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Our vision for this blog is pretty simple: we're going to talk about the books we read. We read lots of different kinds of books: picture books for toddlers, memoirs, young adult fiction, graphic novels, Man Booker Prize-winning high-art metafiction, whatever.
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I posted this yesterday at the blog, but it was at the very bottom of the post, so here again, in the name of shouting about a wonderful thing, is an early flyer for Nashville’s upcoming Southern Festival of Books, an annual three-day literary festival hosted every October by Humanities Tennessee. Check out the line-up, and that’s not even all the children’s and YA authors that will be in attendance. Whether you live in the South or not, consider a visit to Nashville in October. (I’m on a committee this year to help out with the children’s and YA author visits and events, yet I’ll be out of town for the actual festival. HORREURS! I’ll miss Mo and Jon and Kerry and Sara and Tom and everyone else, but it’s still fun to help prep.)
“… I look out the window / and I see the whole block swimming in water. / Furniture, clothes and toys are swirling in the flood. / Roofs are crumbling and windows are shattering. / Big winds have come and trees are breaking. / And all I can see is more water rising. / So I look away and I squeeze Jasmine’s hand / real tight because now
I am scared too.”
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“Her voice was light and springy. Her beat was perfectly in time with the band. Soon even the noisemakers in the second balcony were holding on to every word. The feeling of being listened to—oh, it was a salve to Ella’s sore heart.”
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I should probably open a kicks post, dear readers, with an image that is not as intense as that very first one, but I really love that spread from Shadra Strickland. It’s quite moving, yes? This comes from Shadra’s latest illustrated title, written by debut picture book author Renée Watson. And then, below that, we’ve got an illustration of Ella Fitzgerald from illustrator Sean Qualls to scatter some joy; that comes from Roxane Orgill’s forthcoming picture book biography of Ella Fitzgerald. Both Shadra and Sean have new illustrated titles out and have both been featured at the blog before—each multiple times—so I invited them over this morning for a show-us-what-you’re-up-to-now post.
And, since there’s quite a bit of art this morning, let’s get right to it. (more…)
“As time went by, the little creatures learned to hide from the Big Scary Monster.
He soon got bored because he couldn’t find anyone to scare.”
(Click to enlarge spread.)
Since, after Tuesday’s post, I’ve still got monsters on the brain, let’s check in quickly with another monster title this morning. This one comes from British author/illustrator Thomas Docherty, who was once shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal. Originally published in 2009, Big Scary Monster was released in the U.S. in July by Templar Books, an imprint of Candlewick.
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I thought I’d check in quickly this week to add to the ever-growing list of Slightly Demented Picture Books. Some of you may remember that librarian and blogger extraordinaire Adrienne Furness and I discussed our favorite slightly demented titles back in April of 2008, and I’m always happy when I see titles to mentally add to the list. (For the record, I’m speaking for myself here. For all I know, Adrienne may not care for these titles. I’ll just have to ask her, won’t I? Any excuse to talk to Adrienne.) 2010 brings us a couple I want to feature today. I’m talkin’ the wickedly funny, the mighty irreverent, the subversive little gems that surprise you. Sure, there’s a place for The Sweet and the Cute, but you all know I have a big, cushiony, pillowy, feathery soft spot in my heart for the subversive little gems, too.
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I’m so pleased to be featuring the illustrations this morning from one of my top-five favorite picture books of 2010. Oh yes, I have formed such a geek-tacular list in my head! The presentation I made weeks ago at The University of Tennessee’s Center for Children’s and Young Adult Literature—about my favorite picture book titles thus far in 2010—forced me to really consider my very bestest favorites from the year, and this book is one of them. It was actually published in 2009 in Belgium as De Boomhut, but Lemniscaat, an imprint of Boyds Mills Press, published the first U.S. edition this year.
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Because I had less time for blog-writing last weekend, today’s post is another quickie art-stop post. Have you all seen yet Marjorie Blain Parker’s A Paddling of Ducks, illustrated by Joseph Kelly? Published by Kids Can Press in March, it’s subtitled Animals in Groups from A to Z. And, it occurs to me just now, wouldn’t it be fun to pair with this, seeing as how both books feature collective nouns for creatures (whether real or imaginary)? Woot! Good times.
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“From the day she could talk, Lizzie loved to tell stories. Tall ones. True ones.
Funny ones. Sad ones. Lizzie loved them all.”
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It’s been two years since my breakfast interview with author/illustrator Tricia Tusa, whose work I love so very much. She’s got a new illustrated title out, Once Upon a Baby Brother (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2010), written by Sarah Sullivan, so I thought I’d share some spreads from it today. (more…)
“In her jail cell, Wangari prayed. And like a sturdy tree against a mighty wind, her faith kept her strong. Instead of giving up, she made friends with the other women prisoners. They told her their stories. She taught them about her seeds and saplings. Together, they helped one another.”
If you haven’t had your coffee or hot tea yet, the art work of Sonia Lynn Sadler just might wake you up instead. Sadler has illustrated the picture book debut—Seeds of Change from Lee & Low Books (April 2010)—of author Jen Cullerton Johnson, a biography of 2004 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan environmental and political activist. In the 1970s, Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental organization focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation, and women’s rights. Johnson, as noted in the back of the book, relies upon Maathai’s autobiographical writing (indeed, her own memoir) to bring us the story of her life — from her childhood in Kenya to 2004, in which she was awarded the “prestigious peace prize.” (more…)
“BOOM! BAH! Here we go!”
Here’s another quick international art stop today, featuring two 2010 picture book titles illustrated by Australian artist Nina Rycroft, who has been honored by the Children’s Book Council of Australia. I need this first title to help wake me up, as I haven’t had the sweet brown lifeblood that is coffee. Yet.
That first very joyous picture book comes from Australian author Phil Cummings. First published in ‘08 in Australia, Boom Bah! was published here in the U.S. in March of this year. (Click on each image in this post to enlarge the spreads and see in more detail.) (more…)
Gianna Marino, my 7-Imp visitor this morning, debuted her picture-book work in 2005 in a book Kirkus called a “lively, engaging debut,” Zoopa: An Animal Alphabet (Chronicle Books 2005). Just when you think you’d seen every approach to alphabet books, along came Gianna with a fresh one in this wordless picture book, featuring a bowl of alphabet soup and a colorful menagerie of creatures surrounding it. In Spring of this year, Gianna followed the title up with One Too Many: A Seek & Find Counting Book, also released by Chronicle Books. This one features one flea, bouncing between farm animals, its path traced in a thin silver arc. Kirkus wrote, “Marino’s illlustrations are marvelously striking, positioning animals that are largely black and white, with a bit of sepia, against blue sky (that modulates to pink and then to night) and sandy barnyard,” adding that it’s “a rare counting book with wide appeal.” This nearly wordless title definitely holds some treasures for the eager, observant child reader.
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Welcome to 7-Imp’s 7 Kicks, 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. Whew. It’s already the first Sunday of August, and the first Sunday of each month is when I like to shine the spotlight on a student illustrator or someone otherwise brand-new to the field. Let’s get right to today’s featured illustrator, Ben Clanton, who—according to his site—has spent most of his time in Oregon and Montana classrooms. But he tells us a bit more below, so without further ado…Welcome to Ben:
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“Who gulps the fall crops of beechnuts and acorns?
Happy moon bear, gorging on extra food for the winter.”
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Hi, dear readers. I’ve got my work cut out for me this week. I’m coming up on a self-imposed writing deadline, and I’m also preparing for this, a presentation at The University of Tennessee’s Center for Children’s & Young Adult Literature, in which I have one hour to talk about the best picture books thus far of 2010. Can you even try to imagine for one second how I’m having trouble narrowing here, dear people, since I love me my excellent picture books ever so muchly? But I’m having fun, and I think the presentation will be very fun, too. The best part is that I get to hear my former East Tennessee librarian colleagues—who are brilliant and will also be presenting—talk about books for other ages, and I particularly look forward to hearing about YA novels in the afternoon, since I’ve not had as much time for reading those on my own this year. (Good thing I love my picture books, right?)
So, for those reasons, I probably won’t be back here at 7-Imp until Sunday. But I promise to return for some kickin’. In the meantime, I’m leaving you this week with some collage illustrations from the great Ed Young. His latest illustrated title is by Brenda Z. Guiberson, who has been writing and illustrating children’s books for over 15 years. It’s called Moon Bear (Henry Holt, May 2010), a lyrical tribute to the Asiatic black bear, becoming rare in the wild. (more…)
“‘Oh, woe is me! You’re getting very fat,’ Mr. Peek says to himself, noticing the bulge in his jacket. The hippo overhears and thinks the remark is intended for her!”
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Last year, Candlewick Press debuted its first imprint, Templar Books, a partnership with Britain’s Templar Publishing. So far, I’ve been super pleased with what titles Templar/Candlewick has brought to the U.S. market — some really unusual (read: weird…you know I love my weird picture books) stuff and lesser-known author/illustrators. Er, lesser-known to me anyway. And one of those is being featured today: In 2008, Kevin Waldron debuted as an author/illustrator with Mr. Peek and the Misunderstanding at the Zoo, and the first U.S. edition was released this May. I’ve got a couple spreads to show you today so that the art can speak for itself. Don’t you love the ’60s, sort of Inspector Clouseau vibe? Kirkus describes Waldron’s digitally-created art as “a delightful cross between Calef Brown and J. Otto Seibold.”
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Here’s a quickie illustration post this morning that falls into the Just When You Think You’d Seen It All category for the ‘ol tried-and-true tale of the Three Little Pigs. Steven Guarnaccia, the chair of the illustration program at Parsons the New School for Design in New York, brings us The Three Little Pigs: An Architectural Tale, released by Abrams in March.
Hand this book to an architectural design junkie, and you will make his or her day. (more…)
Almost exactly one year ago, when Mac Barnett and Adam Rex visited the blog, Mac mentioned a book published in 1979, I believe it was—But No Elephants, written and illustrated by Jerry Smath—which Mac said he’d “probably read 4,000 times.” I noticed in the comments that, almost one year later, Smath himself stopped by the post to type:
“Mac,
Thanks for your kind words … now please see some of my other books, and my new illustrations in
Lola: A Shrew Story
.
Thanks,
Jerry Smath”
Well, it’s taken me a while, but I’ve finally got some of those illustrations to show today, and that’s because the author of that picture book, Ellen Weiss—who has written over 150 children’s titles—is here this morning to talk a bit about not only that book, but another of her new titles, also released this Spring, as well as to discuss what’s next for her. (more…)
“They squeal, they squirm, they bellow and bark …
they don’t seem to like being fed to a shark.”
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I was fortunate enough recently to get a copy from Scholastic New Zealand of author/illustrator Ruth Paul’s latest picture book title, Two Little Pirates (April 2010). Now, none of her titles have made it to the States yet, so I hadn’t heard of her books, but when I saw this title, I was immediately smitten with her style. As you can see from the illustrations she’s sharing with us today during her 7-Imp visit, she’s got a rich, warm palette, and her comforting, curvy lines pull one in. Two Little Pirates tells the story of a couple of imaginative boys and the raucous way in which they awaken their Mom—I mean, Mum—and Dad — as if pirates attacking a ship: “The dawn slips in on a dragonfly’s wing, in through a porthole to wake up the King, and in through the misty remains of the night, come two little pirates preparing to fight.” The illustrations, rendered in watercolor and colored pencil, are full of movement, playful perspectives, and expressive characters — especially poor Mom and Dad, awake way sooner than they wanted to be.
I say all the time here at 7-Imp that I love to shine the spotlight on international illustrators, and I really do. I especially enjoy the opportunity to introduce readers to folks not otherwise published here in the States. Here’s Ruth to tell us a bit about her work — and, incidentally, her wonderful environmentally-friendly home… (more…)
KA-CHINK. That was the sound of me turning on my cyber-spotlight to shine it on an international illustrator this morning. (Incidentally, I’d do this way more often if blogging were, say, my full-time job in, uh, Bizarro World. But, hey, one can dream.)
Standing in the glare of said spotlight today is author/illustrator Natalia Colombo, who studied at the Architecture and Graphic Design Faculty of Buenos Aires and whose work has been exhibited throughout Spain. I’m not sure if this is her first picture book, but I don’t believe it is. The book I speak of is called So Close and was published (the English translation, that is) by Tundra Books of Canada in May. It was originally released as Cerca in 2008 by Kalandraka Editoria.
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I have been doing my own writing lately, occasionally feeling a lot like the young girl featured here, and that has made 2010 Busier Than Normal. For that reason, my visitors to the 7-Imp bungalow this morning, authors Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter, deserve an award. And that would be because I contacted them a long while ago about their wonderful new handbook on writing for kids, Spilling Ink: A Young Writer’s Handbook (Roaring Brook, March 2010), told them I loved it, and asked them if they’d like to stop by 7-Imp to talk briefly about it. Sure! they said. LENGTHY TIME INTERLUDE. (All my fault.) Apologies sent to them. EVEN LENGTHIER TIME INTERLUDE. (Still my fault.) Finally, I said to them: I haven’t forgotten, but I’m so swamped. Would you accept an open invitation to say whatever you’d like about the book and I promise to work it up into a nice post? I gave them some basic guiding questions, mind you, but what they returned to me is what you see below. They took some of my questions and adapted them a bit, and then they came up with some questions of their own. Nice.
All of that is to say that, if you like the questions below, Anne and Ellen get big-time credit for essentially interviewing themselves. (And here’s hoping they don’t think I’m the lamest blogger in the history of Blogistan.) (more…)
I’m pleased to welcome author/illustrator and graphic novelist Mark Crilley to 7-Imp this morning. He’s stopped by to share some art, tell us a bit about where he’s been and what he’s up to next, and to give 7-Imp a gift!
Mark says he started drawing, growing up in Detroit, almost as soon as he could hold a pencil in his hand. After graduating from college (more on that below) in 1988, he taught English in Taiwan and Japan for nearly five years. His first comic series, Akiko, was published in 1995, leading Random House to invite him to adapt it as a series of chapter books. His latest graphic novel series, Miki Falls, was chosen by the American Library Association as one of the Great Graphic Novels for Teens for 2007 and has been optioned by Paramount Pictures and Brad Pitt’s Plan B Production Studio for development as a feature film. His newest project is a six-volume graphic novel series from Dark Horse Comics called Brody’s Ghost, which he tells us more about below.
Currently, Mark lives in Michigan with his wife, Miki, and children, Matthew and Mio. I thank him for stopping by and for sharing some of his art with us this morning. (more…)
I’m shining the spotlight on some nonfiction today. In fact, everything’s coming up dinosaurs this morning at 7-Imp, as I’ve invited Lita Judge and Deborah Kogan Ray for a visit. Lita is the author and illustrator of Born to Be Giants: How Baby Dinosaurs Grew to Rule the World, published by Roaring Brook in April. And Deborah both wrote and illustrated Dinosaur Mountain: Digging Into the Jurassic Age, also published in April (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). Both author/illustrators have stopped by to share some spreads, images, and sketches. Let’s check in with Lita first:
Lita: I love dinosaurs! I was crazy about them when I was five. I was even more in love with them when I was fifteen and started working on a dinosaur dig for the Tyrell Museum of Paleontology in Alberta, Canada. And, as an adult, I’m still wild about them. But, instead of sitting under the blazing sun, digging them up, I like to use my imagination and bring them to life through my pencil and paint.
“A bad-tempered Tyrannosaurus rex mother probably ate anyone who tried stealing her eggs. She stood guard over her warm, smelly mound nest. Leftovers from her last meal rotted nearby. Insects swarmed the rotting meat and piles of dinosaur poop.”
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“How Elsie loved that hound from the first moment it greeted her, jumping up and licking her face and then arooooing in her ear. She sang back to it, a childhood favorite, ‘With a bow-wow here, a bow-wow there . . .’ And Timmy Tune sang along. That hound, those hens, that banty rooster, and all the noise they made kept Elsie’s house full of sound, and Elsie loved them all for they turned her house into
a true prairie home.”
If you’re a fan of author/illustrator David Small’s work, then you’re having a good year. I decided to check in with him this morning to see what he’s been up to in 2010, and the answer to that would be two really great illustrated titles — Elsie’s Bird (Philomel), written by Jane Yolen (an illustration from that is pictured above) and to be released this Fall, and Naomi Howland’s Princess Says Goodnight (HarperCollins), released in May. David is stopping by to share some art and sketches from these titles. Let’s start with Naomi’s title, since it was released earlier this year.
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I can hardly believe it’s the first Sunday of July, and I know I probably say that at the start of every month, but how is it that we’re already over the half-way mark of 2010? So wild.
Anyway, the first Sunday of the month at 7-Imp means I highlight a student illustrator or someone otherwise new to the field. This morning, I welcome British illustrator Nicola Killen, whose debut picture book was published in the UK in May of this year and will be published this Fall by Egmont USA. It’s called Not Me!…
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“RECESS: There are chickens on the playground, / but none are satisfied. /
They must keep running back and forth / to reach the other slide.”
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BAH-DUM-CHING, my friends!
It’s been a while since I’ve posted for Poetry Friday, and today I’m gettin’ goofy with George Shannon’s and Lynn Brunelle’s Chicken Scratches: Poultry Poetry and Rooster Rhymes (Chronicle Books, March 2010). It’s illustrated by Scott Menchin, whose work I’ve yet to feature here at the ‘ol blawg.
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As I’ve made clear before (when he stopped by for coffee and cigars), you 7-Imp readers know I love me some John-Manders art somethin’ fierce. Early this month, Clarion released Mary Nethery’s The Famous Nini: A Mostly True Story of How a Plain White Cat Became a Star, which John illustrated. The story is set in Venice in the 1890s. Nonna Framboni, a caffé owner, serves “strong coffee and sweet treats” (my kind of place), but “the caffé was so small, people passed by it as if it didn’t exist.” One afternoon, Nonna takes in a stray cat she names Nini. The cat becomes a huge celebrity after she meows just the perfect note for which Giuseppe Verdi was looking, charming everyone from Verdi to the king and queen of Italy to the pope himself (and, therefore, making Nini and the caffé famous), and eventually helps the daughter of the emperor of Ethiopia overcome a particular sadness. But I won’t give it all away. (Or, er, maybe I just did.)
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Pictured here is the wee baby version of author/illustrator Amy Schwartz. I’m immensely pleased that the grown-up Amy is visiting 7-Imp today, as I’ve been a long-time fan of her picture books and the understated charm and humor of her stories and illustrations. Last November, I wrote a sort of Amy-Schwartz Appreciation one Sunday here at the blog. I’ve said even before that here at 7-Imp that I love the seeming simplicity of both her writing and illustrations, but there’s really a lot going on, including an undeniably strong child-centeredness that, in my experience, makes her books bonafide Kid Magnets. Amy can perfectly capture the details of a child’s world, what they truly care to pay attention to. The book best exemplifying this would be the wonderful What James Likes Best from 2003, which Amy discusses below, though it’s really hard to pick that “best.” So many of her titles perfectly capture the details to which young children attend.
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Gotta love those gloves and hands!
Applying for bigger things - scary, hopeful, stretch-inducing - fingers crossed.
Yeah, I was cracking up at that –! For one weekend? Um, no. I’m a booknerd pretty much on weekdays, too.
Drool. I’m so tempted to go there. What is it like? Tents outside? ARCs available? Lectures? Details please.
Tanita, you and me both!
Hi, Betty! There are some tents outside for children’s events (storytellers, performers, etc.), but most years the authors and illustrators speak inside War Memorial. There are not ARCs availalble, but they sell TONS of books, the ones written and/or illustrated by the folks in attendance, and authors and illustrators sign books after each session. There are also tons of book vendors, publishers, etc. who set up outside of War Memorial. It’s good fun every year!
The Library of the Early Mind will also screen at this year’s Festival!
Betty, if you want a PDF of this image to pass out to other folks at TSD, let me know! I can email it to you.