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Jules: Welcome to our first kicks list of 2008! Our weekly 7 Kicks list is the meeting ground for listing 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. As our readers and fellow kicks-listers know, we feature a different illustrator every Sunday when we gather to list our kicks. But one of my New Ideas in ‘08 is to feature — on the first Sunday of every month — a student illustrator or a newly-graduated illustrator wanting to break into children’s books. I am excited about this idea more than I can say, the opportunity to see tomorrow’s children’s book illustrators. Who doesn’t wanna see some new blood? Plus, maybe the next Maurice Sendak or Ruth Krauss will pass our way. I’m just sayin’. You never know. And it’s thanks to Jarrett J. Krosoczka and Anna Alter (thank you! thank you!), to whom I turned for assistance, that I already have some students (or new grads) lined up for the next couple of months. Oh, and as for this week’s featured illustrator — our first one ever in this new feature — I have Little Willow to thank. She pretty much just read my mind and emailed and said, “look at this new illustrator’s site I just stumbled upon?” That Little Willow is puh-sychic.
So, let’s get right to it. Who has graced our post this week? Her name is Ashley Smith, and she just graduated in December from Brigham Young University - Idaho with a BFA in Illustration (“Upon writing this — 22 days, 10 hours and 37 minutes later — I am thrust into the harsh realities of post-graduation-freelance-job-search,” she told us, “but I am certainly not complaining. A vacation from the frenetic vigors of five years of deadlines has been a welcome change; however, my creativity thrives on those deadlines, so I am looking forward to a new life defined by them”).
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Jules: Well, hello there! Eisha and I have been taking a holiday blog break for a while here, and — as I type this — I’m still not even sure she’s done with her holiday travelling. I hope she is and is able to contribute her kicks this week.
You may have noticed last week that we went ahead and kicked it old-skool style — and then some — with Arthur Rackham at our very brief kicks post. Well, we had originally planned to feature some new art work from the talented R. Gregory Christie, but we re-scheduled that for this week. We were worried no one would see it last week, due to the busy holidays, and we hope that folks are around to see it this week, too, since we’re excited to be featuring it.
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Jules: This image is just for Eisha this week! She loves loves loves Ms. Minerva Louise. And then I reviewed the wonderful Minerva Louise on Christmas Eve (here) at the beginning of this month and thought, hey, maybe Janet Morgan Stoeke would be willing to share some Minerva Louise art work with us. Lucky for us, she was.
Somewhere, from far away in Ithaca, New York, I can hear Eisha squealing right now.
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Jules: Today, we’re happy to feature art work from German blogger and painter Gabriela Böhm, whose blog, Kampfhorn (”wee but powerful”), caught my eye a few weeks ago. And when it did, I saw this illustration we’re featuring here, and I fell in love with it (here’s the post where I initially saw the illustration, entitled “Gratitude is a force”). And then I saw posts like this (oh yes! Rilke) and this, the Goddess of Illustration. I love it. So, I asked her if we could feature some of her paintings here. For the record, Gabriela, who goes by Ella, is not an illustrator of children’s books (though don’t you think she should try her hand at it one day?), and I know that’s who we usually feature here. But her paintings were too good to pass up. Here’s a little bit about Ella, which she shared with us:
“Three facts about me and my art:
- Because I love photography, you will sometimes find photographic effects in my drawings or paintings such as vignetting, fisheye perspective and grading. (Short) animation and movies are also a huge influence.
- Experimenting with different textures (e.g. Nepalese paper) — either to paint on or to use as part of an image — is also something I am excited about.
- Animals fascinate me and often find their way into my work.
(Why is it so hard to talk about what you do?!?)” 
You can also read more about her here at her blog’s “About” page (she’s a fighting squirrel, but you’ll have to go read to find out what that means). We thank her for letting us feature “Gratitude is a force,” and she also sent us a new illustration, “Trick or Treat,” which would have been perfect for Halloween (but is just as perfect now, too). Just look at that! (more…)
Jules: We have Jackie at Interactive Reader to thank for our new-found adoration of Julia Denos’ illustrations. Jackie featured Julia and her snowflake in October for the Blogging for a Cure effort for the Robert’s Snow auctions. Here is that feature; if you missed it, go read and enjoy, ’cause it’s a great interview and feature, and — bonus! — Julia is pictured eating one of her picture books and saying, “as a fanatical picture booker, I can’t deny the urge to chew a well designed spread.” This statement immediately endeared her to me, as I understand this urge, you see. And Eisha was all squealy over her artwork, too, proclaiming it as “crazy beautiful,” which it is, and saying that it’s “exactly the sort of art I’d want to create if I had a shred of talent.” You can see at that feature of Jackie’s that a lot of other bloggers immediately fell in love with Julia’s style and immense talent. So I asked Julia (who I think also goes by “Jules” — kickin’) if we could feature her today, and lucky for us, she agreed.
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Jules: Yuyi Morales stopped by 7-Imp today! What a treat! Yes, lots of “!”s, but I’m excited. This is an image from her most recent title, Little Night (reviewed here in August by Yours Truly), a book with such sumptuous, gorgeous, dream-like artwork I can hardly stand it. Truly beautiful stuff.
And it gets better! Yuyi is sharing, not one, but two images from her forthcoming picture book, Just in Case: A Trickster Tale and Alphabet Book, a Neal Porter Book, to be released in Fall 2008. Just under the illustrations is what Yuyi had to tell us about the new book.
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By:
fairrosa,
on 11/23/2007
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Author: Park, Linda Sue
Rating: 
Reading Level: 3rd to 6th grade
Pages: 48
Publisher: Clarion
Edition: Hardcover
I am absolutely delighted and pleased by the collection of Sijo poetry (a traditional Korean form of short poems) paired with playful and often surprising illustrations. It will be fun to see children and grownups trying their hands on creating this kind of poems!
By:
fairrosa,
on 11/23/2007
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Author: De Negro, Janice
Rating: 
Reading Level: 4th - 6th grade
Pages: 64
Publisher: Marshal Cavendish
Edition: Hardcover
I really enjoyed the tone of these narratives but found the seven mostly familiar (or with familiar motifs) tales in this slim volume not scary or eerie enough. There exists always a promising build-up but the readers are left short of truly gruesome, horrific, or surprising endings. The cover design is quite effective, with raised blood-red title print, but the interior illustrations are uneven and less than accomplished in many cases. The very good cover art is done by Vincent Natale, but the illustration copyright is attributed to Marshall Cavendish, the publisher -- and the quality of the illustrations definitely feel like work-for-hire jobs.
Jules: Many thanks to author/illustrator David Ezra Stein, who sent us a 7-Imp exclusive this weekend, an image from his forthcoming picture book, How to Be Nice. It will be released in Fall ‘08 from Putnam.
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{Note: Please see the post below this one for today’s Robert’s Snow schedule — and one really kickin’ snowflake from 2004}
Jules: So, I’m going to try to keep things short this week, since the last two illustrator-feature portions of our kicks lists were loooooong. Interesting, but long. And that’s not to slight illustrator Rotraut Susanne Berner, whose illustration (one of many) from Jutta Richter’s The Cat: Or, How I Lost Eternity is featured here. If you’re not familiar with this German illustrator, I wouldn’t be surprised. I wasn’t, but I saw her illustrations in this unusual, little book, which I just finished, published by Milkweed Editions and translated from German by Anna Brailovsky, and I liked them. Not to mention I like to highlight international illustrators when I can, though I’ve done a rather pathetic job of it this year, despite my best 
intentions.
This is a quite distinctive, very philosophical-in-nature read, technically categorized in intermediate fiction but definitely an adult cross-over title as well. I love how Joyce Carol Oates described it as being not unlike “a Grimm fairy tale recast by Franz Kafka.” It’s about Christine, an eight-year-old girl, whose daily walk to school takes her past a talking alley cat, whose insights always give her something to ponder. I like this review of it I found after reading it (I love to read my reviews when I finish a book) and what they call the book’s striking and “odd starkness.” The book was named one of “The Best Seven Books for Young Readers for November 2006” by German Radio. (more…)
{Note: Please see the post below this one for today’s Robert’s Snow schedule and an ‘04 snowflake that will take your breath away}
Jules: So, a while ago I read this intermediate-aged book called Billy Hooten: Owlboy (Yearling; released in July of ‘07). Have you read it yet? It’s good stuff, the first book in a fantasy-comedy series for children, all about a misfit kid who becomes an unlikely superhero. Billy Hooten is what most people would call a nerd and gets picked on a lot at school. But after he tries to help someone in need in the cemetery bordering his back yard, he stumbles upon bizarro, creature-ridden Monstros City, which lies underneath Billy’s hometown of Bradbury, Massachusetts. When he finds out that, indeed, the residents of Monstros City believe him to be the next Owlboy — their revered superhero and the protagonist in a beloved, old-skool comic book series — he has to determine for himself if he can live up to the name.
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{Note: Please see the post below this one for today’s Robert’s Snow schedule —
and Lizzy Rockwell’s ‘07 snowflake}
Jules: Mwahahahahahaha. Happy Halloween to everyone! This week’s illustration is by LeUyen Pham (who, apparently, goes by “Uyen” and says it’s pronounced “win”), and let me just say that I love her illustrations but it wasn’t ’til I saw this post in July at Chicken Spaghetti, in which Susan talked about Once Around the Sun by Bobbi Katz and illustrated by LeUyen, that I became familiar with her books. Whoa, she’s talented. Go visit her great web site, too, where you can see all kinds of her illustrations in her gallery. Eisha, I think, was already in love with her art work, and I thank Susan for posting about one of her books so that I could discover her awesome-ness myself.
And many thanks to LeUyen for giving us permission to use this Halloween illustration, which is on her web site — especially since she just gave birth and yet still managed to take the time to correspond with us about this. She also sent many other illustrations, some never seen before (as in, slotted for upcoming publications), and told us all about them. Woot! So, here’s the deal: If you’re a LeUyen fan, you’re in luck. If you’re not, we hope to convert you. If you really just visit every Sunday to merely read and list kicks and don’t care about the illustrator features (my New Favorite Thing Ever at 7-Imp), then scroll down to the kicks, by all means.
We’re just going to post these beautiful things and include her commentary about them right next to them:
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TUCKER’S SPOOKY HALLOWEEN. Copyright © 2007 Leslie McGuirk. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Inc., Cambridge, MA.
{Note: Please see the post below this one for today’s Robert’s Snow schedule}
Jules: It’s almost Halloween, and here’s a festive illustration for you all from Leslie McGuirk’s new title, Tucker’s Spooky Halloween. This one’s about a very determined and rather risk-taking dog who wants to scare the pants off you already this Halloween instead of being dressed up all cutesy-like, as his devoted owner would have it. My wee daughters are drawn to this book like they are drawn to their safety scissors and cutting up the closest piece of paper they can find into tiny, miniscule, barely-perceptible bits of paper that are then strewn all over the kitchen floor and that are infuriatingly difficult to find and then they start over with the next available piece of paper in their vicinity and . . . wait. Where was I? Yes, they really like this book.
Here’s what Leslie had to say about the book:
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Wooooooo! It’s getting close to Halloween, and we’re in a spooky mood here at 7-Imp. So we’re pleased to be featuring art by Jeremy Caniglia. Back in August, we co-reviewed Margo Lanagan’s Red Spikes, for which Caniglia did the cover art. As Eisha put it in the co-review, the cover painting is lovely in a slightly creepy way, and we thought that Jeremy could send us some slightly creepy-spooky Halloween-esque art (we’d like to do that for each Sunday in October, leading up to Halloween — did you see Frank Dormer’s mummy last week?). If you visit Jeremy’s site, you’ll see he’s capable of creepy and creepy-verging-on-disturbing (he does a lot of art for Adult Fantasy and Horror titles, as he explains below), and no matter the tone, he possesses much talent with the paintbrush.
But then he went and sent us these not-so-creepy and more eloquent, more whimsical paintings instead. And we’re still just as pleased that he did so, even though they’re not Halloween-esque spooky in tone. Here’s what Jeremy had to say about these works: (more…)
Hi, everyone! Eisha and I are at the 1st Annual Kidlitosphere Conference this weekend. Woo! So, we’re not around today to leave our kicks, but you’re still welcome to leave some if we aren’t already getting to know you in Chicago.
Frank Dormer, whom we’ve featured before and who created our wonderful Mad Tea Party image (just for us!), sent us this mummy for this week’s kicks list (it actually is on the front page of his site). For the record, Frank knows a lot of us aren’t around right now, reading blogs, but if you are here, please do leave your kicks — and we hope that everyone who is in Chicago this weekend visits 7-Imp later this week to see this fabulous mummy.
Today is the first Sunday in October, so we’re gearing up for Halloween with this spooky (and lovable) guy.
* * * * * * *
By way of explanation for any new folks (who we hope will leave their lists), our weekly 7 Kicks list is the meeting ground for listing 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.
So, let’s hear your kicks, even though we’re not able to leave ours. We’re actually both flying back to our respective homes today, so we can read the lists a bit later. We can try to leave our own, too, which will probably both be . . .
- Going
- to
- the
- First
- Annual
- Kidlitosphere
- Conference!
Until then . . .
Jules: Eisha and I are excited to be featuring Boris Kulikov this week. We are huge fans of his illustrations, and he has sent us one this week from his upcoming illustrated title, The Castle On Hester Street by Linda Heller (originally published in 1982, but re-illustrated by Kulikov and to be published by Simon & Schuster in late October 2007). We have yet to see the book but were really thrilled that Mr. Kulikov decided to share with us an illustration which cannot be seen on his site yet. Here’s a description of the book from its home on Simon & Schuster’s site:
“A flying goat, buttons the size of sleds, and a castle on Hester Street are some of the widely imaginative stories Julie’s grandpa tells her about his journey from Russia to New York many years ago. But Grandma’s no-nonsense memories are far different from Grandpa’s tall tales.
This classic story, which reveals the immigrant experience with wit and warmth, won the Sydney Taylor Book Award when it was originally published with Linda Heller’s own illustrations. Now, on its twenty-fifth anniversary, The Castle on Hester Street is given new life with Boris Kulikov’s vibrant paintings.”
We can’t wait to see the book, and here’s one more illustration from it off Kulikov’s web site, which he has given up permission to share . . . (more…)
Jules: ARE YOU READY TO ROCK, Y’ALL?!!! Okay, that was nerdy, but we’ve already established I’m a punk-hole. Moving right along then . . .
We’re ready to rock here at 7-Imp, because author/illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka has stopped by for our kicks this week, and he brought along some illustrations from his new book. You may have seen our co-review from this week of the Punk Farm sequel, Punk Farm on Tour (to be released in October by Knopf Books for Young Readers). In that co-review we also announced Jarrett’s creation of the new Punk Farm Space site, which you must go see if you’re also a Punk Farm fan.
Eisha and I have made it clear many times before here at 7-Imp (such as here, here, here, here, here, and here — whew) that we’re fans of Punk Farm and Krosoczka’s other books as well, so needless to say, we’re excited and it’s been rather like Punk Farm Week here at our site.
The illustration at the top is Punk Farm backstage at their recent concert in Maine (Sheep has just figured out what song to perform first for the eager crowd, having been inspired by their tour van), and the illustration below it is right after the show. The gang’s ready to roll and head out to their next gig in Florida, but Pig asks them to hold up just a bit. (Fame is getting to Pig just a bit in this new title). There are two more illustrations from the book at our co-review. Here’s what Jarrett had to say about the illustrations and the new book: (more…)
Jules: This week we’re pleased to feature Australian illustrator Trudy White, who is probably best known for the internal illustrations she did in Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief (Alfred A. Knopf, 2006). Trudy’s latest book is called Could You? Would You?, first published in Australia in 2006 but just released in the U.S. by Kane/Miller (yes, we know we featured a Kane/Miller book last week as well as an Australian illustrator, and we try to mix things up here at 7-Imp, but how can we pass up the opportunity to feature both Julie Vivas and Trudy White, even if one after the other?). Could You? Would You? is a book of questions that, as Mindy pointed out in her review at propernoun.net, is a great title to use as a prompt for encouraging children to write — or to just explore and wonder about the world around them. Pictured above is the first illustration from the book, the “Could you fall asleep with all these animals? Would you wake up early or sleep in late?” page. Pictured below is a spread from the book, both sent from Trudy.
I have played with this book with my 3.5 year old, and — while some questions were a bit too sophisticated for her age — most of them really made her stop and think, and even older children will likely jump to answer each question with curiosity and enthusiasm. It’s that kind of book. And this is definitely one of those books that transcends the children’s lit label; a lot of adults, particularly of the meditative, I-wonder-if slant, would enjoy this one. Trudy’s spare drawings are both graceful and sprightly and possess her signature whimsical, relaxed style . . . As her site states, “Trudy White likes to work with pencils, watercolour, ink, nib pens, brushes, biro, computer graphics programs, collage, acrylic paint, oil paint, and textas, in books, on small pages, on large rolls of paper, on canvas and on wood. She also likes to make things out of clay and plasticine. She writes in longhand and on a computer. At the moment she is interested in owls, typography, languages and strawberries.”
Trudy suggested that we include a selection of questions from Could You? Would You? and let kicks-listers — any of you who are perhaps inclined to do so — post responses to any or all of them this week (as well as list your kicks, too, we hope). I love that excellent idea. And if you answer the questions, your name will also get put into a virtual hat, and SEVEN OF YOU CAN WIN A COPY OF THE BOOK!!! (courtesy of Kane/Miller). It really is a fun, thought-provoking (by its very nature) title, and I particularly recommend it for teachers and school librarians (who work with students of any age, in fact, from elementary to high school).
Here are Trudy’s selected questions from the book (hey, this all makes me think of this recent-ish post over at Read Write Believe): (more…)
Jules: Many thanks to Julie Vivas, one of Australia’s foremost children’s book illustrators, and Kane/Miller Books for our illustration this week. This is a spread from Helen Manos’ Samsara Dog, originally published in Australia in 2006 and published this year by Kane/Miller in its First American Edition.
It’s not often that you come across a picture book, geared at young children, which addresses the subject of reincarnation. Manos, a practicing Buddhist, wanted to show this subject matter in as natural a way as possible and wrote this story of a dog who lives many lives — as a wild dog on the streets; with a biker gang; as a sniffer dog; with a street juggler; as a rescue dog; and more — “{moving} through a tunnel of light into his next life” each time. In the spread above, (more…)
By:
fairrosa,
on 9/8/2007
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Author: Lynne Jonell
Rating:
Reading Level: 4th - 6th grade
Pages: 352
Publisher: Henry Holt
Edition: Hardcover, 2007It's impressive how Jonell manages to inform the readers of all characters' personalities, feelings, and actions without ever straying away from Emmy's perspective: readers only know what she sees, hears, and thinks. The outlandish circumstances with all the super(magical?)-powers of the rodents are accompanied by a gentle tale of friendship, longing for parental love, and the essence of stable families. I mentally applauded the several jabs at the absurdity of the over-scheduling of our children.
The illustration with the flip-book margin of Rat falling and Emmy catching him ceases being a gimmick when it visually sums up the spirit of the story: "Don't worry. We're friends. I will catch you if you fall."
Jules: Many thanks this week to Jonathan Bean for contributing an illustration from the seven-kinds-of-wonderful The Apple Pie That Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson (Simon & Schuster; July 2007) for our kicks list today. Here we see the young girl in the book just waking and spotting her farmer father trotting off to that apple tree to start plucking apples in order to bake his daughter that scrumptuous apple pie, “warm and sweet,” which she and her papa eventually share with the farm animals who live there with them and who have their eyes set squarely on that delicious concoction throughout most of the book. If you haven’t seen this picture book yet, you’re in for a treat (excuse the bad pun). The illustrations are most beautiful. In an illustrator’s note in the book, Jonathan explains that each illustration is composed of three separate drawings, done on separate sheets of vellum paper, with only the colors red, yellow, and black, having scanned the colors into his computer. You really just have to see this lovely creation.
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Here are my 7 Kicks for this week, my Part Two, if you will, to today’s 7 Kicks post. These are seven picture books that I read this week that made me happy in one way or another, all in the name of kicking off Picture Book Week here at 7-Imp . . .
Kick #1The Apple Pie That Papa Baked
by Lauren Thompson
Illustrated by Jonathan Bean
Simon & Schuster
July 2007
(personal copy)
May I pretty please just send you to Betsy Bird’s wonderfully detailed review of this title (parts one and two)? She covers the all-around brilliance of this picture book, Lauren Thompson’s original cumulative tale about a young girl’s delight in the apple pie (”warm and sweet”) her farmer father has baked for her — starting with the apples, “juicy and sweet,” that he plucks from the tree on their farm — with the little girl’s help after she wakes in the morning and sees him trotting off with a ladder and a basket for the apples. As Betsy pointed out:
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{WHITE OWL, BARN OWL. Text Copyright © 2007 Nicola Davies. Illustrations Copyright © 2007 Michael Foreman. Reproduced by permission of Candlewick Press, Cambridge, MA, on behalf of Walker Books Ltd., London}
Jules: Many thanks to Michael Foreman and Candlewick for this illustration today. Just look at this lovely image from Nicola Davies’ and Michael Foreman’s White Owl, Barn Owl (released this past April and reviewed here this week by Jules). This is a beautiful book — well-written, well-designed, and including both a fiction narrative and non-fiction facts about the common barn owl, these things merged together with eloquence and ease. And Michael Foreman’s illustrations are almost breathtaking, especially the ones showing the owl in flight. Have you ever really stopped to consider how seven-kinds-of-prolific this man is? Go here and scroll down a bit. My oh my, I bet he’s capable of way more than seven impossible things before breakfast.
A huge heapin’ thanks to the honorable Mr. Foreman for letting us feature this gorgeous illustration today, the moment in which the young girl and her grandpa first spot the barn owl’s pale face in the nest box they have created for him.
On to our kicks then . . . By way of explanation for any new folks (who we hope will leave their lists), our weekly 7 Kicks list is the meeting ground for listing 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.
* * * * * * * Jules’ list * * * * * * *
Oh lordamercy, what oh what did I do to deserve such a fabulous, kicks-worthy week? Here we go:
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Art copyright © 2007 by Mo Willems from Knuffle Bunny Too.
Welcome to our weekly 7 Kicks list, the meeting ground for listing 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. (If you’re new, please know that everyone is welcome to leave their lists).
This week we have Mo Willems to thank for our illustration: It’s Trixie and her daddy! They’re back in Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity, which we co-reviewed here at 7-Imp this week. If you didn’t read that review or don’t have time now, here’s our official analysis: It completely delivers in every way, and we pretty much thought it was flawless. I believe it has a September release date (Hyperion), so people won’t have much longer to wait to find out what the pre-school-aged Trixie and her beloved bunny are up to this time.
In this image, Trixie and her daddy — who was initially reluctant to head out and retrieve Trixie’s rightful bunny (”Trixie’s daddy tried to explain what ‘2:30 a.m.’ means”) — are on a mission to right a wrong. Our review has much more info if you’re interested in hearing more about this great book. We thank Mo Willems most kindly for sharing an ilustration with us and our readers this week.
* * * * * * * eisha’s list * * * * * * *
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By:
fairrosa,
on 8/17/2007
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Author: Sandi Toksvis
Rating:
Reading Level: 5th - 7th
Pages: 191
Publisher: Roaring Brook (originally Randomhouse, UK, 2005)
Edition: Hardcover, 2007What a feat... a tender, courageous, and often wryly humorous tale about the horrors of the Nazi occupation of Denmark. (Even if it's just a small corner of the world the Nazi's had a hold on.) Because of the courage and ingenuity and the strong belief in human equality of the Danish people, most of the 8000+ Jews were sheltered, transported to safety, and survived. This story from pre-and-early-teen Basme's (Teddy Bear) view point should be introduced to as many young readers as we can! It does not have extremely gruesome depictions that will upset young readers who have yet to know this part of our history, but it has plenty of nerve-wrecking moments and conflicts to hold one's attention and interest. There is great sacrifice and a few upsetting events (at least two quite irrevocable sufferings) toward the end of the tale, justifiably depicted. I cried, laughed, and gasped with terror, during the great theatrical scene that Mama staged to save their neighbors. Knowing that the story is inspired by family histories and relatives of the author I bought the story even more.
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(Hey–anyone know a book-ish song?)
I should have mentioned this yesterday, but I wonder if anyone else has seen this picture book — 
Welcome to 7-Imp Ashley. I wish you a long and successful career in children’s books. Your illustrations are gorgeous.
Eisha, welcome back. It’s good to hear from you again. Good luck with the computer woes. Congrats on the new temp job, too. Jules, I’m totally with you on Jon Scieszka.
As for my kicks:
1. I’m blogging at PBS Parents as a guest expert this month, talking with people about children’s books. So far it’s been a LOT of fun. Some of my Kidlitosphere friends have stopped by, and I’m having discussions with new people, too.
2. My awesome MG/YA nonfiction nominating committee for the Cybils finalized their short list this weekend. No, I can’t tell you what it is yet, but I promise, it’s excellent. I’m eagerly awaiting the YA Fiction list, because I’ll be judging over there, with another great committee. Such an exciting time for children’s book fans!
3. We had a fun game night with friends last night, the first time I’ve been out in over a week, after being sick over New Year’s.
4. It remains a ludicrously amazing time to be a Boston sports fan. Enough said about that.
5. I’m going to copy Jules’ kick about Jon Scieszka. I’m happy about the mere existence of the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature position. The fact that they picked someone who clearly cares about doing whatever it takes to get kids reading is awesome! Oh, and Scieszka is going to be local children’s bookstore Hicklebee’s later this month, and I’m going to try to meet him.
6. We finally got a significant amount of rain here in Northern California. We need the water, and it was kind of cool having a big storm. Of course, I only lost power for 30 minutes, so that’s easy for me to say - I know that it wasn’t as fun for other people.
OK, I’m too tired to think of seven. Happy New Year, everyone!!
Lovely work, Ashley! I’m glad that I sent that email to Jules. I saw your work and wanted to share it with someone who would appreciate it - and, boom, psychic moment.
eisha: Healing thoughts to Roxy. (Mine, also female, is named Sunday.) Best wishes at the new job!
Jules: “Are these rhetorical questions? And if so, can anyone join in?” Thank you for giving me an excuse to type up a quote from Wish You Were Here by Catherine Clark (which comes out in March, which I read today, which I’ll be reviewing tomorrow) because I really like that quote.
Lookybook = good times.
Hmmm. Now I have to think of my kicks. Hmm. In the order they occurred:
1) Having a day off. Completely off. That was nice.
2) Completing my Best Books of 2007 post. That took some time.
3) Receiving many lovely packages and pieces of mail on Thursday.
4) Being named in Sarah Dessen’s Friday Five. Wow.
5) Appreciating shelter.
6) Walking four miles this afternoon because I felt like it.
7) Believing that good things are around the corner.
As this week was about writing like a demon on the AK flying memoir but not getting it ready for my agent and also looking at the majestic mess that is the “put all the holiday stuff back into the big storage area” pile, I really can’t say I’m feeling kicky at the moment.
In other words - next Sunday I should have great kicks, right now I have unfinished kicks! ha!
I did want to say that I love your idea for highlighting promising artists and these pictures - WOW! Great stuff, and a truly excellent idea.
Oh - and I am doing a Wicked Cool Overlooked Book post for tomorrow, so anyone who wants to join in, drop me an email or comment so I can link to you!
JEN, WAHOO! I just read that feature finally — at PBS, that is (and bolded the link in your comment so that everyone else can see it easily and go read it!). And it’s great to see that! If I’d had my coffee already this morning, I’d be jumping up and down here at my computer. And I’m so glad you linked to it, ’cause I still hadn’t seen it yet. I remember you mentioning it, but — sigh — I’m perpetually behind on blog-reading. It completely slipped my mind to go to your blog and look for that link, even though I went to your blog the other day. Der. Thanks!
And, as a Cybils judge in YA, I bet you’re going to have a ton of fun. It’ll be hard, I bet, but fun. I can only imagine — with all the great titles this year.
Little Willow, thanks for your kicks. I am going to link to your Best Books list, ’cause I read that this week and was, as usual, impressed by you: http://slayground.livejournal.com/315879.html. Everyone, Little Willow’s even got Picture Book and Best Illustration categories!
Thanks, Colleen, for the heads up about WCOB. Hmmm, I’ll have to think about that and try. I hope your unfulfilled kicks become a reality next Sunday. As for cleaning up Christmas stuff, just follow Adrienne’s lead. One of her new year’s resolutions, which I can so totally get behind, is to keep her house untidy.
Thanks for coming to see Ashley, everyone. Isn’t her stuff striking? And I really am super-nerdy-excited about featuring students/new grads in illustration. If I get a huge response, shoot, maybe we can do it more often than the first Sunday of every month — maybe I could do random days in the workweek, too.
I love that Ashley’s self-portrait, meant to be a “looking forward,” remained a “looking forward” while she looks “back,” as she had just decided to focus on children for an audience, as if she’s looking back on childhood. Ah well, I just think it’s beautiful.
I LOVE the new feature idea, and I love Ashley’s work.
Eisha, So sorry to hear about Roxy. I miss you when you aren’t blogging.
Jules, I am so jealous that you got to look at those Toon Books.
My Kicks:
1. Like Eisha, I am excited about the Nonfiction Picture Book shortlist for the Cybils. It’s been fun seeing all the other publicly available shortlists and commentary out there this week, too.
2. Because it’s the new year, I have a brand-new materials budget and can buy books for the library again. I put in a ridiculously huge order on Jan. 2; I can’t wait for it to come in.
3. My friend who lives in Germany is home for a visit, and I got to spend some time with her yesterday.
4. Then I went to another friend’s house for a John Hughes film fest. Very fun.
5. Friday night, my BFF and I went out shopping and to dinner, just us girls. That’s always a kick.
6. A friend got me a tin of chocolate-covered popcorn for Christmas, and I finally opened it up a few days ago. So yummy…
7. …which means it’s a good thing that I’ve gotten back into my exercise schedule this week, because–wow!–calories.
Happy New Year!
Love Ashley’s work and am looking forward to meeting lots of new artists. What a great idea! I’m drooling over those beginning reader comic books, and I’m totally psyched about the Jacques Prevert book thanks to LW.
Yay, Eisha’s back! (Picturing her in a cute coat and cowboy boots.) Hope Roxy feels better soon.
It’s been a nice first week of 2008:
1. Finally finished Sherman Alexie’s “Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian.” Now I know what everybody’s been raving about. Wow.
2. Speaking of Poetry Friday, I was blown away by cloudscome’s sonnet, “Red Berries.”
3. Posted my first “Writer in the Kitchen” interview with Gail Piernas-Davenport, and dallied with some black eyed peas.
4. Barbara O’Connor awarded me with a ROAR from the Shameless Lions Writing Circle.
5. Received two books I had won from blogs recently — “Piper Reed, Navy Brat” by Kimberly Willis Holt (thanks again, Jules), and Daniel Mahoney’s “A Really Good Snowman” (thanks, Kris B.)!
6. Barack Obama.
7. My long lost former roommate in London found me through my blog!
Have a great week!
Hello all and happy new year! It’s great to see everyone back and bragging about all the great things happening to them. I love this look at a new artist. Here’s my list.
1. Original poems this week by Elaine and cloudscome.What inspirations they are!
2. My students return in one short week. I’ve missed them and am ready to get going.
3. My new blog! It’s called Open Wide, Look Inside. It will definitely have more of an orientation for teachers, but will still be about books and poetry.
4. Winning an iPod grant. I have a brand new 80GB video iPod to experiment with, as well as a very cool microphone so that I can begin podcasting. Cool and a bit scary all at once.
5. Nonfiction picture books and the shortlist. I worked with an amazing panel putting the list together, and can’t wait to see what the judges think of them.
6. Tonight I’m participating in a conference call with a few of the nominating panel folks so that it can be recorded for Just One More Book!! You’ll get to hear us talk about our favorites and a few books we liked that didn’t make the cut.
7. Reading lots of great books over the break.
Have a wonderful week!
Ashley–lovely, lovely, lovely. I look forward to seeing your career blossom before our eyes.
My 7 Kicks for the Week:
1. My nine-year-old daughter, who has had a steep academic climb since her arrival in the US two years ago, is completely enthralled by Pippi Longstocking (new Lauren Child illustrated edition, xmas gift). We’re already on Chapter 3.
2. Adam Rex’s website: it has a great page about Smekday and his blog has a link to a laughing baby youtube vid that I’ve shared with everyone I know.
3. Open Wide–Tricia’s new blog. I can’t wait.
4. All the Cybils shortlists–lots of great books to check out–and lots of affirmation for titles I’ve loved this year.
5. Thursday morning, before school started, I had to hold my feet still and not do a happy dance when I overheard this conversation of boys talking up Cirque Du Freak to one another. Boys who love basketball, and rap music, and books!!
6. Megan, at Read Read Read, linked to one of my book blurbs.
7. Esme is back and posting great recommendations again.
Adrienne, I’m not in a library right now, but when I was, I remember the thrill of book ordering and, especially, when the books arrived. It was like Christmas, getting big boxes of new titles. And I’m glad, Adrienne, you got to spend time with good friends. Ain’t nothing better than that, pretty much.
Jama, congrats on your well-deserved ROAR nod. 7-Imp got this before the holidays, and since I’m perpetually behind on blog-reading, I just discovered it LAST NIGHT. What a goober I yam. But we appreciate the acknowledgement from HipWriterMama, and we’re very flattered. Thank you, Vivian!
But, I digress. Yes, cloudscome’s poetry always delivers a good read. I missed her sonnet and will have to go read. And I’ll go back and link to it in your comment if you don’t care.
Tricia, I’m excited about your new blog. And congrats on the grant!
Hi, Amy! Enjoyed your kicks. #5 is particularly great!
Jules, I don’t think you’ve ever had a bad idea, but this new blog feature is surely one of your most stellar ones. Yea! I’m going to look forward to the first Sunday of the month, or more, if you do more.
Kicks:
1. My daughter and her boyfriend cooked for us and two other families on New Year’s Eve. I mean, an ENTIRE DINNER, plus TWO desserts. We had the second dessert, double-chocolate souffles, with champagne at midnight.
2. Watching Once with my husband. I knew he’d love all the guitars and song-writing, and he did.
3. I boxed at the gym, which I haven’t done for a long time. I was sore for three days, but um, I do love hitting a big old bag and making it swing.
4. A friend invited me to speak at a regional conference for media specialists. Whee!
5. I’m reading three books at once: poetry, MG and adult. I’m wondering if I can keep this up all year.
6. Just knowing that I get to read and discuss poetry books all month with my fellow Cybil judges.
7. My niece (the one battling cancer) got tickets to Hannah Montana given to her by a wonderful nurse. She’s also responding to her new treatment, and they hope to do a stem cell transplant this spring. If you pray, please pray for her.
Oh, and Eisha, “Lulu Atlantis and the Quest for True Blue Love” —what a fab title. And I LOVE that cover.
Hey, Sara . . . thanks for the feedback. I love this idea, too. I kinda do want to do it more often.
Okay, so your daughter ROCKS — and rawks, too. Chocolate and champagne at midnight sounds scrumptious. And do you know that I’ve always wanted to learn to box? At the risk of sounding like I have anger issues, which I don’t think I do (who me, dammit?), I’ve often thought everyone needs a punching bag in their garage — just for bad days you know? Especially mothers of young children, who can be so irrational that you want to pull your hair out.
And congrats on that invitation to speak. They’ll love you.
I’m glad your niece is responding to treatment well right now. Will keep her in thoughts and prayers.
And, as far as I know, Eisha’s not reading Lulu. That’s me. I just read the third story (during my Sunday morning time-away-from-children bubble bath read-fest), and I’m actually slowing down, ’cause there’s only one more left and I DON’T WANT IT TO END.
Sara, What a gift those Hannah Montana tickets were for your niece! All the years my husband was in treatment, I was continually stunned by how wonderful and caring so many of the medical people were. It’s such a devastating disease and I’d think it would be so hard to look at every day, but the people we encountered behaved with such kindness and compassion. It’s that kind of thing that reminds me that the world is a good place.
And keep us posted on that stem cell transplant. I certainly will pray for her. The lead up to stem cell is a little intimidating, but I know so many people who have done it and gone into remission, some really amazing stories.
Jules, I am totally rocking the keeping the place untidy thing today. I have all of the boxes that the Christmas stuff is supposed to go in out, I have most of the decorations near the boxes, and I have gone into another room with my computer, a book, and a cup of coffee. I’m not going back into that room with the boxes for a while.
That’s some excellent resolution work, Adrienne. Way to go — I mean, not go. You’re my hero.
I can say the same for our jumble of books we need to organize, though I actually am not being inhibited by great ennui. We are just having issues finding decent bookshelves that don’t cost a small fortune.
Anyway, so I’m with ya.
First up, let me share this research with you - we’re apparently a well-balanced and healthy bunch because of our lists. Hurrah! (Hope the html works here, but as soon as I saw the page I wanted to share it)
I love the new feature idea, and today’s pics, Jules!
Sara, two desserts for New Years Eve sounds like a fantastic idea that should be more widely adopted.
My list:
1. Lots of books and DVDs are heading this way after many a family member panicked over what to get us for Christmas (those final postage dates sneak up!) and decided on emailable gift vouchers
2. To continue in the materialistic vein, I got an ipod Nano for Christmas, and I’m enjoying my first MP3 player so much than I ever thought I would. It sounds selfish but it’s quite cool to have a collection of music that I get to have control over! Plus it’s so cute!
3. We had dinner with a friend on New Years Eve that we hadn’t caught up with for a while
4. A hankering for leeks saw me make potato and leek soup and chicken and leek pie during the week
5. Spurred on by my enjoyment of Barbara Kingsolvers Animal, Vegetable, Miracle this week, we finally got around to visiting a nearby farm that sells its own freerange poultry, local game and other produce
6. Today we went to the Millais exhibition at the Tate. It was a really interesting (and well put-together) exhibition so I’m glad I remembered it was on and finishing soon!
7. Then we ate our packed lunch by the Thames, wandered around the shops and just generally enjoyed a sunny day in London
I’ve never done a 7 kicks before but here goes…
1. Visiting 7 Imps this morning and seeing awesome illustrations from Ashley Smith. What a great idea to feature up-and-coming illustrators!
2. Joining my first ever reading challenge - the 2k8 challenge at teenbookreview.wordpress.com.
3. Receiving a book in the mail yesterday that I won - Matrimony by Joshua Henkin (courtesy of Dewey’s contest at deweymonster.com)
4. Anxiously anticipating the Cybils YA finalists that are announced tomorrow
5. Having more than 50 books at home that I haven’t read yet…now I have plenty to chose from for whatever mood strikes me
6. Having nothing to do today but read and blog
7. I saved this one for last because it’s the best - Buying a new laptop that should be here later this month!
Thanks, Eisha and Jules! This was lots of fun.
And I’ll definitely be checking back for future illustrators!
It’s always good to read other people’s kicks. I know they make me face my week and recognize the blessings in them.
1) My mom’s visit. It was too short but very sweet.
2) Fingers crossed, things are looking steady for us financially, and I hope this means that we can do some things like visit relatives and do house renovations.
3) I cleaned off my desk, and found some stuff I’d been missing, including a cd my father made for me and some old photos of when I was three years old (thereabouts). I posted 2 of the photos on my blog today.
4) My 7th wedding anniversary is next Sunday. I’ll actually be doing a birthday party gig on that day!
5) For my Christmas present, my mom dyed 25 silks for me to use in storytimes. They’re a bit pricey if you buy them already dyed, but quite reasonable if you dye them yourself.
6) The Tom Kah Gai soup in our Thai take-out/bring-in meal last night. Coconut milk and lemongrass in soup is a genius idea. I applaud the chef who thought of it.
7) I think that my barreing exercises on the guitar might actually start to pay off soon.
Thanks for hosting the 7Kicks, Jules and Eisha! I think it’s lovely that you’re featuring a new illustrator once a month.
Thanks for your support on the PBS thing, Jules, and for commenting over there. I do want to show the folks at PBS that lots of people are interested in children’s books (by having people comment), so you definitely helped.
Can I also just add that Adrienne is my role model. A John Hughes film fest. I love it. Yay to Amy’s daughter, too, for discovering Pippi. Oh, how I adored her when I was about 9.
Eisha, it’s good to have you back. I hope you are able to retrieve all your files from your computer. I have sympathy for you. As you may recall, my hard drive crashed last July. It cost me $3,000 to get everything back!
Jules, you’re just too sweet. Thanks for the mention about my poem in the Spring 2008 Roaring Brook Press catalog. I sure was surprised to see it printed in the catalog. I had no idea the publisher was going to use it to highlight the poetry book. I can’t wait to have a copy of FALLING DOWN THE PAGE in my hands.
Here are my kicks for the last two weeks:
1. Finding my poem in the Roaring Book Press catalog.
2. Having you and Tricia consider my poem as a kick of the week.
3. Your new 7-Imp feature. What a great idea! I love Ashley’s art. I hope to see her published in the not-too-distant future.
4. The Cybils list of poetry finalists. It was great serving on the poetry-nominating panel with the other members who know so much about children’s poetry. I think we have a great list.
5. My husband and I spent several days with another couple–two of our closest friends–at their time share in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. We toasted the New Year in with them. Both the husband and wife have had major medical issues in the past year–and both are doing well.
6. My husband made homemade pizza for us while we were on vacation. His pizza is to die for!!!
7. In September, my mother had bleeding in her right eye caused by macular degeneration. She lost a lot of vision in her eye. On Friday, I took her to the retina specialist that she has been seeing. We got good news. It appears the injections in her eye have worked. I’m happy to say that my mother has regained much of the sight she lost.
8. I spent this afternoon with Grace Lin. She decided that in 2008 she would help her friends who are hoping to get a children’s book published. She’s determined that I have to get a book contract this calendar year. She ordered me to send out a manuscript tomorrow. It’s a collection of list poems from which I selected “Things to Do If You Are a Pencil” to send to Georgia Heard. Wish me luck. I’ll need it!
9. Tricia’s new blog. It will be a great resource for elementary teachers. I’m going to recommend it to the students in my children’s literature course.
Jules and Eisha,
Happy New Year…and thanks for your oustanding blog!
Colleen: Count me in for WCOB tomorrow - The Alison Rules by Catherine Clark.
Go Jen go!
Thanks, Jules!
Adrienne: Hurrah for friends and John Hughes movies! Enjoy getting new books with that budget.
Amy S.: Pippi Longstocking is great, and the new Lauren & Tiina edition is adorable.
Sara: ((vibes)) for your niece.
Happy anniversary, Alkelda!
Oops, Jules. Sometimes, my thinking and typing don’t play well together.
Alkelda, happy anniversary, and if you ever want good Tom Kah Gai soup when you aren’t doing take-out, try Amy’s Organic version from Whole Foods. It’s the best in a can that I’ve found, and I LOVE Thai soup.
And thanks, everyone, for all the good thoughts for my niece. She really is a tough cookie, but I worry every day for her.
1. My first kick is doing a list of kicks for the first time, which I am doing because
2. I have my work computer at home, so I’ve been able to comment on blogs on a Sunday, which the aged mac won’t let me do, because
3. I needed a working computer for last night’s wee hours of the morning Cybils YA discussion, which it was great to be part of, even though Jackie ended up having to channel my comments despite work computer, and this led to
4. Me re-reading one of the books that made the list, so as to write a blurb for it, and laughing and crying all over again, which is the best sort of reading experience one can have, and after that
5. I was finally able to gloat over my pile of Christmas and Birthday books, and start reading a totally non YA book about an Edwardian English girl,
6. And today the boys’ Christmas presents all got put, not tidily away, but at least away, except for one,
7. A set of wooden disc things that fit together, no batteries, no plastic, no nothing but wood, that kept them playing happily together long enough for me to read 1 and 1/2 books (also known as modeling good reading habits).
That was fun!
Good evening all. Been cleaning and organizing and finally more on the mend….So many great kicks!! The Ashley Smith preview is fabulous and it is awesome that the first of the month will feature some one new to the ilustrating scene. Great idea, Jules.
Eisha, congrats on the new job and isn’t technology great when it works. I hope your files are recovered soon. Yummm, double chocolate souffle Sara? Happy anniversay to Alkelda and good luck Elaine, love the idea of the list poem.
My kicks?
1. Getting a photo named as one of the “Top 100″ and in the Top 10 for the Water category. Please go to my blog and get the directions to vote on line this week. The photos are astounding so I am honored to have one make the list.
2. The coast over new years. Quiet, cold and relaxing.
3. Organizing my work space for the new year.
4. Seeing Sweeney Todd last night. Johnny Depp rocks.
5. The herbal heat pack that Chuck gave me for Christmas…heat it up and it warms the whole back with lavendar goodness.
6. Foot bath, massage, and parafin dip at the Barefoot Sage one Friday.
7. Getting to workout after not being able to for two weeks.
Have a wonderful week.
Emmaco, now how did you come across that great article? “The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude” — Nietzsche. Me likey. Something to think about this week. And I like your Kingsolver story. I got that book for my husband for his b’day fairly recently, and for Christmas, I got him The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Read that one? One day I wanna borrow and read these things myself, too.
Em, I really, really love when brand-new people come and leave kicks. Well, you’re not a brand-new person, but you know what I mean. I hope you come back, ’cause, well, as you’ll see from the article Emma found, it’s healthy for you. Wahoo! I wish I had a whole week or something for unlimited reading, but aw hell, I’d miss my girls, too. Congrats on your reading-and-blogging-only day.
Alkelda, ooh ooh! Can’t wait to go see those pics. And do tell what you use the silks for. And our *eighth* wedding anniversary is on Tues. Ours are at similar times. Awesome.
Elaine: Go, Grace Lin! She ordered you to do that tomorrow? Excellent. I love it. If ANYone can get their children’s poetry published, shoot-fire, it’s you. Good luck. And I’m glad your mom regained most of her vision — how scary that would be.
Charlotte, welcome! Are you going to get to keep your work computer at home? And congrats to you, too, on uninterrupted reading time. With two young ‘uns, it’s a rarity, huh?
Jone, we were posting at the same time, I suppose.
When I worked as a full-time sign language interpreter at a university, hand-flappin’ all day long in classes from Epidemiology to Clinical Pharmacology, we had a paraffin (sp?) dip in the office that was our headquarters (of sorts) — to dip our hands in. My goodness, I wanted to marry that thing. Felt SO good.
Glad you’re feeling better. Will visit your blog to see the pics . . .
Jules, someone on my LJ friend’s list linked to it recently (I don’t think I would have gone looking for evidence as I already knew making these lists was fun!)
I haven’t read The omnivore’s dilemma yet - because I do agriculture and environment stuff at work I sometimes find this type of book a bit obvious or didatic. But if it includes a well-told story, I’m in! And reviews for the omnivore book sound pretty good so perhaps that will be another for my list…
Seven Kicks:
1. Hearing from Eisha (at last!)
2. Seeing the CYBILS shortlists
3. Being chosen as the new RC for the Eastern PA chapter of the Jane Austen Society of North America.
4. Interviewing Bruce Coville chez moi.
5. The kids going back to school (yippee!)
6. Jon Scieszka’s news - how awesometastic is that? (Meaning both the creation of the position and his selection to fill it.)
7. New quilting materials. Now to actually start cutting . . .
Congrats again, Kelly, on your Jane Austen news. They couldn’t have chosen better. And your Coville interview was awesome.
Since I’m late, I’ll stick with just a few:
1. It finally feels like the holidays are over and the new year has begun! I love the holidays, but fresh starts are even better.
2. Lots of kids in my house.
3. The tree that fell on my house in the recent high winds in California only *barely fell on my house. Whew!
Happy (belated) New Year, everyone!
Kris, a tree fell on your house? Glad you’re all okay.