NEWS
Author and illustrator Daniel Kirk brings books to life at AL
What
if you could turn your childhood pastime into a fulfilling career
that makes countless people smile and helps turn children into
lifelong readers? Your name might be Daniel Kirk, the children's
author and illustrator who recently shared his talents and insight
with Abram Lansing students.
The author and illustrator of Library Mouse and dozens of other children's titles, Mr. Kirk stopped by Abram Lansing Elementary School - where a number of his original works of art have been displayed for several weeks -- to give students a behind-the-scenes look at how a book and its characters come to life.
Using My Truck is Stuck! as an example, Kirk took students step by step through the creative process he used to illustrate a simple, rhyming tale written by Kevin Lewis. "I start with a simple question," said Kirk. "What if?"
Kirk showed the students how he would use his imagination to help paint pictures that could tell the most compelling story possible of a truck that is stuck in a hole. "I like to help fill in the blanks of a story," said the author/illustrator, as he showed his early sketches of characters he considered for the book: mice named Eek and Squeak, bugs named Teensie and Weensie. He finally described to the students how he settled on the main characters: dogs named T-Bone and Chuck who were carting a load of bones when their truck gets stuck.
With rapt attention from his young audience, Kirk told how he began drawing and crafting stories as a child, inspired by his favorite magazine, Famous Monsters. He also described a unique childhood, growing as the son of a mother and father who were puppeteers. His parents, he said, would often turn to him and his brother, tapping their imagination to help them turn classic fairy tales into new stories for their puppet shows. "Everybody loves stories," said Kirk. "Just asking yourself 'what if' can take you to places you hadn't thought of."
See Abram Lansing students enjoy visits from Library Mouse
and author/illustrator Daniel Kirk >>
