Janet's sister Susan is visiting schools and gives great talks about the book she has worked on with Janet. Information about her visits is available here.
I am looking forward to my visit to your school. As teachers you are well aware of the importance of preparation. It is essential that the children in your school are prepared for my visit. The more excited and informed they are about my books, illustration, and reading in general, the greater the impact and rewards of my visit.There are a number of things that you can do to prepare for the visit. Some ideas include:
Discuss and compare the illustrations in my books. Character development is very important to me. Notice how I use clothing and props to show a character's personality.
Compare the feelings that a single character portrays throughout the book by the expressions on its face and its body positions.
Compare my illustrations to those in books by other illustrators. Look at how different illustrators interpret the same story. Think about your favorite story and how you might illustrate it, or draw a picture of a favorite character. What would that character wear? What does his house look like? How does she look when she is happy? Sad? Excited?
Think about what part of the story I have decided to illustrate on a page. Many actions are described in the text; I have decided to portray one. You may choose to illustrate a different activity.
I prefer to work with groups of 60 to 150 children in an intimate "sit on the floor" situation in your library or media center. The gym or the cafeteria will work, if the children sit on the floor. My presentation consists of three parts. First, I will show slides and describe the things that I like to draw (I need a room that gets dark, a slide projector and a large screen or wall). Second, I describe how a picture book evolves from ideas to rough sketches to finished art. I will be holding up pieces of art from various books at this time. I need a small table or desk up in front to put my portfolio on. Finally, the children and I will work on an illustration together. I will draw a character and the children will help me decide what the character is wearing, putting themselves in the illustrator's "shoes" for awhile. They will make the decisions that I make every day when I am working on a book. I will need a piece of white (or light colored) paper about five or six feet long (usually found in rolls on metal stands at the school). I have found that a long library table stood on end works very well as an "easel." If that is not available, sometimes the cafeteria will have a table that stands upright on wheels. The paper will be taped lengthwise on the "easel."
Once again, I cannot overemphasize the importance of reading my books to the kids before my visit. Copies of these books and information about them are available from:
Ms. Diane Foote
c/o Holiday House
425 Madison Ave.
New York, NY 10017
ph: 212 - 688 - 0085
fax: 212 - 421 - 6134
Ms. Kia Neri
Author Promotions Coordinator
Children's Books Division
Harcourt Brace & Company
525 B Street, Ste. 1900
San Diego, CA. 92101
ph: 619/699-6534
fax: 619/699-6777
email: kneri@harcourtbrace.com
Harcourt Brace Book Orders
Customer service: 1-800-543-1918
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Suggestions or Questions? Please send me a message at rhinoink@aol.com |