December 18, 2019

Favorite Undies of 2019

Here are my favorite undies of 2019, and don't forget that you can see my casewrap reveals all year round here.

My list of favorite 2019 comics for children is up next!



December 16, 2019

Favorite Leporellos


LEPORELLOS


Books that have accordion-style, or zig-zagged, pages are called leporellos (or concertinas). These books can be experienced in a few ways: readers can keep the book folded and turn the "pages," flipping the book at the end to experience the other side of the book; or they can completely unfold and expand the book to create one giant, linear narrative. Some leporellos are printed on the front and back, while others are one-sided.

                                                               
click on a book cover to see more:

December 10, 2019

Let's Talk Illustrators #127: Taltal Levi

Taltal Levi's A Little Courage caught my eye even before I knew it was the story of a teacup-sized child who befriends a cat. There are many stories about finding courage, but few are illustrated with the grace and tenderness seen in Taltal's work. I was grateful to ask Taltal some questions about her work, and I hope you enjoy learning about her process as much as I did!


December 3, 2019

Let's Talk Illustrators #126: Anouck Boisrobert & Louis Rigaud

Anouck Boisrobert and Louis Rigaud teamed up again recently to create their latest innovative pop-up book The Acrobat Family. Anouck and Louis work together quite frequently to create some very interesting pop-up books like Wake Up, Sloth! and Under the Ocean (my personal favorites), among others. With its unique trim size (and even more unique engineering), The Acrobat Family falls right into place in a long line of creative projects undertaken by this French duo. Let's take a closer look inside!


November 26, 2019

Let's Talk Illustrators #125: Piet Grobler

I have been a fan of Piet Grobler's work since I first studied his 2005 picture book Today Is My Day in graduate school. So it goes without saying that I've been waiting quite some time to find the right book to talk to him about his process. Enter The Playgrounds of Babel, written by JonArno Lawson. Piet truly has a chance to shine and flex his artistic muscles with different media in this book, and I was so glad to talk to him about how he created it. Enjoy!


November 23, 2019

Crushes of the Week: November 17-23, 2019

This week's crushes:
  1. Chirri & Chirra, on the Town by Kaya Doi and David Boyd (Enchanted Lion Books, December 2019)
  2. A Year with Mama Earth by Rebecca Grabill and Rebecca Green (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, September 2019)
  3. The Magical Unicorn Society: A Brief History of Unicorns by Selwyn E. Phipps, Aitch, Oana Befort, Rae Ritchie, Zanna Goldhawk, and Harry Goldhawk (Feiwel & Friends, October 2019)
  4. Life: The First Four Billion Years: The Story of Life from the Big Bang to the Evolution of Humans by Martin Jenkins and Grahame Baker-Smith (Candlewick Studio, September 2019)
  5. Rabbit and the Motorbike by Kate Hoefler and Sarah Jacoby (Chronicle Books, September 2019)
  6. Orchestra by Avalon Nuovo and David Doran (Flying Eye Books, November 2019)
  7. The Speed of Starlight: An Exploration of Physics, Sound, Light, and Space by Colin Stuart and Ximo Abadia (Big Picture Press, October 2019)
      

November 19, 2019

Let's Talk Illustrators #124: Angel Chang

There is no better way to describe the illustrations in Dave Eggers' new book Most of the Better Natural Things in the World than "breathtaking." Angel Chang's debut as an illustrator brings light and warmth to every crevice of the Earth as a tiger carries her chair from one geographically-notable area to another. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Angel about her stunning illustrations of  most of the better natural things of the world.


November 16, 2019

Crushes of the Week: November 10-16, 2019

This week's crushes:
  1. Panthera Tigris by Sylvain Alzial and Helene Rajcak (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, October 2019)
  2. A Million Dots by Sven Völker (Cicada Books, September 2019)
  3. Otto Goes North by Ulrika Kestere (Gecko Press, September 2019)
  4. The Day of Your Arrival by Dolores Brown and Reza Dalvand (Nubeocho, October 2019)
  5. Little Libraries, Big Heroes by Miranda Paul and John Parra (Clarion Books, September 2019)
  6. Aunt Pearl by Monica Kulling and Irene Luxbacher (Groundwood Books, August 2019)
  7. Whose Footprint Is That? by Darrin Lunde and Kelsey Oseid (Charlesbridge, October 2019)
  8. North America: A Fold-Out Graphic History by Sarah Albee and William Exley (What on Earth Books, October 2019)
  9. Paper Peek: Colors by Chihiro Takeuchi (Candlewick Studio, October 2019)
        

November 14, 2019

THE BALCONY

The Balcony by Melissa Castrillón is a beautifully inspirational book about the power of nature to unite a community.


November 9, 2019

Crushes of the Week: November 3-9 2019

This week's crushes:
  1. We Are Artists: Women Who Made Their Mark on the World by Kari Herbert (Thames & Hudson, September 2019)
  2. Ghost: Thirteen Haunting Tales to Tell by Illustratus (Chronicle Books, August 2019)
  3. The Piano Recital by Akiko Miyakoshi (Kids Can Press, September 2019)
  4. Nya's Long Walk: A Step at a Time by Linda Sue Park and Brian Pinkney (Clarion Books, September 2019)
  5. Small in the City by Sydney Smith (Neal Porter Books, September 2019)
  6. Grobblechops by Elizabeth Laird and Jenny Lucander (Tiny Owl Publishing, September 2019)
  7. Nuts! by Lou Peacock and Yasmeen Ismail (Nosy Crow, September 2019)