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Jules: Welcome to our kicks on this holiday weekend! We hope folks are around to kick with us.
I suppose this is the moment at the Mad Tea Party just after Alice “got up in great disgust, and walked off” and the Dormouse has fallen asleep instantly — just prior to being stuffed into a teapot, that is. This Mad Tea Party comes to us from freelance illustrator Kevin Tseng.
Kevin, who studied Biology and Fine Art at Washington University, has just written and illustrated his first book, Ned’s New Home (Tricycle Press, August 2009), about a friendly worm named Ned, looking for some new digs. He does live in an apple, so I figure decomposition is a harsh reality. I haven’t had the chance to read the book yet, but I invited Kevin to come share some of his art here on the first Sunday of the month when I like to highlight student or new-to-the-field illustrators.
Kevin says he’s a fan of the Alice books, and these images are from a few years ago — from his portfolio. Score. You know we love our Alice art. I love how the Caterpillar below can multi-task, what with his ability to cross his arms sternly at Alice and hold on to his hookah:
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Happy Sunday, everyone! Those are coffee bean cupcakes that I’m cyber-giving to Eisha today, because Monday is her birthday! I got her blessing to take over today’s post and celebrate it one day early with our kicker-friends. She graciously agreed to type her kicks in the comments later, like everyone else, so that I CAN EMBARRASS HER on her birthday. Mwahaha. You know we do this every year, and I don’t know about Eisha, but I actually find it challenging each year to find new and creative ways to humiliate her. So . . .
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“You hear music? / Dancers too? / I can hear them. / Well, can you? /
They play tunes / Beyond compare, / Dancing through my crazy hair.”
(Click to enlarge spread — and all others in this post.)
Jules: You want to know what I’ve noticed lately here at 7-Imp? I’ve noticed that I’ve been posting quite a bit of art from illustrators or author/illustrators whom I’ve already interviewed or in some way featured previously. Robert Neubecker. Adam Rex. Grace Lin. Jeremy Tankard. Ed Young. Dan Santat. Jarrett J. Krosoczka. Whew. The list goes on. I wouldn’t feature them in the first place if I didn’t love their work, and I always end my correspondence with them (on, say, interviews) by inviting them to stop by any time, since I like to keep up with what they’re doing (and since I also otherwise try to do what I can to feature new artists). Well, Dave McKean is no exception. You may remember that he stopped by this year in March — with quite possibly the Most Art Ever in a 7-Imp Interview, as in you can just take your time in going to get yourself a cup of coffee or pipin’ hot tea while that interview LOADS. (And his art is so beloved all over the world that the 7-Imp McKean-interview gets linked to from places like this on a pretty consistent basis. Man, I wish I could read ‘em.)
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Jules:
These are artist
Emilio Santoyo’s boys of summer. Emilio, a freelance illustrator and designer from California, is visiting this morning, as it’s the first Sunday of the month when I like to shine the spotlight on student illustrators or illustrators just moving beyond student-dom.
There is a certain manic energy and seeming spontaneity to Emilio’s work that drew my eye. And with such bright, happy colors, too, which kind of wink at us beneath his edgier pieces. Emilio graduated from the Art Center College of Design in 2007. Since then, he has been doing freelance illustration and design for small and big clients.
“Projects I take on,” Emilio told me, “can be as small as contributing a weekly comic for a newspaper, new product for my online store, to working on a full-blown commercial for a bank. I love new challenges, and that’s what keeps me moving.” Check out Emilio’s derby: (more…)
“We kids had done it! All of Boston cheered.”
(Click to enlarge this image — and all of Lita’s images below.)
Jules: Welcome to 7-Imp’s 7 Kicks, our 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.
Today, 7-Imp welcomes author/illustrator Lita Judge, who is here to share a bit of sneak-peek art from her forthcoming title, as well as some spreads from her most recent picture book (and the second title she’s both written and illustrated), Pennies for Elephants (Hyperion, June 2009). Pennies, based on actual events of the turn of the last century, tells the story of two young siblings, living in Boston in 1914, named Henry and Dorothy. They had only seen elephants “once in real life, when Grams took Henry and me to the circus. They were my favorites. Henry’s too,” says Dorothy when she sees a newspaper boy one winter afternoon on a street corner, yellling, “Pennies for elephants! Pennies for elephants! Send in your pennies, your nickels, and dimes!” It turns out that the Orfords, noted animal trainers there in Boston, were retiring from show business, yet the city of Boston couldn’t afford to buy the pachyderms—the performing elephants, named Mollie, Tony, and Waddy—for the zoo. Mr. and Mrs. Orford, however, were going to give the children of the city two months to collect $6,000 so that they could visit the animals at the zoo one day. Henry, then, gets a bright idea, and
“{w}hen Henry got an idea in his head, it was like fuel to a Studebaker.” Thus begins the tale of how the children in Boston saved their nickels, pennies, and dimes to purchase the elephants for the city — beginning with Henry and Dorothy’s “entire life savings combined,” one dollar and fourteen cents.
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Jules: Welcome to 7-Imp’s 7 Kicks, our 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.
Do you see that above? Raccoon and Rabbit are sneaking some COOKIES. Sneaky sneakers. And they’re here because today 7-Imp welcomes back authorstrator Jeremy Tankard, who’s here to share some art, including that spread above, from Boo Hoo Bird (cover below), released by Scholastic in April. Regular readers know of my deep and abiding love for Jeremy’s debut picture book, Grumpy Bird (2007). I also have a special place in the 7-Imp portion of my heart for Jeremy, since he was the first-ever taker in my seven-questions-over-breakfast interview series, started back here in 2008.
Bird, of Grumpy Bird fame, is back in Boo Hoo Bird! Yes, he’s returned and has made a noun of the word “bonk.” This I love, because—no kidding—we do that in our house. I wish I could say that Jeremy called and got that tip from me, that I get all the credit for the “BONK” usage in Boo Hoo Bird, but that’s okay. I was happy to see it. I am also happy that Jeremy, who says a bit about the book below, includes a synopsis (well, the kind that doesn’t give away the ending), since it’s been a while since I turned in my library copy of Boo Hoo Bird. But I do remember this: The book is great. It’s very funny (what with Bird’s flair for histrionics). And I still get great pleasure out of soaking in Jeremy’s art. I still say: He’s one of my favorite new illustrators.
Let’s get right to it. Thanks to Jeremy for stopping by for a brief visit and for the art. (We’re even being treated to some art from early dummies of the book today.)
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(Click to enlarge. Really. You just have to. How can you not? It’s Ed Young.)
Jules: Welcome to 7-Imp’s 7 Kicks, our 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.
Happy Sunday to one and all . . . Some of you may remember that it wasn’t too long ago that I posted the 7-Imp Ed Young interview. Well, he’s got a new book out, and I am so head-over-heels in love with it and the art therein that I’m happy to be able to show you some spreads from it today.
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Jules: Welcome to 7-Imp’s 7 Kicks, our 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.
And it happens to be the first Sunday of the month, in which I like to shine the spotlight on someone new to illustration.
But, first: Happy Independence Day and happy holidays to our American readers. We hope you enjoyed some good fireworks and red, white, and blue pie. (Oh yes, I did. I took in a slice of Cool Whip, strawberry, and blueberry pie. Mmm.) And we hope some folks will be around to kick with us today, even though it’s a long, leisurely holiday weekend for a lot of us.
Things are very all-in-the-family this morning here at 7-Imp. Anyone else remember when Philip Stead stopped by in mid-June to let me shine the spotlight on him? Well, he happened to mention that his wife is about to be a debut illustrator as well; in fact, they’re working on a book together. After I saw a sneak-peek of a bit of Erin’s art from that book, thanks to Philip, I invited her to stop by and talk a bit about the upcoming title and share some of her art. Don’t you love that opening illustration? (You can click on all of the images in today’s post to enlarge them.) I like it. A whole lot.
Here’s Erin, and I thank her for visiting 7-Imp today, especially since she gives us a wonderful peek into her printmaking process:
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“One brother wanted to save lives. The other brother wanted to dazzle crowds.
With Day-Glo, they did both.”
— From Chris Barton’s The Day-Glo Brothers: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer’s Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors
(Click image to enlarge.)
Jules: Happy Sunday to all, and welcome to 7-Imp’s 7 Kicks #121, featuring illustrator Tony Persiani and author Chris Barton, who has—in the past—joined us for some kickin’ here on a few Sundays (Chris, that is). It’s a pleasure today to have both Tony and Chris here to say a few words and show us some art from their new title, The Day-Glo Brothers: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer’s Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors, to be released by Charlesbridge in July. The Day-Glo Brothers, which is both the author’s and illustrator’s picture book debut, tells the story of Joe and Bob Switzer, who were born at the turn of the last century, who were opposites in many ways, and who—”by accident”—invented totally new fluorescent colors: Fire Orange and other glowing reds, yellows, greens, and more, which they came to call “Day-Glo” colors.
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“Now Mouse was really, really, really, really mad. Standing-still mad. Mouse did not hop. He did not stomp. He did not scream or roll on the ground. He stood very, very still. ‘Impressive,’ said Hare. ‘What control,’ said Bear.
‘Are you breathing?’ asked Hedgehog.”
– From Mouse Was Mad (Click image to enlarge.)
Jules: Welcome to our 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. Say that seven times fast.
This week we have one illustrator, Mr. Henry Cole (who has worked on more than fifty books and whom Erica Perl calls “a national treasure,” and I’d have to agree), and two authors, Ms. Perl herself and Linda Urban, whose stories Henry has illustrated this year in Linda’s Mouse Was Mad (pictured above) and Erica’s Chicken Butt! Know what? Yeah, I said chicken butt.
If you haven’t seen these titles yet and especially if you live and/or work with preschool children, I’m here to say that if you manage to get yourself copies and take a gander, you won’t be disappointed. Erica (who penned this very funny picture book in 2006) brings us Chicken Butt!, released by Abrams in April. She’s adapted into picture book form the classic school-yard rhyme, turning it into a call-and-response between a frustrated father, just trying to read the newspaper on a lazy afternoon, and his son, who manages to let a tattooed chicken—with, yes, a butt—follow him home. Publishers Weekly describes Henry’s art work in this one as “wryly effervescent as ever,” and Kirkus calls the book’s romp “a powerful piece of cacophony.” As for Linda’s Mouse Was Mad, released by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in May and met with great reviews all-around, well…move over, Sophie. (Okay, so she doesn’t really have to move over. That’s a great book, too.) This is a tale of a wee, WEE—but determined—mouse who is literally hoppin’ mad and trying to find just the right way to vent his anger. Mouse is also painfully adorable, but—as Kelly Fineman’s already put it—don’t tell him, because “being told one is adorable when one is angry is cause for still more rage.” Linda is the author of 2007’s A Crooked Kind of Perfect, and this is her first picture book.
As you can see, I’ve got a bit of Henry-art today. I had wanted to include this in my posts last week (here and here), shining a light on cartoon illustrations, but I knew that Erica and Linda would be stopping by today to say hi. So, here they all are. Let’s get to it — before we go kickin’ . . .
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“Men, women, and children ran out onto the deck of the Planter. Robert, standing straight and proud, stepped forward and raised the captain’s hat high in the air. He shouted that he had brought the Union a load of Confederate cannons.”
– From Seven Miles to Freedom: The Robert Smalls Story
Jules: Happy first-Sunday-of-the-month to one and all. First Sundays here at 7-Imp means a student illustrator or artist otherwise new to the field of children’s lit will get the spotlight. This morning we have illustrator, designer, and art instructor (inspiring children, thank goodness, to “think conceptually as well as independently”) Duane Smith, who studied at Pratt Insitute and currently lives in Brooklyn. This morning, I’ve got some of his art work from Janet Halfmann’s Seven Miles to Freedom: The Robert Smalls Story, published by Lee & Low Books last year. Janet is also here this morning to say a bit about the book.
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Jules: See my new doll? This is my kick #1 this week and a gift from illustrator Katherine Tillotson. I received the doll—we’ll call her Mrs. Petal Pauline McWheely—just yesterday as a thank-you for today’s feature: Katherine’s here today to share some art from her newly-illustrated picture book by author Megan McDonald, It’s Picture Day Today! (to be released in June by Atheneum Books).
Mrs. Petal Pauline McWheely has a lot in common with the students in McDonald’s picture book — students with names like Buttons and Feathers. Yup, it’s a school full of art materials: Clothespins, Easter grasses, glittering stars, twisty yarns, and lots of wheely things. They all gather for the class pic, only to discover that Glue is missing. (Glue is a popular guy, as you can probably imagine.) It’s pretty much mayhem (and kudos to Katherine for keeping it interesting; I’m no artist, but it seems to me it’d be challenging to animate things like fuzzy pom-poms and string), until the picture gets snapped right before the book’s close, which opens up into a four-page spread — and which I won’t give away. But it has a lot to do with how Mrs. McWheely is structured here: Making order out of scraps, out of chaos, out of what you thought was little to nothing.
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Jules: Happy (upcoming) Memorial Day and happy three-day-weekend to one and all! We hope folks are around today to come kickin’ with us, and we certainly hope everyone is having a relaxing and sunny weekend thus far.
Oh, wait. Yeah. I should have introduced the penguin here. The penguin with the plunger. That’s Patrick. If you think he looks as if he might be sleepwalking, well…you’re right. He’s got sleep issues. He’s also got his own picture book.
And I’m going to let author/illustrator Sarah Ackerley tell you all about him. Sarah—who grew up in Texas, studied art at The University of Texas at Austin, and moved to California last year—is here to tell us what she’s done, what got her inspired to make books for children (here’s a hint), and what’s to-come.
And we thank her kindly for stopping by. Ladies and gentlemen, with no further ado, we welcome Sarah Ackerley . . .
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Jules: We have an author and illustrator duo visiting us this morning, shining a light on some nonfiction today: The creators of Bubble Homes and Fish Farts (released by Charlesbridge in February of this year), author Fiona Bayrock, who has written many science books for children, and author/illustrator Carolyn Conahan. Yeah, I said fish farts. In her March review of this book, Jen Robinson, one of our pretty regular kickers here on Sundays, wrote: “Fiona Bayrock has taken a unique premise, researched it to find lots of interesting, factual examples, and then added (with Carolyn Conahan’s help) both humor and heart.” Well, I say she nailed it with that statement. Just when you thought you understood all there was to know about bubbles and their purpose in this world, along comes Fiona. PSYCHE! Or “paradigm shift,” in the words of The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books. (Can I yell “PARADIGM SHIFT!” like someone would yell “PSYCHE!” Nah. Doesn’t flow well.) Yes, where was I? Fiona shows us the varied, weird, wild, wonderful, and all-around funky ways animals use bubbles. Sixteen different ways, to be precise, from the star-nosed mole’s bubble-blowing from its sniffer (note: that is not a rigorous scientific term) in order to find food to the the rattlebox moth’s “glob of yellow bubbles” that seep from its head as a warning to predators — and lots of other bubble action in between.
I want to say you’ll be blown away by this title, but then Andrea and Mark, the dynamic duo over at Just One More Book, beat me to that very necessary pun.
I asked both Fiona and Carolyn to talk a bit about the book today, and Carolyn is also here to share some watercolors from it, as well as a few sneak peeks at some of her other projects.
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“Walking to the honey house, I concentrated on my feet touching down on the hard-caked dirt in the driveway, the exposed tree roots, fresh-watered grass, how the earth felt beneath me, solid, alive, ancient, right there every time my foot came down. There and there and there, always there. The things a mother should be.”
Jules: Welcome to 7-Imp’s 7 Kicks on this Mother’s Day 2009! In honor of the special day, we’ve got some Mother’s Day photography and a bit of art. (That quote above comes from Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees, and I just wanted to share it. It’s my favorite thought-on-mamahood ever.)
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Jules: This is how happy we are that the month of May has arrived. See? We’re swoony and floating.
It’s the first of the month again, and that’s when 7-Imp features a student illustrator or someone otherwise new to the field of children’s books. The art today comes from first-time author for young readers, Eric Wight. Here we have an illustration from his debut graphic novel, My Dead Girlfriend, which was listed among the 2008 Great Graphic Novels for Teens by YALSA. So, yeah, Jenny Wraith here is swoony and floating, but she’s also very much not alive.
As you can see, Eric’s not new to illustration, but this May he will be debuting a new chapter book/graphic novel hybrid series for younger readers, called Frankie Pickle. Frankie Pickle and the Closet of Doom, published by Simon & Schuster, will be released this week. “The Frankie Pickle series,” Eric told me, “is about a typical boy with an anything but typical imagination. Whenever faced with a challenge, Frankie becomes lost in fantasy -– which sometimes causes bigger trouble than what he started with. But, in the end, creative problem-solving always triumphs. The aspects of the chapter book that take place within Frankie’s imagination are told with sequential panels, while the parts of reality are prose. My intention for creating a hybrid was to seamlessly integrate words and illustrations in order to entice even the most reluctant of young readers. A father of two small children myself, I also set out to write a book that parents would find equally entertaining as they read it to their kids.”
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Dog-lovers might be particularly happy this week to see that we have a visit from artist Wendy Wahman, who has mostly done editorial art in her career but is now venturing into the world of children’s books. Don’t Lick the Dog: Making Friends with Dogs, which will be released at the end of this month from Henry Holt, is—for all intents and purposes—a how-to manual for children about approaching and interacting with dogs, but it’s way more fun and funny and snazzy (or “jazzy,” in the words of Kirkus) and playful than your typical manual. I could have really used this as a kid and, actually, even now, as I found the tips helpful myself: Now I know what to do if a dog, for one, is grumbling at me and wearing that “ugly wrinkled frown” face.
I’ll let more of Wendy’s art work from the book speak for itself here. (You can click on each image to see it larger and in more detail.)…
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Jules: See those cars, in-and-outing? I’m one of those, on my way to East Tennessee for a Very Exciting Day, but I’ll get to that in a minute.
This morning, 7-Imp welcomes acclaimed Italian graphic artist Beppe Giacobbe. Well, I wish I were welcoming him, but I wasn’t able to get in touch with him to see if he’d like to stop by, to say hello (in either Italian or English), and to show us some other art work — though I tried. Bummer. Because I love his art work, which is new to me and which I first saw in the new picture book by the award-winning and quite prolific author (AND poet AND essayist AND reviewer AND even more), Robert Burleigh, entitled Clang! Clang! Beep! Beep!: Listen to the City, to be released in early May by Simon & Schuster (Paula Wiseman Books). I can at least show you two spreads from that today. Here’s the other:
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Jules: In a continued celebration of National Poetry Month, this morning 7-Imp welcomes author and poet Jane Yolen and freelance photographer Jason Stemple, who happens to be Jane’s son. Jason’s photography has illustrated over ten of Jane’s previous titles, and their latest artistic collaboration is the beautifully (and cleverly) designed, A Mirror to Nature: Poems About Reflection, released this month by Wordsong. The book features twelve poems, along with Jason’s nature photography, which reflect upon (excuse the bad pun) the doubled images and patterns created by the reflective nature of water. “The first mirror was water: puddles, pools, lakes, quiet rivers,” Jane writes in the opening author’s note.
Pictured here are some wood storks, the only stork species, the book notes, that breeds in North America, and a bird on the endangered species list. Below is Jane’s poem about the wood stork, followed by one more poem-photo pairing from the title, as well as the book’s cover image (a blue heron):
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“Parade is over. Time for bed.”
– from Karen Roosa’s Pippa at the Parade
Jules: I know it’s a bright Sunday morning, a new day, and not time to climb back into our beds, but I can’t help but open with this image, because I love the colors so much I just might want to marry them.
This comes from illustrator Julie Fortenberry. Julie has two blogs—one devoted solely to her art and one all about picture book illustration. And here’s the thing: I’ve always loved her children’s illustration blog, but I never quite made the connection that it was Julie Fortenberry who authored it. Sometimes I’m slow-on-the-draw like that.
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Jules: Today, 7-Imp welcomes photographer Jacquelynn Buck. Jacquelynn, who is actually formally trained in Public Health but who has a passion for photography and design, does portraits, weddings, travel and nature photography, and even design work (websites, posters, postcards, etc.) — and much more. I first heard about her from Sara Lewis Holmes, whose author photo was taken by Jacquelynn. In fact, I very first read about her here at Sara’s site in 2007. (Sara also interpreted some of Jacquelynn’s photos in this intriguing Poetry Friday post.)
Jacquelynn writes at her site, “I want to translate on paper that core that is each person, each city, that makes them who and what they are…There was a time in my life when I wanted to change the world. And maybe I still will. But today let me show you the world through my eyes. Know that not everything is as it seems. Discover again what you thought you already knew.” These are fitting words for Jacquelynn’s latest photography project, entitled Real Women. She tells us all about it below (and you can read about its origin at her site), but—to summarize—it’s to help women see themselves as beautiful, just as they are. To which I’m sure most of us would say, AMEN.
This post follows on the heels of author Sara Zarr’s post from this week about her experience during an author photo shoot, in which she specifically and repeatedly told the photographer that she didn’t want to be Photoshopped. Here’s part of what Sara wrote:
When I was setting up the appointment for the shoot, I told the photographer’s assistant that I just wanted to look like me. He asked if I required a makeup artist. No. Not my style. I sent him to my blog, I showed him recent photos of me that I liked. The day of the shoot, I spent over an hour with the photographer. And said again - I just want to look like me. As he shot me, we talked a little bit about women being photographed. How we all have our insecurities. How I’d come to accept mine and don’t want to turn down life opportunities because I think I should be thinner or prettier. At the end of the shoot, he said that he could work magic with Photoshop, and if I wanted to look like I’d been going to the gym every day for four months, he could do that. I said no. I said I wanted to look like me. I said that a large part of my audience is made up of teen girls and I didn’t want to perpetuate that whole “I’m not okay” thing.
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“Have you seen my chick?” she asked.
“No,” they said, “but we will help you look.”
Jules: Welcome to 7-Imp’s 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.
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Here’s one of the best things about blogging: I get to chat with book-creators whose work I have admired for a long time. Illustrator Stefano Vitale is one of those people. His art work is a force of nature, and whenever I see that he’s illustrated a new title, I run to find a copy.
Even though I didn’t get to chat with him directly—this was one of those interviews conducted via his publicist (I’m sure he’s a very busy guy, so this is hardly a complaint)—I’m still thrilled that I was two degrees away from someone whose art work has brought me so much joy. Better yet, I get to either share it with fellow fans today OR introduce the uninitiated to his books and show you what his paintbrush can produce. Both things are big kicks, indeed.
A random Moment of Beauty from Stefano Vitale (entitled Ginny Grows Up)
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“‘Quick!’ said Doodle. ‘There’s a feast!’”
Jules: Hello? Anyone out there? I’ve been checked out all week with some kind of dastardly flu-like thing. And a big pile of work. A big pile of work that stuck out its tongue at my dastardly flu-like thing and said it had no pity for me. (This is, ultimately, a good thing, since self-pity gets one nowhere, though it didn’t make it any easier to have that pile of work saying nah nah nah nah nah in my face.) I’ve felt rather removed from everything all week and like I’m finally just now emerging, since—as of yesterday morning—the room was spinning a little less and words on the computer screen were a little less jumpy. I hope all our devoted Sunday kickers are doing well and that you all come along and kick away and share your fabulous lives today.
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Jules: Jump back and slap the floor seven times! It’s our 100th kicks post. Now, I have to say, that just snuck right up on me. If I were more organized, perhaps we could have planned some big celebration, but I’m just now realizing this anniversary as I type. Just think: One hundred weeks of reflections on the beautiful things (starting way back here in March of 2007). I love it.
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Charlie Brown and I send our biggest hugs and happiest wishes for a fabulous year to come. I miss you bunches. No one even comes close to you here.
p.s. John, a little-known fun fact about Katherine O’Hara (whom I agree is brilliant, incidently) — Her sister, Mary Margaret, released this AMAZING CD in 1988. It’s like this cult classic CD of sorts — so good, hypnotic, weird as hell, very wonderful. I think I’ve only ever met one person in my life who had even heard of her and that CD (without me pushing it on them, that is!), other than my brother. He and I adored that CD in high school. Here’s the cover. I once read some interview with Michael Stipe in which he sang the praises of that CD, and I liked him even more than I already did.
:( 
Chris, Pandora Radio was on my kicks shortlist this week. Really. It’s fabulous. Did you see Green Day perform live last night on SNL? And, man, I’m sorry your camping trip got cancelled, but it sounds like you’re making the most of it. We’ve gotten TONS of rain here, too. Oh, and I should try dePaola’s series on my girls, too. Thanks for the tip. Right now we’re reading the book pictured here, and they CANNOT GET ENOUGH OF IT. 
Hi All,
As usual, my late owl tendencies have me blinking at this computer screen when I should be in bed. However, I missed kicking the last few weeks and wanted to put my gratitude out there.
I love Kevin’s soft watercolor art, especially the happy Humpty Dumpty!
Jules - so sorry to hear about your two friends. Will keep good thoughts for them. And I hope that Ada has a much less stressful week coming up - she’s too sweet to be sad.
Kudos to you on the post in American Libraries Direct, Jules! How cool is that?!
Happy Birthday, Blaine! Many woots for the day.
Eisha - I have had “I Am One of You Forever” on my book list for over a year, so now I must get it and read it. Jude Law as Hamlet? That will be fantastic! Wonder who plays Queen Gertrude? I am going to see “Wicked” next month, after hearing raves about it for what seems like years.
Okay, my kicks:
1) Filed my fictitious business name and published it in the paper on Friday. Will spill about the name once this is going somewhere (Jules - ignore my last email - I decided to take the plunge before I lost my nerve).
2) Watched two of the best movies I’ve seen in awhile - “City Lights” (thanks for the reminder to watch it again, JES) and “Play Time”. The latter is even timelier now than it was in the ’60’s when it was made. Both are brilliant.
3) A friend of mine from college is here from Memphis with her boyfriend, and we’re going to Napa on Tuesday! Can’t wait to see her.
4) This amazing artist - it’s hard to imagine that this is for real - carving something from a grain of sand?! It’s a long video, but very inspiring:
httphttp://www.ted.com/talks/willard_wigan_hold_your_breath_for_micro_sculpture.html
If you don’t have time to watch it, here’s his website: http://www.willard-wigan.com/
5) September! This is Book Month around here - 3 book fairs and a giant library book sale. My favorite month.
Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!
I have so many kicks this week. Highlights include:
1) Auditioning (including an audition for something that, even if I don’t get the role, I was extremely happy with my performance, and the fact that I got this audition is a really big deal to me)
2) Outfitting
3) Filming and getting featured
4) Visiting and being visited
5) Offers and attempts
6) I think Jason Robert Brown commented on my book bag post at readergirlz.
7) Being alive. On this day, many years ago, I decided to come into the world early. Yes, I’ve been stubborn and determined since day one to do things my own way. Though I initially scared my mother and doctors, all was well, and I’m so very glad to be here.
Hello to Kevin Tseng! Thanks for sharing your vision of Wonderland with us. That is the most adorable March Hare I’ve ever seen in modern interpretations of that scene. The sleepy Dormouse also makes me want to say, “Awww.” I like the Cheshire Cat’s gradual disappearance. Good luck with Ned’s New Home. I think Lowly Worm would appreciate that story. I really like the cow jumping over the moon, and am very impressed with the design work - so intricate!
Jules: Thinking of your friends and their loved ones. Have strength and share strength. Happy birthday to your boy, Blaine! The pointy shoe art is so cool, as is the story it accompanies. Do you know about Mo Willems’ forthcoming book series which stars a CAT?
eisha: I expect a full recap of Hamlet after you see it in November. If not within a post here, then just email me. Hamlet is my favorite of Shakespeare’s tragedies.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LITTLE WILLOW! Woo hoo! I wish I had known and I could have put it in the post!
So glad you had such a good week with good performances and auditions. Everything’s comin’ up Little Willow!
Oops, Jill. I had to go save your comment from spam.
I’m so sorry I didn’t answer your email in time. Doh. I hope to get to email today. Anyway, congrats on filing the name. That is great news!
Have fun with your friend, and thanks for the Willard Wigan link. Seems like I’ve heard about him before. I’ll watch that later. (I love those TED talks.)
Oh, my word. That pointy pencil shoe. Joy! Love Kevin’s alphabet, too, even though I’d have to arm wrestle Jama for it.
Eisha, Hamlet. So green with envy here. Greeeeeeen.
Happy Birthday, Little Willow! The world needs more happy stubbornness like yours.
My kicks are that my son loves college—we delivered Cheerio treats and a bike to him yesterday—and my daughter found a place to live in Dublin and saw a double rainbow from her window. Plus, a book launch for me with lots of friends coming by to comment and Jama to make soup!
To top it off, Liz’s All the World showed up in my mailbox. I defy anyone not to feel connected and joyful after reading it. Yowza, it deserves all those starred reviews.
Happy
So glad your children are doing great, Sara. …All the World is beautiful. For sure. Liz and Marla will be here at 7-Imp this week. It’s been fun to work on their interview. Very fun. And a great story behind how those two got paired up on this book.
Happy Sunday!
I’m swooning over this whole post — Kevin’s art is lovely. Is that apple pie and a snail licking his chops?!
And Ned with his suitcase and the big pear. Adorable. Alphabetica! Eeeee! I SO needed that hit today.
Poor Ada. So sorry to hear about your friends, Jules. Sending healing thoughts and hugs. That’s very cool about your post being included in ALD! Happy Birthday, Blaine!
Eisha, you always get to do the coolest stuff. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts about the Hamlet performance this fall. Jude Law = Hottie.
Happy Birthday, LW! We’re all SO glad you’re here, too. You are a constant source of light and joy in the world. Congrats again on getting that audition :).
Kicks:
1. Pointy pencil shoe by Julie. Utter, amazing coolness.
2. Going to Kristy Dempsey’s booksigning in Alexandria today. The bears are so excited because they love ME WITH YOU. I think Sara’s going, too.
3. Speaking of Sara, Operation Yes launched this week!! Yay!!
4. Just saw “Babette’s Feast” and loved it. I know, I’m extremely lame for not having seen it way before now.
5. Hood River Cherries. OMG. Simply. the. best. DH said they’re worth moving to Oregon for.
6. Celebrated our 31st anniversary with a scrumptious dinner (French country cuisine). Also heard from one of our wedding guests (there were only 40) via FB. She’s now in Japan and it was so good to hear from her after so many years.
7. Beatles week on VH1! Had never seen the Anthology video before. Just saw “Hard Day’s Night” again the other night. Still a classic. Still drives my inner groupie wild with joy.
*Bonus Kick: Dylan’s releasing a Christmas album in October. It’s all for charity, Feeding America and other international orgs. And it cracks me up that he’s considering being the GPS “voice” for two companies. Hey, I’ve never had a GPS system, but I wouldn’t mind hearing him say, “No direction home,” or “Turn right, Jama.”
Jill, holy crap! That Willard Wigan is unbelievable. And CONGRATS on the new top-secret business venture, whatever it is.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LITTLE WILLOW!!! How are you celebrating? Congrats on the filming and the excellent audition, and on the author comment, too! It really has been quite a week for you.
Sara, HUGE CONGRATS on the book launch! And is there room at your daughter’s new place for me? I just want to see if Irish rainbows are any better than ours. Surely they’re more likely to have the pot o’ gold at the end, right?
Happy Anniversary, Jama! Agreed, “Hard Day’s Night” is awesome, and hilarious. “He’s very clean, isn’t he?” And OMG if Bob becomes a GPS voice, I may have to trade mine in.
I really like Kevin’s Cheshire Cat, and I do want that note card for my very own.
Jules, Oh, I am sorry about your friends struggling with cancer, and I’m sending positive energy for them and you and poor little Ada still adjusting. I also hope Piper gets to wear lots of different kinds of shoes in her life; what a wonderful blessing–I must remember it!
eisha, I have to read that Sunshine book. Besides your recommendation, WHAT A COVER. Also, I’m totally with Jama–I heart Jude Law and will be looking forward to your report.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LITTLE WILLOW! I am singing you a song from here and wishing you something wonderful, like angel food cake topped with strawberries.
My kicks are all going to be one BIG kick this week, which is that a bunch of friends came over yesterday and tore down this shed in the backyard that I’ve needed to get rid of for years. I had to ASK for this help, which is not something I normally do, and everyone came through and was was so kind, and I did the best thing I knew how to do, which was made them a most excellent lunch. And, WHEW, what a relief to have it done. I like to be as independent as I can be, but my life has been such that I know how much depends on all the wide circle of people I know and love. I am just so grateful for them, and all of you here, too. I believe I will celebrate by drinking coffee and reading the newspaper.
I love Kevin’s nursery rhyme work. Jules, that pointy pencils is sooo fabulous and the quote about wearing different shoes in life, wow! I do a lesson with shoes and books to demonstrate we have different kinds for different days( an idea I read somewhere). Hope Blaine’s bdayis fab.
Eisha, hope your hand is doing better. Going to have to borrow Sunshine which reminds me that my fave tv vampire is back on tv as a doctor Alex O’Loughlin.
Jill, thanks for the movie recommendations.
Little Willow, happy birthdya. Enjoy!
Sara, happy to hear your son is liking college. And Operation Yes will be one of my posts this week at “Check it Out”. I love the book.
And Jama, where did you have those Hood River cherries? We have feasted on them all summer.
My kicks,
Oddly, I am loving the rain that is here this weekend.
School started and while I am feeling overwhelmed, I am excited.
My second poem was features at Four and Twenty this week. One of for poets from the journal to be features (http://4and20poetry.com/).
I love reading everyone’s kicks each week!
Have a great week.
Jules: Thank you! I’m hope hope hoping that I hear from the recent auditions. One thing that I filmed in late August might air as early as TOMORROW, but I won’t know until I watch and see if they included it now or are waiting until the fall to air it. Hopefully, you can see me in that. What I filmed this past week will air in a few months’ time, and you should be able to see me in that.
Sara: So glad that your family is prospering, and that your book launch soared (with soup!) I like the sound of that: Happy stubbornness. Thank you!
jama: Gracias. That’s sweet of you to say. I wonder if a big soup company will ever make a variety of alphabet soups, each one in a different font. Can you imagine? (ComicSans? No.) Happy anniversary!
eisha: Thank you! I love the month starting off like this. I treat my birthday as my New Year’s Day.
adrienne: That sounds tasty. Please, have a slice for me!
Jama, tell Kristy hi! And happy anniversary again. One can never hear that too much, right? And I’ve never even heard of “Babette’s Feast,” so I’m extra lame. Will have to look that up.
I never even said that you all can color me jealous, too, for Eisha going to see Hamlet on Broadway. SCORE, e.
Adrienne, I knew you’d appreciate that stationery. Thanks to you and everyone for good thoughts about my friends. One is a former colleague, who has a son not much older than Piper. Not that this is harder than any other kind of cancer situation, but I don’t know HOW you can hear that your cancer is inoperable anymore AND have a child to tell that to. Or find out you might have to say goodbye to the child. I mean, I just can’t. even. imagine.
That is one wonderful great big kick, Adrienne. I wish I could have come to help, just to a) help and b) have some of your good lunch.
Jone, congrats on the poetry again, but that link is broken. Wah. I wanna read it! Can you re-send the link? It didn’t have a “www,” so I tried adding it, but it still doesn’t work.
LW, send us those links so we can see you in action! And, you know, my husband said something similar about his b’day yesterday — treating it like New Year’s Day. I like that notion.
As others have said, that opening illustration is great. My favorite thing about it is the way the hare has just carelessly adapted to the presence of the suddenly-there dormouse/cushion at his elbow. My favorite among the nursery-rhyme ones is the cow and the moon. The latter looks like he's caught on-camera in the middle of the word "...yoooouu...," as in "What in the blazes are yoooouu doing up here?!?" Jules: Interesting that Piper has so many Julies she's a fan of, hmm? Coincidence? Naaaahh... I get forwarded copies of all the email directed to the non-profit poetry press whose board I'm on. Consequently, I, too, receive ALA Direct. But the last issue I have a copy of is the one dated 8/31. AND I CAN'T FIND THE REFERENCE you mention. Help? (And I'll be thinking about your friends, too, although it sounds like you've got them pretty well covered.) Eisha: "I did something really stupid...," in my book, never should precede a story in which the speaker treats someone else humanely. (I soooo wish there were more of such stupid doings to encounter every week.) So glad your friends bucked you up about it. Some great kicks from everyone else this week, too... Jill: The "Play Time" you mention -- is that the Tati film? I love Jacques Tati! And I see that Willard Wigan has done the tea-party scene, too! (Currently picture #8 here.) HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our favorite diminutive representative of genus Salix! Sara, it looks like your kicks might've gotten truncated but I have to say, if so, you couldn't have chosen a better way to end a kicks list. :) I'm with Eisha, Jama: I love the talking-GPS feature of my Blackberry but my loyalty would crumble if with some other system I could hear directions begin in that gravelly voice. Yo, Adrienne (which makes me laugh now that I've type it, although you must've heard it a thousand times): that's a terrific way to spend a day with people! Some kicks from here... * Worked at a benefit yard sale yesterday, and snarfed up best-of CD collections by Three Dog Night, the Eagles, and Eric Clapton... and a 7-CD set, "The Classic Sixties Collection." I know what I'm gonna be listening to for the next month or so. * Saw The International last night, with Clive Owen and Naomi Watts. Not bad -- especially the shoot-out at the Guggenheim (which, per the special features, they had to, um, like, build as a set). (I really like how Daniel Craig has done the James Bond thing, but still think Owen deserved a shot at that. Talk about a world-weary face, especially when his characters get beaten up and shot at a little.) * Ergotopographs. Although I wish I could add: WF^^^. * I haven't read any of the Twilight books (although I did read and like The Host). Still, it's hard not to be cheered if their influence may have helped make Wuthering Heights a recent best-seller. * The Missus was out of town for an overnight business trip this week. Per se, not a kick. But rather than try to wrestle with the issues of "what to do with the dog" (who or which she normally takes to work w/her), I opted to take a no-particular-agenda day off from work. Felt guilty about doing nothing of much consequence for, oh, maybe 10 minutes total. * 1950s B-movie dialogue. * The word "insouciance," which -- like "languorous" -- just feels in the mouth like what it means. Sort of like conceptual onomatopoeia or something. (And I swear, I have never partaken of any hallucinogenic substances.)
Happy Birthday, Little Willow! Have a great day!
JES, yes, “Play Time” is the Tati film (I should have mentioned that). I must admit not having heard of him before, but now I want to see “Trafic” and all of his other films - he’s a genius in my book. Tati and Chaplin have that physical comedy down to a science.
And I love the word “insouciance” and “languorous” also - words are kind of like hallucinogenic substances to me! Nothing better than a word high!
Hurrah for all the great kicks and birthday wishes! I’m just checking in briefly as my 6 year old is literally pressing against my arm, restless because it’s a rainy Sunday afternoon and just the two of us. I hope I will get some me-time today. That would be a kick.
*squeals!!!* Thank you, 7-Imp, for introducing me to Kevin Tseng!!! *more squealing!!!*
Jules, that postcard from Julie P. to Piper is so cool. And awww, re: Ada. I am praying for your friends!
Happy Birthday, Blaine. :o)
Eisha, thank you for always recommending good books. Re: Sunshine, you know you had me at BAKER IN A COFFEEHOUSE, right?
Jude Law as Hamlet?! And you get to watch?!
Jill, I’m wishing you all the best for your business!
Little Willow, Maligayang Kaarawan. That’s how we say Happy Birthday in Filipino. :o)
I really want to see some of your performances! *begs for links*
Sara, congratulations on the book launch!
Jama, wow, you had a really great week. You totally deserve it. Happy Anniversary again!
Adrienne, I too wish that I had been there to help and to eat that most excellent lunch.
Jone, I think I forgot to tell you that I really liked your first poem in Four and Twenty. I read it over and over and over and over and over again.
John, I really love how you really love words!
Farida, have a great Sunday!
My kicks:
1. Chenxi and the Foreigner by Sally Rippin, which is a gripping YA novel set in 1980s China (the events leading to the Tiananmen Square Massacre). It’s one of my favorite reads so far this year. I had the honor and privilege of interviewing Sally as part of her recent blog tour.
2. Friday night, I watched the Jabbawockeez (the winners of season one of America’s Best Dance Crew) live right here in Mania. They are excellent, smart, passionate, and sexy dancers.
3. Saturday night, I was playing games at an arcade with my family. It had been a while since I had last played some arcade games. I had fun and even won a basketball, pencils, and an adorable teddy bear as prizes!
4. It’s a three-day weekend here too!
5. I am collaborating with PaperTigers.org for their October issue, which will focus on Filipino children’s and young adult literature. I am so excited!
Too many excellent kicks to respond to! I haven’t got an organised list this week - a leisurely bike ride this afternoon and yummy salmon fillets for tea will have to suffice.
Jules, you’ve have had an illustration rich week! I’m so sorry to hear about your friends.
Eisha, I love Sunshine so am pleased to hear you’re enjoying it. And though it’s always horrible to think one has been scammed, like JES I think it’s better to be the sort of person that gives and is occasionally conned than the sort of person who never gives at all for fear of scams. So your kick can also be that you’re a generous person.
Happy Birthday Little Willow! I hope there is some yummy cake or another nice treat featuring in your day!
This is it: http://4and20poetry.com/ I hope it works this time. There is no “www” in front. Tarie, glad your enjoyed the first one.
Jules and Tarie, I am pretty much perpetually cooking, so if you ever happen by, there will doubtless be something to eat.
JES, Even I use Rocky as a reference to help people remember my name, so I’m okay with it. (People are forever calling me Audrey or Andrea or any other name that starts with an “A.”)
Jone: Our local Whole Foods (Fairfax, VA) was selling Hood River cherries for the last few weeks. None today, though *sigh*.
Hello kickers! I’ve missed a lot in the last few weeks, including birthdays (Eisha happy belated), the Kindergarten launch (congrats to you Jules), amazing artists, and more!
I’ve missed you all and missed your lists that make me oh so happy to read. Here are my recent kicks, not all from the last week.
1. I celebrated a birthday a little over a week ago (8-29) and got so many Facebook birthday wishes that it made my day! My blogging friends are the best!
2. Two weeks of classes are under my belt and I have amazing students. They’re doing some great book reviews on the Open Wide, Look Inside blog.
3. Counting the days to Kidlitcon 09 in October.
4. Still getting fresh, yummy veggies at the farmer’s market.
5. Making molasses cookies with William.
I sent a note to my poetry peeps (the poetry princesses) a few weeks ago that began “Damn cancer!” I’m sorry to hear about your friends, Jules. I’ll keep them in my prayers.
Happy birthday Little Willow!
Have a good week all!
John, you know I love words, too. Did I tell you that I ran the Pivot Questionnaire by my five-year-old, since Adrienne said she’d really be interested in her answers, and her favorite word is “crestfallen”? And that’s because when we were reading one day, we read that word and I paused and said I just loved it, even though it means a sad thing, and so my point is: I hope to pass on a love of words to her, too, and it seems I might be. Woot for that!
A no-particular-agenda day off from work is a good thing. Congrats.
Hi, Farida! Hope you got that you-time.
Tarie, the Sally Rippin book sounds great. Will add to the TBR pile, and I’ll have to go see that interview. Congrats on the Paper Tigers collaboration, too! They rock.
Emmaco, just two kicks from you is plenty, since your kicks are always rich and interesting and fun.
Jone, thanks for the link.
Tricia, we missed you. So glad you’re enjoying your students. They’re lucky to have you.
Thanks everyone.
Happy Birthday to me!
edit: being admin means you can embed videos in your own comments. w00t!
Blaine: I hadn’t heard that song before. Happy birthday to YOU!
Jone: Congrats on being featured at Four and Twenty! I hope that the excitement trumphs the overwhelmed feeling, and that things settle down for you soon, with the excitement continuing on. Thanks.
Jules and Tarie: RE: Links: Remind me and I will, if and when such things are available. I’m sure fans of the shows will put things on YouTube, so I’ll have to look there. Bug me next week and I’ll tell you if what I’m hoping runs tomorrow night does run, and I’ll point out if you can see me at all.
Tarie: Great minds think alike. I always treat my birthday as the start of my new year, because that’s what it is, really. Nice to have a day of reflection and of looking forward.
JES: I need to find a way to work the word “ergotopography” into conversation. Perhaps I can use it in the same breath as “academician.” (Watch me as I pull a white rabbit holding a calculus proof out of my hat!) I’ve been telling Twilight fans to read Wuthering Heights since Twilight first came out. I’m not a fan of either book - my favorite character in WH = the moors - but I feel like they go together well.
Thanks, Jill!
Farida: I hope you had a fun rainy day, and some quiet time.
Tarie: Sounds like you’ve had a fun weekend. Good luck with the PaperTigers collab! Thank you. Ooh, tell me how you pronounce Maligayang Kaarawan so I may say it correctly.
emmaco: Danke. Hurrah for leisure; I hear that’s nice. I hope YOU had too many excellent kicks to list! Yes, I was offered treats. Thank you.
Adrienne: You ought to carry around a picture of Rocky the squirrel and see if anyone gets it.
Tricia: Happy belated birthday! Oh, I’m sorry that I didn’t have that marked on my calendar. I hope you had a wonderful day. Best wishes and healthy thoughts for the poetry princesses. I’m pleased to hear that your friends and students are making your days so full.
All of you reading Sunshine and other vampire books: What can I do to get y’all to read The Shadow Saga books by Christopher Golden? Hmmm….
Little Willow, mah-lee-gah-yahng kah-ah-rah-wahn! :o)
Wow, all of Kevin Tseng’s artwork has a lovely, ethereal, nursery-ready quality to it, but the greeting cards and candles (and the alphabet!) were very, very cool.
Happy Birthday, Blaine!
Anti-kick: I’ve been without internet at the apt. since yesterday morning! I’m at Barnes & Noble now because the husband and I were going stir-crazy without the ‘net, and I’m just now reading all your loverly kicks.
Adrienne, my goodness, woman - do you really think you’re supposed to be able to pull down a whole shed by yourself? Let friends help - they like to do it for you, just like you like to do it for them.
jone, congrats on the lovely poem!
JES, is that “working from the mountains?” Love it! And I loved that whole article - the obstetrician one and the bath were the best. Also, I’m deeply jealous of that ’60s CD set.
Farida, I hope you got some Farida-time too.
Tarie, I just found out about Jabbawockeez fairly recently, and they are indeed fun to watch. Also, thank YOU for the book rec - that sounds fascinating.
emmaco, your very presence is a kick to me. No need for a list.
Tricia, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!! I’ll have to check out that blog.
Blaine, way to rock the admin privileges for good rather than evil.
Hey, Tanita!
Спасибо за сообщение, очень интересно. Я согласен с предыдущим комментарием.