Cooking: Feels like something you have to do. I’ve got my little workhorse of an espresso machine in the kitchen, and-even though I’m a morning person-the first thing I do is shuffle out of bed and push the button! After an espresso, I’m game for eating just about anything, but I really love to bake. Well, any breakfast for me has to start with coffee. Yeah! Eggs!” But Molly gives this a lot of thought: Most people say, “sure, let’s have some cyber-coffee and, er, eggs. This isn’t Molly’s first book, by any means, so she’s here today, ’cause I asked her for breakfast, to talk about her work thus far and work to come. (The book also includes flaps-see here for a demonstration-which really seem to serve a purpose and aren’t just there for kicks and grins.) If you don’t believe me, check out these review excerpts: Kirkus, for one, praises Idle’s “ourageous use of white space” and the “flowing, musical quality of the illustrations” (“one can almost hear the 3/4 beat of a waltz in the background,” the review adds) Publishers Weekly calls it “seamless and dynamic visual storytelling” and in her detailed review Betsy Bird called it no less than a “perfect amalgamation of wordless storytelling,” noting its “likable (or at least understandable) characters, and an artistic sensibility that will make you forget its unique formatting and remind you only of the classic picture book days of yore.” If you haven’t seen Molly Idle’s newest wordless picture book- Flora and the Flamingo (Chronicle, February 2013), pictured above-and you are a true blue picture book fan, you should take a look, especially if you like to see an illustrator show you how line and movement can tell a story.

Tea rex by molly idle