papa said that was because she was born with saltwater in her veins. …”
(Click to enlarge and see full text)

“‘Hoist it to your shoulder, Ellen, and look for the sun,’ Papa said as he put his sextant in her hands. ‘Now, move the sextant’s arm until the sun sits
in the middle of the mirror like a picture in a frame.’”
(Note: The colors in this illustration are slightly brighter than they appear in the book.)

“The mainmast had broken. The sails hung in ribbons. The deck was littered with splinters of pine, shreds of canvas, and bits of iron. Perkins and the crew worked all through the day and night fixing the mast, patching the sails, and sweeping the deck. During that time, Ellen could only worry and wonder:
Had her daring pushed the ship too hard?”
(Click to enlarge; please note that the colors in this illustration
are slightly brighter than they appear in the book)

“Clouds piled up like black cotton, and thunder boomed like cannon fire. Wind howled through the masts, and waves crashed onto the deck. Soon the ship was lost in the endless gray of sea and sky and snow. Ellen couldn’t see the sun, so she couldn’t use her sextant. Now is the time for caution, she thought. I can still read the sea.”
(Click to enlarge)

“Ellen lashed herself to the rail and peered at the ship’s wake through flashes of lightning. Usually the thin band of white water shot straight out behind the ship.
Now the wake angled sharply out to sea. Ellen knew this meant that the wind and waves were pushing the ship sideways through the sea toward the rocky coast! Turning back would cost them some dear time, but Ellen didn’t hesitate.”
(Click to enlarge)

* * * * * * *

DARE THE WIND: THE RECORD-BREAKING VOYAGE OF ELEANOR PRENTISS AND THE FLYING CLOUD. Copyright © 2014 by Tracey Fern. Illustrations © 2014 by Emily Arnold McCully. Published by Margaret Ferguson Books/Farrar Straus Giroux, New York. All images here reproduced by permission of the publisher.

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“through the flowerbed …”
– From Early Bird

Good morning, dear kickers. Today, we are visited by debut author/illustrator (and librarian!) Toni Yuly, who proves, as you can read below, that it’s never too late to get your start in children’s literature.

I’m going to get right to Toni, since she talks here about her work and how she got into picture books. But first let me say that her debut picture book is called Early Bird. It was released by Feiwel and Friends in January. The illustrations for this story for very young readers were rendered in pen and ink and digital media; Yuly uses thick lines and bright colors, and the text is well-suited to beginning readers. In their starred review, Booklist writes, “it’s unusual for a book this straightforward to accomplish several things, but this succeeds,” describing this as a book that makes learning fun.

In this post today, Toni shares some images from Early Bird; her greeting card collection, Kokoro; and her current project and next book, called Night Owl.

Toni: I am 59 years old, and Early Bird is my first picture book. Being a bit older and a late bloomer in general, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate finally breaking in to this wonderful world and business of picture books.

How did I get here? A few things stand out in my mind. First of all, hard work. Which sounds cliché, but really, it is the baseline for finally getting “serious.” Slowly but steadily, I have been ramping up more and more time that I spend working on my art. Which is hard, because I still have a day job, am married, and have a grown son who is in college.

But the journey has been a long and windy one.

As a kid, I was cautiously wild and all over the place. I had a huge postcard collection and have always loved nature, fashion, music, writing, photography, junkyards, thrift stores …

I am grateful to my parents for ignoring me most of the time. I was free to explore and goof around a lot as a kid, but on the down side, they didn’t encourage or support my artistic bent and hoped I would be a cheerleader in high school and maybe a stewardess after I graduated. Instead, I went to Japan for a year as an exchange student. This experience changed my life and opened me up to Eastern sensibilities that have stayed a strong influence in my life to this day. After my year in Japan, I went to college; drifted around, not knowing what to do; and eventually ended up in the art department. My boyfriend suggested that, since I spent most of my time drawing, it seemed like a good idea. Thus began my life of art.

“She stands as tall as she can.”

“… and then Early Bird gets going!”

In college, I was lucky enough to have met and studied with Jacob Lawrence. He seemed different from the other teachers, mostly because he worked in a lot of different mediums. He had a little studio, instead of an office, and besides painting, he illustrated books, made sculptures, designed murals, and taught me the power of composition and color. Under his influence, I started making abstract wall sculptures and gained confidence as a total, creative artist.

“… around the corner …”

After graduating, I took a job at the local library but always kept making art. I made sculptures and collages out of cardboard and found objects. At the time, big paintings and big art were popular, but I could never afford the space or materials for big, so I decided to focus on small works. Jacob Lawrence also taught me that you don’t have to have a fancy studio to make art. “You can work anywhere,” he said, and I did. I spent many years painting tiny watercolors of big landscapes in the corner of my bedroom and showed them around the Seattle area. I was making art for myself, and it was fun but frustrating, because I could never call it anything more than a hobby. It barely paid for itself, and I found the world of fine art pretty cold and overly serious for a goofball like me.

While raising my son, I fell in love with picture books all over again. I started to write stories but did not have the confidence to illustrate. I joined my local SCBWI and spent seven years trying to break in. I got really, really close, but in the end, gave up and turned back to painting. After my son left home, I became interested in doing something more practical (and fun) than painting in the corner of my bedroom. I wanted to start making things for other people in a practical but fun way. I have always loved small things, and greeting cards seemed perfect. It was something that I could control and make happen right away, unlike getting a picture book published. So, I started to design cards. I slowly started to sell my cards around town and was surprisingly successful.

Kokoro

Designing cards was a powerful activity. I was starting to develop a style, and for the first time I was starting to develop characters. Designing cards gave me the confidence to go back to picture books again. A character I created, named Kokoro, kept talking to me. She had stories to tell, and I spent a lot of my time writing her stories. I was tapping into a well inside myself and things were bubbling out. I am a creative plodder, which means that things do not come easy to me. I have to work on things over and over again. It is the process that brings results for me. This way of working is the opposite of the “prodigy artist,” who can nail things more quickly. I have learned that for me, it is okay to throw away most of my work to eventually reach the gems that are hiding down deep. I cannot whip out beautiful sketches or cute drawings on demand, but given some time, I can create an image that is really alive.

I thought that Kokoro would be my first picture book, and I worked on her story for years. But one day I found an interesting vintage coaster from Japan in the local thrift store that I love. The images were round, and one of them was a pitcher that looked like a bird. It inspired me to design a bird that was almost completely round. Early Bird was born! I love robins and like to watch them out my window, hopping around the garden and pulling up worms. Hmmm, the story was starting to form. The other great thing about working in libraries are children’s librarians! I have haunted the “J desk” for years and picked the brains of many a kids’ librarian. They are a gold mine of ideas and books. They beamed support for my first draft of Early Bird, and I knew I had something.

Without the support of people, I would never be here today, writing in this amazing blog. My mentor, Shannon Martin, was a key source of wisdom and practical advice when I started my card business. I met her through a friend. My mentor, Wendy Wahman, was key in helping to encourage me to never give up. I met her working at the library reference desk, when she walked up and asked a question. Connie Hsu (Little, Brown) was key in helping me find my agent. I met Connie through contacts at SCBWI. She introduced me to my agent, Lori Kilkelly (Rodeen Literary Management). Lori was key to selling my first book and helping me become a professional.

Night Owl

From the time I started designing cards to finding my agent was almost five years. (Remember that I had spent seven years trying to break into the business earlier.) From the time I met Wendy to meeting my agent was about one year. From the time that I met my agent to selling my first book, Early Bird was a couple of months. And from the time she submitted the manuscript to selling it was eight days. We sold two more books the same year, so that makes three books in one year!

Night Owl

Lastly, I want to mention that I work from a feeling — always. Technique can be taught, but feelings need to be nurtured. Georges Braque, the famous artist, said: “There is only one valuable thing in art: the thing you cannot explain.” Slow down and trust your self. Relax. It is okay to throw a lot away. Turn your mind off when you are working, and turn it back on later, when you are sipping some tea and standing back, looking at what your heart did. I believe in the power of doing a lot of work, and I am grateful to my gut for speaking loudly to me. Sitting and digging in the dirt helps a lot, too!

Early Bird, Night Owl, and Cat Nap are three companion books that I am lucky enough to be publishing with Feiwel & Friends (Macmillan). I love my editor, Liz Szabla, for her enthusiasm and amazing ability to help shape my work into something stronger than it was before.

I have promised my agent that I will have a website up soon!

EARLY BIRD. Copyright © 2014 by Toni Yuly. Published by Feiwel and Friends, New York. All images here reproduced by permission of Toni Yuly.

* * * * * * *

Note for any new readers: 7-Imp’s 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.

* * * Jules’ Kicks * * *

1) My oldest turns ten this week. TEN!

2) I can’t wait to celebrate with her.

3) When we were told this week the amount of money we owe (gulp) for her upcoming surgery (just to have adenoids removed — nothing serious), my first thought was one of gratitude that my children are generally healthy. I feel for those people who have never-ending medical bills.

4) This Tiny Desk Concert from Lowland Hum is superb. I love the second song in particular. I ordered the CD right after listening to this.

5) My girls and I finished the last of Christopher Healy’s Hero’s Guide books this week, The Hero’s Guide to Being an Outlaw. They were sad to see the series end. They are such fun books and wonderful read-alouds. (We read an ARC. This last book comes out in either April or May.)

6) Playing bunco for the first time.

7) Hurray for the Riff Raff. A kick last week. Still one this week. I love this cover:

What are YOUR kicks this week?

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“‘Ms. Wilson,’ Jacob said proudly, “I’m the princess.’”
– From Jacob’s New Dress

– From Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress

 

This morning over at Kirkus, I write about Mac Barnett’s newest picture book, President Taft Is Stuck in the Bath, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen — and why I think it might be great for your Information Literacy 101 lesson with elementary students. (I’m talkin’ to you, school librarians.) That link will be here.

* * *

Last week, I wrote about two brand-new picture books that are about so-called gender-nonconforming boys — Christine Baldacchino’s Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress, illustrated by Isabelle Malenfant (Groundwood Books, May 2014), and Sarah and Ian Hoffman’s Jacob’s New Dress, illustrated by Chris Case (Albert Whitman & Company, March 2014). That link was here, and today I’ve got a bit of art from each book.

Enjoy.

 

From Morris Micklewhite …

 



(Click either image to see spreads in it entirety)

“Sometimes the boys make fun of Morris. Sometimes the girls do, too.
Morris pretends he can’t hear their words over the swish, swish, swish, swishes, crinkle, crinkle, crinkles, and click, click, clicks he makes when he walks.
Morris pretends he can’t hear their words, but he can.”
(Click to enlarge)

 

From Jacob’s New Dress:

 


“The next morning, Jacob stood on the stairs wrapped in a giant bath towel.
‘What are you wearing?’ asked Mom. ‘It’s like a dress, but I can get it dirty,’
Jacob said, pointing to the towel. ‘I made it!’
Dad frowned. ‘You can’t go to school like that.’”
(Click to enlarge and see full spread and text)

“Mom?’ whispered Jacob. ‘Can you help me make a real dress?’ Mom didn’t answer. The longer she didn’t answer, the less Jacob could breathe.”
(Click to enlarge and see full spread and text)

* * * * * * *

JACOB’S NEW DRESS. Copyright © 2014 by Sarah and Ian Hoffman. Illustrations © 2014 by Chris Case. Published by Albert Whitman & Company, Illinois. All images here reproduced by permission of the publisher.

MORRIS MICKLEWHITE AND THE TANGERINE DRESS. Copyright © 2014 by Christine Baldacchino. Illustrations © 2014 by Isabelle Malenfant. Published by Groundwood Books, Ontario. All images here reproduced by permission of the publisher.

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Remember this award-winning picture book?

Its illustrator, James McMullan (pictured here), who has led a long and distinguished career in graphic design and illustration, has written a new memoir. It’s a fascinating read, and today over at Kirkus I chat with him about this book.

It’s called Leaving China: An Artist Paints His World War II Childhood and was released this month from Algonquin. McMullan was born in North China, the grandson of UK missionaries who had settled there, and in this book he recounts his childhood in brief, impressionistic vignettes accompanied by paintings — first, his privileged life and then his father’s departure for the war, followed by his and his mother’s attempts to escape Japanese occupation.

It’s a book aimed at teens (given that it was published by Algonquin’s young-readers imprint), but as many reviewers have noted, adults would enjoy it as well.

Our chat will be here later today.

And next week here at 7-Imp, I’ll have a couple of paintings from the book.

* * * * * * *

Photo of Mr. McMullan taken by Phillip Lehans and used by permission.

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” … and the fun I’ve had talking with the squirrels
as they look for food in the morning.”

Illustrator Rob Dunlavey (who is not a new visitor to 7-Imp) is here this morning to talk about his artwork for Kevin Sheehan’s debut picture book, The Dandelion’s Tale, to be released by Schwartz & Wade next week. In fact, this is Rob’s picture book debut as well.

I don’t want to give too much of the plot away, should any of you want to read this for yourselves and let the story unfold without spoilers (though I do have excerpts from the text under final spreads below). This is a moving story of friendship and loss and memory. I really like it, and there are several things about both the story and the illustrations that make me think of picture books of yore — almost as if this book popped up from the 1950s and planted itself in the 21st century. In their starred review, Kirkus calls it “radiant,” describing Kevin’s writing as luminous and Rob’s artwork as lyrical and reassuring. They also note that this is a story about “the power of storytelling to keep a loved one’s memory alive.” Yes, that. It really is a powerful story about very deeply-felt things.

Here’s Rob to talk a bit about creating the illustrations for this one …

Rob: About two years after showing my portfolio to Rachael Cole at Schwartz & Wade, they contacted me about this story written by first-timer Kevin Sheehan. I made a trip to New York to meet and greet and discuss. At first I didn’t like the manuscript; I thought it was very sentimental. But, as I worked on character studies and thumbnails in concert with the editors, I saw how much they loved and believed in Kevin’s story. So it grew on me, and as I began developing the final artwork, their attention to the emotional drama playing out was so infectious that I was doing everything I could to get that right. Reactions to the book have been positive, so I think it proves the point that sympathetic characters and clear emotional situations really matter in picture books. I’m sure there are other formulas and other books that treat this with different degrees of subtlety. I feel fortunate to have worked with a sensitive and astute team of editors and designers.

Below are early character studies of the Sparrow:

Early sketch of opening spread
(Click to enlarge)

In this early sketch, Sparrow (in multiple) counts the Dandelion’s remaining ten seeds:

(Click to enlarge)

This early drawing of Sparrow meeting the Dandelion’s children survived and was used with few changes in the final art (below).

(Click to enlarge)

“Sparrow settled into the grass and cleared his throat with a slight chirp. ‘I’m going to tell you about a great friend of mine.’ And because Sparrow had written and read the dandelion’s story, he discovered that he knew it by heart. When he was finished,
he felt sure the dandelion would never be forgotten.”
(Click to enlarge)

In the second draft, my original opening spread was changed to two spreads:

(Click to enlarge)

Sparrow first learns the poor Dandelion’s dilemma. You can see a bush in the foreground with some rabbits foraging or eavesdropping. This was left out of the final art so that everything focused on the diminutive flower.

(Click to enlarge)

I used a variety of media to make these paintings: watercolor, inks, colored pencils, and good old-fashioned crayons. Early on, the dogwood tree had flowers but it was decided that, being summer, the tree would no longer be flowering. I used digital trickery to revise the image.

The final spread: “‘Hello down there,’ Sparrow chirped. ‘Why the tears?
The sun is out, the air is warm and everything is in bloom.’”
(Click to enlarge)

There’s a climactic rainstorm in the story. This was fun to draw and paint. This is a pencil sketch from the third draft.

(Click to enlarge)

This is the final art. Sparrow is in his nest, and we can just see the dogwood tree in the distance on the right:

“That night, there was a terrible storm. Thunder rumbled. Lightning lit up the sky.
‘Oh my!’ Sparrow cried. ‘I do hope the dandelion is all right.’”
(Click to enlarge)

I fiddled with different poses for the frightened tiny sparrow:

(Click to enlarge)

At the height of the storm, the sparrow attempts to fly to the see if the Dandelion is okay, but the wind prevents him. Here [and below] are a few different sketches and the final.

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

“He tried to fly to the meadow, but the wind blew him back into his nest. Defeated, Sparrow decided that he would visit the dandelion first thing in the morning.”
(Click to enlarge)

The following morning, Sparrow’s hopes for his friend are dashed. We mourn with him.

“‘Poor, poor Dandelion. I will miss you,’ he said.”

This is an early sketch of the other birds that mourn with Sparrow. Designs like this disrupted the march of full-page and double-spread illustrations. This is a pencil sketch with digital color.

About halfway through, the process goes back and forth. Some spreads are fully painted, while others get re-sketched and evaluated to see how the book flows. The colorful yellow and pink spreads in the middle of the book were a strategy to differentiate passages where the Dandelion speaks about memories in the past, not the current action.

(Click to enlarge)

This is an early sketch of the main flashback scene:

(Click to enlarge)

This is the finished spread and a detail view of flowers, ants, bees, butterflies, a hummingbird, and a picnicking family:

“Sparrow wrote and wrote for hours, scratching the dandelion’s words into the soft, dry dirt. The dandelion told him all the things she had seen and loved. She spoke of milkweed and hummingbirds; of dancing butterflies and picnicking families;
of busy ants and busier bees.”
(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

* * * * * * *

THE DANDELION’S TALE. Copyright © 2014 by Kevin Sheehan. Illustrations © 2014 by Rob Dunlavey. Published by Schwartz & Wade Books, New York. All images here reproduced by permission of Rob Dunlavey.

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(Click to enlarge)

It’s the first Sunday of the month, which means a student illustrator will share some artwork this morning. Today it’s Jaime Kim, who is one of the winners of this year’s SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) Student Illustrator Scholarship. This means, I believe, that she will soon head to New York City to meet picture book artists, editors, and art directors, so what a great time to feature her work.

Jaime is a student at the Maryland Institute College of Art, is originally from South Korea, and has lived in the U.S. since the age of 18.

She tells us more about herself below, too, so let’s get right to it, and I thank her for visiting.

Jaime: There once was a little girl who could not sleep very well, because she was afraid of the dark. Then, one day her fear went away after she received a complete collection of picture books as a gift from her parents. Her fear went away when her mother read a picture book to her, and she could sleep easily at night.

This is a story of my childhood, and this is how picture books first became part of my life.

Reading or making picture books is a kind of meditation for me; I feel relaxed when I do so.

New characters

I am majoring in Illustration at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). MICA has such a big illustration department that every semester I feel excited about choosing my classes. Among them, Shadra Strickland’s Book Illustration and Advanced Book Illustration courses have convinced me that children’s book illustration is my future field.

I love to make whimsical and dreamy illustrations, and acrylic paint is one of the best materials for me to convey those kinds of moods. Most of my works are created with mixed media, and I always re-touch texture and color through Photoshop. Sometimes I make all the layers separately in a traditional way, then scan and combine them in Photoshop, one by one. That process takes a long time but helps me to make better colors.

(Click to enlarge)

I am thinking about making a series of illustrations based on children’s poems for my BFA thesis. It was my first poem illustration (image above) which won me the Society of Children’s Book Writer and Illustrator (SCBWI) student scholarship. Poems are a great source of inspiration for me to create whimsical images. I always feel excited to making an imaginary landscape or dreamy mood, based on poems.

(Click to enlarge)

As you can see from these pieces above (Goldilocks and the Three Bears), I am interested in re-designing traditional fairy tales and re-making them in a modern style of illustration.

(Click to enlarge)

I did this piece above (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) for the SCBWI Illustrator Intensive program.

All artwork is used with permission Jaime Kim.

* * * * * * *

Note for any new readers: 7-Imp’s 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.

* * * Jules’ Kicks * * *

I think I can summarize seven kicks here by saying that I saw a very entertaining show this week, Hurray for the Riff Raff opening up for Shovels & Rope at The Cannery in Nashville. Hoo boy, it was wonderful all-around. I’m now in the process of getting all of Hurray for the Riff Raff’s older music, because they’re just so good. (See below, though that’s not the full band there.) And Shovels & Rope really put on quite the show.

p.s. Hurray for the Riff Raff = Best Band Name EVER.

p.s. Shovels & Rope sang this Springsteen cover:

Incidentally, Jack White produced that with a Tom Waits cover as a B-side. About the songs he wrote, “This is the perfect soundtrack for two doomed souls dancing in the glow of a jukebox in a greasy spoon diner.” I love that. That summarizes Shovels & Rope well — in general, I think.

What are YOUR kicks this week?

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“What Makes Different Cuisines Different?”
(Click to enlarge and see entire spread)

This morning at Kirkus, I write about two brand-new picture books (one from Groundwood Books and one from Albert Whitman & Company) about what one of the authors calls gender-nonconforming children — in both cases, these are about boys who, in particular, like to wear dresses. That link is here, and next week I’ll have art from each book.

* * *

Last week, I wrote here about Sarah Elton’s Starting from Scratch: What You Should Know About Food and Cooking (Owlkids Books, March 2014), illustrated by graphic designer and artist Jeff Kulak. I’ve got a bit of his art from that book here today.

Enjoy.

“Why Should You Cook?”
(Click to enlarge and read entire spread)

(Click to enlarge and read entire spread)

“Cooking Is Science”
(Click to enlarge and see entire spread)

(Click to enlarge and see entire spread)

(Click to enlarge and see entire spread)

(Click to enlarge and see entire spread)

* * * * * * *

STARTING FROM SCRATCH: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT FOOD AND COOKING. Copyright © 2014 by Sarah Elton. Illustrations © 2014 by Jeff Kulak. Illustration used by permission of the publisher, Owlkids Books, Toronto.

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“These books are loyal friends, helping you explore,
dream, discover, think, learn, and know much, much more.”
Early sketch and final spread
(Click second image to enlarge)

Last week at Kirkus, I chatted with illustrator Shadra Strickland about her latest illustrated picture book, Toni and Slade Morrison’s Please, Louise (Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster, March 2014), as well as a few other things. That Q&A was here (in which Shadra referred to Louise as a “spot of sunshine on each page”).

Today, I’m following up with a bit of art and sketches from the book (the two sketches below are preliminary ideas that didn’t make it into the book, Shadra tells me), and I thank her for sharing.

Early sketches
(Click each to enlarge)

“Imagination is an open door.
Step in here and let it soar.”
(Click to enlarge)

Cover
(Click to enlarge)

* * * * * * *

PLEASE, LOUISE. Copyright © 2014 by Toni Morrison and the Estate of Slade Morrison. Illustrations © 2014 by Shadra Strickland. Published by Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster, New York. All images here reproduced by permission of Shadra Strickland.

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I don’t often do this (it pains me to have a 7-Imp post with no art), but I have a few, quick newsy-type notes. I’ll use my rock-and-roll hands, like I did in the most recent This, This, and the Other post back in November, just to keep things interesting:

Today, I’m over at the blog of author-illustrator Brian Lies. It’s not often that I’m the interviewee, but he asked if I wanted to participate in a blog series about favorite characters in children’s lit, and I was totally game.

That link is here.

p.s. We will not discuss the fact that Brian recently visited a library in the county I live in, and I managed to miss it altogether. Not I-knew-about-it-but-couldn’t-go, but I-managed-to-miss-the-announcement-that-he’d-even-be-here. Still kicking myself over that.

I’m happy to have contributed to the Horn Book’s upcoming issue (March/April) all about illustration. Needless to say, I’m eager to read the issue cover-to-cover.

The piece about illustration that I wrote for them is also online now at their site.

Finally, a note for local friends: I’ll be doing story time this Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at Parnassus Books in Nashville. We’ll be celebrating Read Across America Day with Dr. Seuss stories. I hear there will be cupcakes, and what a wonder are cupcakes.

Until tomorrow (when I will have art!) …

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Early sketch
(Click to enlarge)

Have You Seen My Dragon? is the latest from author-illustrator Steve Light, who visited 7-Imp for a cyber-breakfast in 2012. The book will hit bookshelves in April (Candlewick Press).

This is the intricately-drawn story of a young boy in New York City, looking for his dragon. As you can see from the cover, he’s inspired by the manhole cover, blowing up steam in the street. Could there be a dragon down there? He’s lost his, after all. He goes searching through the city, yet the dragon is always just around the bend.

Light brings readers elegant pen-and-ink drawings but also, as you can see from some of the final spreads at the bottom of this post, splashes of color. This is also a counting book. (The boy stops for a hot dog, wondering if his dragon got hungry, so we have “2 Hot dogs,” and then the boy wonders if his dragon went downtown on a bus, so we have “3 Buses,” and so on — all the way up to 20.)

There are so many details to pore over here (I have an F&G, but I’m fairly certain the detailed maps opening and closing the book are the endpapers, happy sigh), and Light’s line drawings are utterly beguiling. This is an inviting picture book, offering moments of exploration and discovery. It’s simply beautiful.

Steve’s visiting today to share some sketches, which I love to see. And, as mentioned, there are two final spreads below, as well as the ornately-drawn full cover. You can enlarge each image for seeing in more detail by clicking on it.

I thank Steve for sharing. Enjoy …

 

Early Cover Sketches
(Click each to enlarge)

 






 

From the Sketchbooks …
(Click each to enlarge)

 















 

Early Sketches
(Click each to enlarge)

 



























 

Tools of the Trade
(Click each to enlarge)

 








 

Reference Images
(Click each to enlarge)

 






 

Some Final Spreads
(Click each to enlarge)

 


“Or climbed up to get a drink of water. …”
(Click to enlarge)

“Hello! Has a dragon come through here?”
(Click to enlarge)

Full cover
(Click to enlarge)

 

In the Studio
(Click to enlarge)

 

* * * * * * *

HAVE YOU SEEN MY DRAGON? Copyright © 2014 by Steve Light. Spreads reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA. All other images used with permission of Steve Light.

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“After 16 long months, the crew had found solid ground. Dehydrated and hungry,
each man ate and drank until he was full. But their troubles were not over yet,
as the coastline was exposed to the elements, and a cruel blizzard set in for days …”
(Click to enlarge)

Today’s featured book is Shackleton’s Journey (February 2014), written and illustrated by British artist William Grill. This is a book that marks the centenary since polar explorer Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, his attempt with a crew of men to make the first land crossing of Antarctica. It was considered the last expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.

Now, let me make something clear about this book right up front. The copy of this book that I have is incomplete. Long story, but think of it as like a sampler, so I will not be able to provide anything like a traditional review. (As noted on this page of my site, I don’t consider 7-Imp a traditional review blog anyway—my focus is more on illustrations—but still … just making clear that I haven’t seen the book in its entirety yet.)

Anywhoozles, with nonfiction it’s especially important to note the back matter of books; in particular, you must ask if the author included his/her sources. I can’t tell you that about this book, since my copy is not complete, but I can tell you the art is beautiful, and that’s going to be my focus today. Also that it comes from Flying Eye Books, the children’s imprint of Nobrow Press, who care about high-quality book production and design. This means it has things like an illustrated cloth spine. (Happy sigh.)

And how about that illustration above? HOO BOY.

“Shackleton … told reporters that he had always been ‘strangely drawn to the mysterious south’ and that unexplored parts of the world
‘held a strong fascination for me from my earliest memories.’”

This is a very detailed and beautifully-conceived piece of nonfiction and includes (I’m talking about my sampler of sorts, that is) maps, diagrams, and lots and lots of drawings. At one moment, you have the type of grand, sweeping spread that you see opening this post, and next you have a spread filled with small figures—Grill gives us such detailed spreads as “Equipment and Supplies”; “The Crew,” noting each and every participant; and even one listing the cargo of 69 dogs chosen for the expedition—and it immediately brings the work of Elisha Cooper to my mind. Fans of Cooper’s illustrations may find that Grill’s work resonates as well. Bruce Handy at the New York Times once wrote that Cooper’s work is “detailed yet impressionistic—no mean feat,” and something similar could be said about Grill’s illustrations in this one.

Left half of the “Dogs” spread
(Click to enlarge)

The “Equipment and Supplies” spread
(Click either image to see spread in its entirety)

Again, I can’t speak for the whole book, but what I’ve seen is paced well, and there’s a great deal of drama. And what’s striking is Grill’s evident fondness for the subject matter at hand, and it makes for a gripping read.

Let’s just take a look at some more art, why don’t we?

Expedition Map
(Click to enlarge)

“Given their current position and condition,
Shackleton now decided to make a dash for Elephant Isalnd, 100 miles away. …”
(Click to enlarge)

“To combat the violent weather, Marston (the artist) had the ingenious idea to turn the boats upside down and convert them into shelters, allowing his oil paints to be used as glue so that canvas sheets could be fixed to the boats for extra waterproofing.”
(Click to enlarge)

“On their trek, the three men encountered unknown mountains shrouded in loose rock and ice, fields of thick snow, gullies, deep crevasses and jigsaw-like glaciers. As well as overcoming such obstacles, they had to battle altitude sickness, dehydration, immense hunger and exhaustion. They were now reaching their limit.”
(Click to enlarge)

“Finally, on 30 August 1916, help arrived for the men on Elephant Island after four failed attempts to reach the island due to heavy ice. …”
(Click to enlarge)

SHACKLETON’S JOURNEY. Copyright © 2014 by William Grill. Published by Flying Eye Books, New York. Illustrations reproduced by permission of the publisher.

* * * * * * *

Note for any new readers: 7-Imp’s 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.

* * * Jules’ Kicks * * *

1) Reading with my girls. It’s an assumed kick all the time, but we’re reading some especially great books this week.

2) This cracked. me. up. when I saw it this week. Evidently, it’s a whole series, but I’m not sure how it can get any better than this one:

My favorite little detail is the sound the children make when the door opens.

3) NPR asked me to do this, but I was busy that day, and my one glam outfit was at the cleaners:

“Amazing” gets overused these days, but that truly is.

4) I’m late seeing this, but it made me laugh outloud. I’ve never been to Portland, but I’d say the Dream of the 1890s is pretty evident with hipsters everywhere, heaven bless them all:

5) Thanks to John for pointing this out to me. So funny.

6) Wow, so many videos today, but this made me laugh a lot, too, especially moment 0:45-0:46.

7) Yesterday, I served as a judge for a scholarship competition for Tennessee deaf and hard of hearing students. It was for Optimist International, and the students gave speeches. It was a good experience; I’ve been missing ASL a lot lately.

BONUS #1: Congratulations, Minh Le!

BONUS #2: I felt truly inspired after talking to Lois Ehlert. I also really love how BIG BookPage posted the images in that interview. That makes this art nerd very happy.

BONUS #3: Babysitting my friends’ toddler. She’s something special, this kid.

BONUS #4: There will be a few new tunes from Rufus in a couple of weeks. “Complainte De La Butte”? YES YES YES. (You can even click right on it in this neato-skeeto interactive sampler. MODERN TECHNOLOGY!)

What are YOUR kicks this week?

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(Click to enlarge)

 

This morning over at Kirkus, I write about a nonfiction children’s title, Sarah Elton’s Starting from Scratch: What You Should Know About Food and Cooking (Owlkids Books, March 2014). It’s especially good for the budding, young chefs in your life. That link is here.

* * *

Last week, I wrote about Jon J Muth’s Hi, Koo! (Scholastic, February 2014). That link is here, and today I’m following up with some art from the book.

Enjoy.

(Click to see full spread)

 



(Click either image to see spread in its entirety)

 



(Click either image to see spread in its entirety)

 


* * * * * * *
HI, KOO! A YEAR OF SEASONS. Copyright © 2014 by Jon J Muth. Published by Scholastic Press, New York. Illustrations reproduced by permission of the publisher.

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Early in January, I chatted with author-illustrator Lois Ehlert for BookPage about her newest book, The Scraps Book: Notes from a Colorful Life (Beach Lane Books, March 2014), which is an exceptionally good book.

Not surprisingly, as noted in the interview, when I called her up, she was surrounded by scraps and paints and paintbrushes — and she was busy creating, happy to be doing so. It was a genuinely inspiring interview; when I got off the phone, I wanted to make something myself.

BookPage has posted the interview. It’s here. I really enjoyed my conversation with her, and I want to give The Scraps Book to every child I know. If you read it, you’ll understand why.

Best part about the interview? You know how I always follow up columns I contribute at other places with art here at 7-Imp? I get kinda twitchy if I don’t, because I love to see picture book art up close and as big as possible. I don’t have to do that here, because BookPage posted spreads from the book so nice and big. (I was so excited when I saw it that I called to thank them for that.) Go take a look!

‘Til tomorrow …

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This morning over at Kirkus, I chat with illustrator Shadra Strickland about her latest illustrated picture book, which you can spot in the photo above, as well as other projects she has going now and what’s next on her plate. That is here this morning. Next week, I’ll have some art and sketches from the new book.

Until tomorrow …

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(Click to enlarge)

Have I ever said here at 7-Imp how much I love the work of Swedish author and illustrator duo Lena and Olof Landström? Well, I do. I see that in the old days of 7-Imp, back when images were tragically small, I once posted about Boo and Baa. (And, oh! The Benny books by Barbro Lindgren and illustrated by Olof! Oh, how I love those books, which once appeared in this post I co-wrote with Adrienne Furness.)

The Landströms’ latest book, Pom and Pim, does what I think the Landströms always do so well: They tell wonderfully droll stories that are all about the types of daily dramas (and traumas — see the ice cream-induced tummy ache below) that very young children really care about.

Pom and Pim was originally published in 2012, and this first American edition (which I think will be on bookshelves in March) comes from Gecko Press. (Yes, Gecko published last Sunday’s book as well, but hey, on the whole they make really entertaining books.) It tells the story of a young boy with his favorite toy, who head out on a warm day to explore and play. What follows is a series of good-luck / bad-luck moments, ending with one moment that could be seen as either good or back luck, depending on how full or empty one’s glass is. (This book would be great paired with either Linda Ashman’s Rain!, illustrated by Christian Robinson, or Jeff Mack’s Good News, Bad News.)

There are very short sentences here (“Money! What luck!”)—this is a book great for listening ears, but it’d also serve as a wonderful beginning reader of a picture book—not to mention many emotional highs (a balloon!) and lows (it pops!). Pom’s joys and tears are delivered with a sly, understated humor; he takes the stage on each spread with his expressive face, pulled off with minimal lines, and endearing self — all of which you can see here in the spreads I share today.

I love to see books for very young children done this well; I love to see what picture book folks overseas are doing; and this one will really resonate with young children. It’s so funny in spots.

Here’s more art. Enjoy.

“It’s warm. The sun is shining. What luck!”
(Click to enlarge)

(Click the first image to see spread in its entirety)

(Click the first image to see spread in its entirety)

(Click the first image to see spread in its entirety)

(Click the first image to see spread in its entirety)

“Pom and Pim go back outside. The balloon bounces beautifully.”
(Click to enlarge)

POM AND PIM. Copyright © 2012 by Lena and Olof Landström. First American edition copyright © 2014 by Gecko Press. All images here reproduced by permission of the publisher.

* * * * * * *

Note for any new readers: 7-Imp’s 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.

* * * Jules’ Kicks * * *

I have been feeling a bit under the weather the latter half of this week, and—though I’m feeling better today—I’m going to scoot off and lie down again, since not-being-vertical is best right now. At least I’ve got season two of House of Cards to keep me entertained. (Episode one: What in the WHAT THE??)

What are YOUR kicks this week?

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“And without a word he drew the sun, big and round, right at the top of his page –
a bright sun especially for Flamingo.”
(Click to enlarge and see spread in its entirety)

 

This morning over at Kirkus, I write about Jon J Muth’s Hi, Koo! It’s fabulous in many directions. That link is here.

* * *

Last week, I wrote here about UK author-illustrator Natalie Russell’s Lost for Words, and I’m following up with some art from it today.

Enjoy.

“Tapir had some pencils and a nice new notebook. But he didn’t know what to write.
He stared at the clean page and tried to think of something. Anything!
But nothing popped into his head. It felt empty, just like his page.”
(Click to enlarge)

“… three friends so important that they needed a page all of their own!”
(Click to enlarge)

* * * * * * *

LOST FOR WORDS. Copyright © 2013 by Natalie Russell. First United States version published in 2014 by Peachtree Publishers, Atlanta. All images here reproduced by permission of the publisher.

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“‘This peaceful life suits me just fine,’ Widow Jones would say, while she and her ranch hands drank tea and gazed at the summer sky. But it didn’t stay peaceful very long.”

 

I chatted over at Kirkus last week with author Anne Isaacs, but back here at 7-Imp, I just gotta share some art from the book she and I discussed. It’s her newest picture book, called Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch (Schwartz & Wade, February 2014), and it’s illustrated by Kevin Hawkes.

Here’s the Q&A if you want more info on the book itself, and here below is a bit more art.

Enjoy.

“On the Fourth of July 1870, the widow Tulip Jones of Greater Bore, England,
inherited thirty-five million dollars and a ranch at By-Golly Gully, Texas.
She moved there at once. …”
(Click to enlarge spread and read the full text)

“…’A tortoise can do whatever a horse can, only better!’ declared Tulip Jones proudly. She ordered saddles and reins and rode her pets all over the prairie.”
(Click to enlarge and see spread in its entirety)

“For word spread as fast as prairie wind that a widow with thirty-five million dollars had settled on By-Golly Ranch. Soon every unmarried man in Texas hoped to marry
Tulip Jones—and in 1870, every man in Texas was unmarried. …”
(Click to enlarge spread and read the full text)

* * * * * * *

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH. Copyright © 2014 by Anne Isaacs. Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Kevin Hawkes. Published by Schwartz & Wade, New York. All images here reproduced by permission of the publisher.

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I promise I have a few words to say, but first I want to show you eight different illustrations (before I show you even more art after I say my few words).

Here goes:

“Look! A RAINBOW!!!”
– Illustration from Liniers’ The Big Wet Balloon

“Women whisper on the corner, veiled head to toe
in malafa, color of lime and mango.
More than all the gold on a bride’s crown,
you want a malafa so you can be a lady too.”
– From Kelly Cunnane’s Deep in the Sahara, illustrated by Hoda Hadadi
(Click to enlarge)

Illustration from Ame Dyckman’s Tea Party Rules, illustrated by K. G. Campbell

Spread (without the text) from Don Brown’s The Great American Dust Bowl:
“Storms could blow for days and be immediately followed by another and another, making for unrelenting blows for weeks on end. Raging, grit-filled winds shattered windows and scoured the paint off houses and cars. Trains derailed.
Telephone poles were knocked to the ground.”
(Click to enlarge spread)

From McSweeney’s The Goods: Volume 1
(Click to enlarge)

“He swayed, he frowned, he tilted forward …”
– From Bob Graham’s The Silver Button
(Click to enlarge spread slightly)

“The monkey felt himself being squeezed very tightly. It was his first hug.
‘I’m going to call you Rico!’ said the boy.
Rico hugged the boy back and put his head on the boy’s shoulder.”
Illustration from Fiona Rempt’s Rico the Brave Sock Monkey,
illustrated by Noëlle Smit

Spread (without the text) from Sue Fliess’ Robots, Robots Everywhere!,
illustrated by Bob Staake:
“Robots spin and race and run. / Robots, robots—I want one!”
(Click to enlarge spread)

Why am I showing you all these today?

Last week at Kirkus

, I wrote about Seven Lovely Fall 2013 Picture Book Surprises. That’s ’cause my eyes were big, and I didn’t want to write about just one book. That link is here, and today I have art (more below) from each book. Authors Kelly Cunnane and Ame Dyckman also share a few words about their picture books.

[IMPORTANT NOTE: The colors are a bit off in the illustrations from Rico the Brave Sock Monkey. They are translating a bit too brightly here on the computer screen. If I can somehow fix that later, I will do so.]

Enjoy!

* * *

From Liniers’ The Big Wet Balloon (TOON Books, September 2013):

(Click either image to see spread in its entirety)

(Click either image to see spread in its entirety)

(Click either image to see spread in its entirety)

(Click either image to see spread in its entirety)

(Click either image to see spread in its entirety)

* * *

From Kelly Cunnane’s Deep in the Sahara,
illustrated by Hoda Hadadi (Schwartz & Wade, October 2013):

“Boys in turbans on donkeys go. Men in white boubou stroll. Your sister, Selma, in a malafa glows. Nothing but dark eyes show. More than all the camels in the land,
you want a a malafa so you can be mysterious too.”
(Click to enlarge spread)

“Trees of red flowers bloom with heat. Acacia pods rattle, and fruit bats sleep. Grandmother sits on a cushion to brew tea, her malafa the robe of ancient royalty. More than all the mint leaves sold in the market,
you want a malafa so you can be like a long-ago queen.”
(Click to enlarge spread)

“Then she gives one nod. ‘Zaiyn. Good,’ she says, and gathers a malafa, slips it over your head, under your arm, round and round—a malafa, as blue as the Sahara sky, as blue as the ink in the Koran, as blue as a stranger’s eye.”
(Click to enlarge spread)

“Bats fill the sky. The sun slowly dips behind the dunes, and now, standing on the roof, you understand: a malafa is for beauty, a malafa is for mystery, a malafa is for tradition and belonging. But even more, it is for something else.
‘I know what a malafa is for,’ you tell Mama.”
(Click to enlarge spread)

Kelly Cunnane: I taught in The Sahara. I asked the Muslim African, Moor, and Haratin women about their malafa, their veils, and Deep in the Sahara is their answer.

The original illustrations that I saw by Hoda were the most adorable collages I had ever seen, so when the final illustrations arrived, I was so surprised at the change that I actually questioned it. Her originals—which were far more “cute”/playful, full of visible cloth and yarn textures—had been on my wall and as my screensaver for a year! Anne Schwartz’s assistant, Stephanie Pitt, patiently explained that the book had adults in it and adult themes, so cuteness would not support the material, as well as the final illustrations, which are both representative of the adult aspect, as well as sweet.

For some reason, I didn’t realize how pro-female the book is until I saw Hoda’s illustrations. Her use of color and shape in illustrating the women is such a great celebration. I was enormously privileged to work with a woman from Iran. And that Anne [Schwartz] would know to combine us is Anne’s gift. Hoda gently straightened me out on more than one cultural misunderstanding. To make sure the book embraced one of the strongest caste systems still in place in the world took a lot of painstaking attention; that the white Moors, the tribal Africans, and the Haratin people (descendants of the slaves to the Moors) were all equally represented was a driving point all the way through the work. For example, the working title of the book was Mina’s Malafa, which we all liked so much, but the more I learned, the more I saw that the name in no way represented the other groups of veil wearers in the country, so to be more politically correct, in my way of thinking, I had to find a name that was found in all three groups: Lalla.

* * *

From Ame Dyckman’s Tea Party Rules,
illustrated by K. G. Campbell

(Viking, October 2013):

“She carried Cub to her room. Cub liked being messy. He did not want to be neat.”
(Click to enlarge spread)

(Click either image to see spread in its entirety)

(Click either image to see spread in its entirety)

Ame Dyckman: Tea Party Rules was a riot to make. I had so much fun with this book! Michael Bond’s A Bear Called Paddington was one of my childhood faves (still is!), so I’ve always believed a small bear could pop into someone’s life at any moment. And what better event than a backyard tea party?

But this party’s prep wasn’t quick: Tea Party Rules was carried around in my pocket for at least a year-and-a-half before it read anything like the TPR of today. (I have 13 different drafts on my computer, and a few hard copy drafts more became manuscript confetti in the washing machine. I gotta start checking my pockets before laundry day.) At various times, there were additional protagonists (more bears), a different title (Cookies for Cubs), and an alternate ending that just didn’t ring kid-true, like this one. But with all the fabulous advice from the TPR team (Super Agent Guy Scott Treimel, Editor Extraordinaire Leila Sales, and the whole amazing crew at Viking Children’s) and the hysterical art from master-of-facial expressions K.G. Campbell—you should’ve seen me running around the room laughing when I got his sketches!—I hope we’ve created a book party everybody would like to join.

* * *

From Don Brown’s The Great American Dust Bowl
(Houghton Mifflin, October 2013):

“One duster trapped a small plane, tossing it and choking its engine with dirt. At its controls was Charles Lindbergh, first to fly solo across the Atlantic. He made a forced emergency landing, proving that even a legendary aviator
was no match for a dust storm.”
(Click to enlarge spread)

* * *

From McSweeney’s The Goods: Volume 1 (October 2013)
(Illustrators are named in the bottom right hand corner of each image.
See also the credits at the bottom of this post):

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge cover)

* * *

From Bob Graham’s The Silver Button
(Candlewick, October 2013):

“Over on City Beach, Belle and Vashti popped seaweed. On the shoreline, Paddy dried off while Jock scratched his back in the sand. Sunlight hit the windows of the city and phones rang in a thousand offices and pockets.”
(Click to enlarge spread slightly)

* * *

From Fiona Rempt’s Rico the Brave Sock Monkey,
illustrated by Noëlle Smit
(Little Golden Books, August 2013):

“The next morning, when the store opened, another lady came in. She looked at all the toys—and then she took the sock monkey’s hand and gave him a big smile.
‘Would you like to come home with me?’ she asked him.
‘Someone very special is waiting for you.’”

“‘How exciting!’ thought the sock monkey. And he wasn’t afraid,
even when he was wrapped up in tissue paper.”

“Then the sock monkey felt the crinkly tissue paper coming off. He looked up to see a boy’s two brown eyes gazing down at him. He’d never seen anything so beautiful!”

“… and once again, he felt himself being squeezed very tightly. He knew he’d found a new best friend. Rico was the happiest sock monkey in the world,
and was afraid of almost nothing.”

* * *

From Sue Fliess’ Robots, Robots Everywhere!,
illustrated by Bob Staake (Little Golden Books, August 2013):

“On the ground / and in the air, / Robots, robots / everywhere!”
(Click to enlarge spread)

“Under couches, over rugs, / Vacuum robots have no plugs. /
Robot dogs roll over, bark. / Can we take them to the park?”
(Click to enlarge spread)

“Robots weld and paint and blast. / Robots build cars really fast!”
(Click to enlarge spread)

“Rescue robots seek and find.”
(Click to enlarge spread)

 

* * * * * * *

THE BIG WET BALLOON. Copyright © 2013 by Liniers & RAW Junior, LLC. Illustrations reproduced by permission of the publisher, TOON Books.

DEEP IN THE SAHARA. Copyright © 2013 by Kelly Cunnane. Illustrations © 2013 by Hoda Hadadi. Published by Schwartz & Wade Books, New York. Illustrations reproduced by permission of the publisher.

TEA PARTY RULES. Copyright © 2013 by Ame Dyckman. Illustrations © 2013 by K. G. Campbell. Published by Viking Juvenile, New York. Illustrations reproduced by permission of the publisher.

THE GREAT AMERICAN DUST BOWL. Copyright © 2013 by Don Brown. Published by Houghton Mifflin, Boston. Illustrations reproduced by permission of Don Brown.

THE GOODS was edited and designed by Mac Barnett and Brian McMullen. Images appear courtesy of Big Picture Press, McSweeney’s, and the contributors. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.

GOODS 3 credits:
“Elephant & Piggie Comix!” by Mo Willems
“Connect the Words” by Brian McMullen
“Cyclopic Ants” by Shawn Harris
“Treasure Hunt” by Dan Santat

GOODS 6 credits:
“Hero Milk” by Eric Wolfinger & Mac Barnett & Walter Green
“The Case of the Invisible Monster” by Stefan G. Bucher
“Awwww Crumb-Steak!” by Shawn Harris
Spelling game by Brian McMullen

GOODS 8 credits:
“Uncle Jon’s Krazy Korner” by Jon Scieszka
“Sharpen Your Eyeballs” by Scott Teplin
“How To” by Jory John & Avery Monsen
Maze by Aaron Renier

GOODS 26 credits:
“Napoleon—The Emperor of the French” by Greg Pizzoli
“Do-It-Yourself Confetti Kit” by Brian McMullen
“Jack Passion Interview” by Jon Korn & Wesley Allsbrook

GOODS 39 credits:
“How To Fake a Horrible Fake Illness” by Jenny Traig & Jon Adams
“Find the Word” by Goods Executive Staff
“Spot the Differences” by Jon Klassen
“The Word Mint” by Brian McMullen

GOODS 40 credits:
“Cook With Your Face” by Jon Korn & Susan Garrett
“Alternative Pets” by Michaelanne Petrella
“Sharpen Your Eyeballs” by Scott Teplin
“Angry Avianautics” by Kevin Cornell
“Find the Word” by Brian McMullen

THE SILVER BUTTON. Copyright © 2013 by Bob Graham. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA on behalf of Walker Books, London.

RICO THE BRAVE SOCK MONKEY. Translation copyright © 2013 by Rubinstein Publishing. Illustrations copyright © 2009 by Noëlle Smit. Originally published in the Netherlands. Text copyright © 2009 by Fiona Rempt. Published in 2013 in the States by Golden Books, New York. Illustrations reproduced by permission of the publisher.

ROBOTS, ROBOTS EVERYWHERE! Copyright © 2013 by Sue Fliess. Illustrations © 2013 by Bob Staake. Illustrations reproduced by permission of the publisher, Golden Books, New York, as well as the illustrator.

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I’ve mentioned Picture Book Month previously here at 7-Imp, but here’s a quick note this morning to say that I’ll be a part of it this year, its third annual celebration.

Picture Book Month is an international literacy initiative that celebrates the print picture book during the month of November, encouraging everyone to read and share picture books. Founder, Dianne de Las Casas, and Co-Founders, Katie Davis, Elizabeth O. Dulemba, Tara Lazar, and Wendy Martin, collaborated on this initiative, pulling together their world-wide connections to launch this celebration.

The Picture Book Month website features what they call a “picture book champion” for every day of November 2013. These folks—authors, illustrators, and many more—will weigh in on why they think picture books are important, and I’ll be one of those folks in early November. The site also includes a themed calendar, picture book links and resources, links to picture book publishers, links to picture book authors/illustrators, links to picture book blogs/review sites, picture book activities, and much more.

I’m all for celebrating picture books.

I’ll be back tomorrow with lots of picture book art. Until then …

* * * * * * *

Picture Book Month logo creator: Joyce Wan. Image used with permission.

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“

The more I learned about how the machines worked, the more interesting they became to me—in the same way that a puzzle can become more interesting as you begin to solve it. And the more I thought about and read about and then saw the landscape through which the transcontinental line traveled, the more amazed I became. Some of that landscape is beautiful and frightening in its openness, emptiness, grandeur. I remember cruising along state Route 233 in Nevada, absolutely alone, and imagining what it would have been like to be out there, building that line in 1869.”

That’s Brian Floca, pictured here, on his beautiful new picture book, Locomotive (Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books, September 2013). Today over at Kirkus, we talk about his research. That link is here.

* * * * * * *

Photo of Brian Floca used with permission of the publisher.

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“

The more I learned about how the machines worked, the more interesting they became to me—in the same way that a puzzle can become more interesting as you begin to solve it. And the more I thought about and read about and then saw the landscape through which the transcontinental line traveled, the more amazed I became. Some of that landscape is beautiful and frightening in its openness, emptiness, grandeur. I remember cruising along state Route 233 in Nevada, absolutely alone, and imagining what it would have been like to be out there, building that line in 1869.”

That’s Brian Floca, pictured here, on his beautiful new picture book, Locomotive (Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books, September 2013). Today over at Kirkus, we talk about his research. That link is here.

* * * * * * *

Photo of Brian Floca used with permission of the publisher.

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“I walked over and under and around
to where Mom and Dad waited. ‘What now?’”
(Click to enlarge spread)

Morning, everyone. Author/illustrator Adam Rex is visiting today to tell us a bit about his newest picture book, Moonday, released by Disney-Hyperion earlier this month. Moonday tells the goosebump-inducing story of the moon lowering itself into a young girl’s backyard, putting all the town under its sleepy spell. Was it real or a dream? That’s for readers to decide.

I really like Adam’s paintings for this story. No need to describe them; you can see them on display here. And the writing? The writing is superb. This one makes an outstanding read-aloud, best for (but not excluded to) a cozy one-on-one read with your favorite child. It possesses a rhythm and cadence to savor. Kirkus gave this one a starred review. I just read the entire review, and they put it this way: “Gentle rhymes, recurring consonance and almost subliminal rhythms make murky, dreamy paintings vivid and the surreal story sleepily spectacular.”

Yep. What they said.

Here’s Adam. I thank him for visiting …

* * *

Adam: Here’s the first image I tackled. It ended up being kind of a proof of concept piece. I thought it was going to be the cover, too.

“It was in our backyard.”
(Click image to enlarge)

 

[Here's] the process for this piece:

“At school we slumped in desks and slept through lunch. I looked through my heavy lashes, through the window, through lean trees to see
my blue moon staring back at me.”
(Click to enlarge)

My earliest sketch was just a thumbnail, which I then overlaid with some crude perspective lines to pint out and use as guides to refine the drawing.

(Click to enlarge)

That got me here, and this is what my editor saw when I put together a dummy of the whole book.

Looks like I basically sketched this whole thing in Photoshop with my Wacom, actually. I’m doing that more and more, but I didn’t do it much back then.

(Click to enlarge)

Shot a lot of photo reference. This poor kid ended up filling in for the whole class.

All of the images for Moonday got rendered in vine charcoal on paper, with my photo reference as a guide.

(Click to enlarge)

Then I tinted the drawing in Photoshop …

(Click to enlarge)

… and colored it on a different layer.

(This is actually the same [image as the one from earlier]. But I had a narrative going, so …)

(Click to enlarge)

 

Shot a lot of photos of me …

 

… and my wife, too. We’re the mom and dad. Had to borrow a kid.

 

Here’s another photo …

 

…and the accompanying sketch …

(Click to enlarge)

 

…and the finished piece:

“That was when the tide came in. It trickled into our backyard.
The tide came in, smooth and thin, and settled underneath our moon.”
(Click to enlarge)

I had to draw a number of views of the same building, so I actually built a little 3-D neighborhood in Google SketchUp. I made the buildings in the foreground, but not in the background. (The background buildings didn’t actually end up in the book anyway.)

(Click to enlarge)

More random sketches:

(Click either image to enlarge sketch)

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

Final art for sketch above: “Then I started a yawn that swayed up the block,
crossed two policemen, rounded the square, and followed me home.”
(Click to enlarge)

MOONDAY. Copyright © 2013 by Adam Rex. Published by Disney-Hyperion Books, New York. All images here are used with permission of Adam Rex.

* * * * * * *

Note for any new readers: 7-Imp’s 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.

* * * Jules’ Kicks * * *

When I was a child, I would have been utterly spellbound by Moonday.

1) I love how challenging my piano lessons are (even if I was all, “THERE IS ANOTHER HAND POSITION TO LEARN ALREADY?” on Thursday of this week). As I discussed with a friend the other day, piano lessons are working lots of different parts of my brain. And that is good.

2) Dinner with friends, followed by free bluegrass in Nashville.

3) My girls and I have been dancing around the house to this slammin’ tune below. When my second grader comes home with worries and anxiety (which seems to be a theme this year), I listen and hug her and do the “there there now, it’ll be okay”s, and then we get up and dance, too.

Come on, y’all. None of this “but I’m dance-challenged” will be accepted here. Put on your best dance face, and let’s do it:

4) I’m reading the newest novel from my very favorite novelist (for grown-ups), and I love to linger over her sentences.

5) Calling Caldecott is back for 2013! I learn so much, reading that blog.

6) On the first song on Neko Case’s new CD, the guitar growls like a tiger at one point.

7) Hey, why am I still typing? As I’m composing this post (Saturday), it’s a gorgeous early Fall-like day, so I’m outta here. The park calls my name.

P.S. The unabashed goofy-ness of this book trailer has endeared itself to me. Plus, I really like that book, as I mentioned earlier here at 7-Imp.

What are YOUR kicks this week?

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“I walked over and under and around
to where Mom and Dad waited. ‘What now?’”
(Click to enlarge spread)

Morning, everyone. Author/illustrator Adam Rex is visiting today to tell us a bit about his newest picture book, Moonday, released by Disney-Hyperion earlier this month. Moonday tells the goosebump-inducing story of the moon lowering itself into a young girl’s backyard, putting all the town under its sleepy spell. Was it real or a dream? That’s for readers to decide.

I really like Adam’s paintings for this story. No need to describe them; you can see them on display here. And the writing? The writing is superb. This one makes an outstanding read-aloud, best for (but not excluded to) a cozy one-on-one read with your favorite child. It possesses a rhythm and cadence to savor. Kirkus gave this one a starred review. I just read the entire review, and they put it this way: “Gentle rhymes, recurring consonance and almost subliminal rhythms make murky, dreamy paintings vivid and the surreal story sleepily spectacular.”

Yep. What they said.

Here’s Adam. I thank him for visiting …

* * *

Adam: Here’s the first image I tackled. It ended up being kind of a proof of concept piece. I thought it was going to be the cover, too.

“It was in our backyard.”
(Click image to enlarge)

 

[Here's] the process for this piece:

“At school we slumped in desks and slept through lunch. I looked through my heavy lashes, through the window, through lean trees to see
my blue moon staring back at me.”
(Click to enlarge)

My earliest sketch was just a thumbnail, which I then overlaid with some crude perspective lines to pint out and use as guides to refine the drawing.

(Click to enlarge)

That got me here, and this is what my editor saw when I put together a dummy of the whole book.

Looks like I basically sketched this whole thing in Photoshop with my Wacom, actually. I’m doing that more and more, but I didn’t do it much back then.

(Click to enlarge)

Shot a lot of photo reference. This poor kid ended up filling in for the whole class.

All of the images for Moonday got rendered in vine charcoal on paper, with my photo reference as a guide.

(Click to enlarge)

Then I tinted the drawing in Photoshop …

(Click to enlarge)

… and colored it on a different layer.

(This is actually the same [image as the one from earlier]. But I had a narrative going, so …)

(Click to enlarge)

 

Shot a lot of photos of me …

 

… and my wife, too. We’re the mom and dad. Had to borrow a kid.

 

Here’s another photo …

 

…and the accompanying sketch …

(Click to enlarge)

 

…and the finished piece:

“That was when the tide came in. It trickled into our backyard.
The tide came in, smooth and thin, and settled underneath our moon.”
(Click to enlarge)

I had to draw a number of views of the same building, so I actually built a little 3-D neighborhood in Google SketchUp. I made the buildings in the foreground, but not in the background. (The background buildings didn’t actually end up in the book anyway.)

(Click to enlarge)

More random sketches:

(Click either image to enlarge sketch)

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

Final art for sketch above: “Then I started a yawn that swayed up the block,
crossed two policemen, rounded the square, and followed me home.”
(Click to enlarge)

MOONDAY. Copyright © 2013 by Adam Rex. Published by Disney-Hyperion Books, New York. All images here are used with permission of Adam Rex.

* * * * * * *

Note for any new readers: 7-Imp’s 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.

* * * Jules’ Kicks * * *

When I was a child, I would have been utterly spellbound by Moonday.

1) I love how challenging my piano lessons are (even if I was all, “THERE IS ANOTHER HAND POSITION TO LEARN ALREADY?” on Thursday of this week). As I discussed with a friend the other day, piano lessons are working lots of different parts of my brain. And that is good.

2) Dinner with friends, followed by free bluegrass in Nashville.

3) My girls and I have been dancing around the house to this slammin’ tune below. When my second grader comes home with worries and anxiety (which seems to be a theme this year), I listen and hug her and do the “there there now, it’ll be okay”s, and then we get up and dance, too.

Come on, y’all. None of this “but I’m dance-challenged” will be accepted here. Put on your best dance face, and let’s do it:

4) I’m reading the newest novel from my very favorite novelist (for grown-ups), and I love to linger over her sentences.

5) Calling Caldecott is back for 2013! I learn so much, reading that blog.

6) On the first song on Neko Case’s new CD, the guitar growls like a tiger at one point.

7) Hey, why am I still typing? As I’m composing this post (Saturday), it’s a gorgeous early Fall-like day, so I’m outta here. The park calls my name.

P.S. The unabashed goofy-ness of this book trailer has endeared itself to me. Plus, I really like that book, as I mentioned earlier here at 7-Imp.

What are YOUR kicks this week?

Display Comments Add a Comment

“Grampa stepped onto the platform. He waved and waved. His cap was green.”
(Click to enlarge spread slightly)

“Charley barked at the train for a while, and when it was gone, he held his head tall, which is code for Follw me, gentlemen! I know the way home!”

(Click to enlarge spread slightly)

I was feeling too restless this week and didn’t want to write about just one picture book over at Kirkus, so this morning I write about a series of Fall 2013 Picture Book Surprises. That link will be here.

(Next week, I’ll have art here at 7-Imp from each and every book mentioned in that column. Calling all illustration-lovers: It’ll be art-tastic, you guys.)

* * *

Last week, I chatted here with author Amy Hest, whose most recent release is When Charley Met Grampa (Candlewick, September 2013), illustrated by the great Helen Oxenbury. Above are some spreads from this one, and below is the cover. (This book is a follow-up to last year’s Charley’s First Night, featured here at 7-Imp, if you want to see more art from Oxenbury.)

 
Until Sunday …

* * * * * * *

WHEN CHARLEY MET GRAMPA. Copyright © 2013 by Amy Hest. Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Helen Oxenbury. Spreads reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.

Display Comments Add a Comment

“Grampa stepped onto the platform. He waved and waved. His cap was green.”
(Click to enlarge spread slightly)

“Charley barked at the train for a while, and when it was gone, he held his head tall, which is code for Follw me, gentlemen! I know the way home!”

(Click to enlarge spread slightly)

I was feeling too restless this week and didn’t want to write about just one picture book over at Kirkus, so this morning I write about a series of Fall 2013 Picture Book Surprises. That link is here.

(Next week, I’ll have art here at 7-Imp from each and every book mentioned in that column. Calling all illustration-lovers: It’ll be art-tastic, you guys.)

* * *

Last week, I chatted here with author Amy Hest, whose most recent release is When Charley Met Grampa (Candlewick, September 2013), illustrated by the great Helen Oxenbury. Above are some spreads from this one, and below is the cover. (This book is a follow-up to last year’s Charley’s First Night, featured here at 7-Imp, if you want to see more art from Oxenbury.)

 
Until Sunday …

* * * * * * *

WHEN CHARLEY MET GRAMPA. Copyright © 2013 by Amy Hest. Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Helen Oxenbury. Spreads reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.

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