Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

— From Chapter 16, “Angelus”: “I pressed into a corner as the hounds, desperate to attack, bayed round me. ‘Back,’ cried a huntsman striding in, whip in hand.”

 
I’m doing something a little bit different today. I’ve not got a picture book for you this morning, dear Imps. I have a novel.

This is one of my favorite books this year, Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s The Book of Boy (Greenwillow, February 2018). I like it so much that I’m reading it a second time — this time, I’m reading it out loud to my daughters.

“This story, like another, begins with an apple,” the book begins. This is the tale, set in Europe in 1350, of a boy who can talk to animals. His name is merely Boy. He is physically disfigured and mercilessly mocked for it. He is called a hunchback, and when he meets a mysterious pilgrim, named Secundus, in the medieval town of France where he lives, his life changes forever. In fact, when Boy leaves with Secundus (Secundus is impressed with his ability to jump and climb) to help the pilgrim find the seven relics of Saint Peter — rib, tooth, thumb, toe, dust, skull, tomb — it’s the first time Boy ever leaves the only home he’s ever known. He pilgrims to the city of Rome with Secundus in the hopes that Saint Peter can remove his hump and make him a real boy.

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“On the walk to school, Mae thought about all the things that could go wrong.”
— From Kate Berube’s Mae’s First Day of School

 

“Omek helps Yelfred and Q-B share back!”
— From Antoinette Portis’s Best Frints at Skrool
(Click to enlarge spread)

 

“We’ve got the wind and the clouds in our hands!
We’ve got the whole world in our hands.”
— From Rafael López’s We’ve Got the Whole World in Our Hands
(Click to enlarge spread)

 

“Dear Turtle,
Here’s a poem I made up …”
— From Liz Garton Scanlon’s and Audrey Vernick’s Dear Substitute,
illustrated by Chris Raschka
(Click to enlarge spread)

 

“CHILDREN!”
— From Ryan T. Higgins’s We Don’t Eat Our Classmates
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
Over at Kirkus today, I’ve got two new picture books on the mind, ones that take a look at both sides of a story.

That is here.

* * *

Last week, I wrote here about some good new back-to-school picture books, including Kate Berube’s Mae’s First Day of School (Abrams, July 2018); Antoinette Portis’s Best Frints at Skrool (Neal Porter/Roaring Brook, June 2018); Liz Garton Scanlon’s and Audrey Vernick’s Dear Substitute (Disney-Hyperion, June 2018), illustrated by Chris Raschka; Ryan T. Higgins’s We Don’t Eat Our Classmates (Disney-Hyperion, June 2018); and Rafael López’s We’ve Got the Whole World in Our Hands (Orchard/Scholastic, October 2018).

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

Enjoy! Read the rest of this entry »

“Josie checked for a loose tooth every night.
But nothing ever moved, not even a bit.”
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
I am always interested in seeing the latest picture book release from Jennifer K. Mann. Her stories possess such respect for the inner lives of children, and she captures domestic and school-related dramas so perfectly. (Here’s my 2016 7-Imp interview with her, if her books are new to you, by chance, and you want to explore.) Her newest picture book, Josie’s Lost Tooth (Candlewick), is no exception. It will be on shelves next month. Here’s a quick peek inside.

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“Lula says: ‘This is hard work, Daddy.’ ‘It is,’ Daddy says.
‘But see what we’ve done already, even without Akaraka.’
‘Daddy!’ Lula laughs. ‘Akaraka can’t sweep.’ ‘Oh?’
‘She’s an imaginary girl.'”
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
Has anyone else noticed how many superb picture books former editor and now-author Richard Jackson has been penning? I tell you what, they have been some of my favorite picture book texts in the last couple of years. Last year’s This Beautiful Day, illustrated by Suzy Lee; last year’s All Ears, All Eyes, illustrated by Katherine Tillotson; and 2016’s In Plain Sight, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, are but a few examples. The legendary editor retired in 2005 and has taken up picture book-writing. Here is a great PW piece about him, published two years ago.

His newest picture book — A Kiss for Akaraka (Greenwillow), illustrated by E. B. Goodale — will be on shelves in late September. This is the story of a father and daughter (Lula) outdoors, raking leaves and discussing the girl’s imaginary friend, Akaraka. I just read the Kirkus review for the book, where the reviewer writes: “Questions about what we see and what we don’t see, what we know and what we don’t know ripple through this beguiling book like a playful October wind.” Ah, yes. Well-said. Read the rest of this entry »

(Click to enlarge)

 
Over at Kirkus today, I’ve got some recommended picture books, all new to shelves, for back-to-school.

That is here.

* * *

Last week, I wrote here about Laura Vaccaro Seeger’s Blue (Neal Porter/Roaring Brook), coming to shelves this September. I’m following up today with a visit from Laura, who talks about her process, while sharing lots of art. I thank her for visiting.

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“In 2016, the European Union and Turkey decide refugees sneaking into Greece by boat from Turkey will be returned to Turkey. The Europeans promise to resettle officially registered Syrians from Turkish camps, a tiny fraction of all the refugees in Turkey.”

 
As a follow-up to my Kirkus Q&A last week with Don Brown, I’ve some art today from The Unwanted: Stories of Syrian Refugees (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, September 2018).

Until tomorrow. …

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“He loaded up the pumpkin and drove to town.”
(Click to enlarge spread)

 
I’ve a review over at BookPage of Brian Lies’ The Rough Patch (Greenwillow, August 2018). The review is here, and Brian visits today to talk about the process behind this moving picture book. I thank him for sharing.

Let’s get right to it.

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Good morning, one and all. It’s the first Sunday of the month (August already? WHUT), and that means I have a student or newly-graduated illustrator visiting today. In this case, it’s the latter. I welcome Amber Ma today. I love to pore over her detailed, beguiling artwork, and since she tells you about it below, as well as generously shares lots of art, let’s get right to it.

Thanks again to Amber for stopping by today. …

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“Mary opens her eyes, frightened. She tries to forget what she imagined.
She tries to think up a ghost story instead. And then, with a sudden jolt of excitement, she understands. She had already found her ghost story! The monster coming to life. That is the story she will write. Finally, she has her idea. …”
— From Linda Bailey’s Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein,
illustrated by Júlia Sardà
(Click image to enlarge and read the full text)

 

“She trembled as she imagined a hand — huge, gray, and twisted —
appearing through the bed curtains. She saw the curtains part.
The creature stared down at her with bulging yellow eyes.
What did it want from her?!”
— From Lynn Fulton’s She Made a Monster,
illustrated by Felicita Sala
(Click image to enlarge)

 
Over at Kirkus today, I write about Laura Vaccaro Seeger’s newest picture book, Blue.

That is here.

* * *

Last week, I wrote here about Linda Bailey’s Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein, illustrated by Júlia Sardà (Tundra, August 2018), as well as Lynn Fulton’s She Made a Monster: How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein, illustrated by Felicita Sala (Knopf, September 2018). Today I’m following up with art from each book.

Enjoy!

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“[V]isiting Greece underscored the human scale of the tragedy. It was happening to ordinary men, women, and children, no different than my family and neighbors. The visit left me determined to tell the refugees’ story with both accuracy and sympathy. They don’t deserve less.”

* * *

Over at Kirkus today, I talk with author-illustrator Don Brown about his latest graphic novel, The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees.

That is here, and next week here at 7-Imp, I’ll follow up with some more images from the book.

Until tomorrow …