Do you know a "Charlie Muttnik" -- a child that is always drawing, creating, playing, and imagining? Charlie Muttnik, the main character in I Gotta Draw, doesn't know why he draws all of the time, but he knows it is all he wants to do. Unfortunately, his house is cramped and busy and no paints are allowed. He has to search for a quiet and comfortable place to draw, "I draw at the kitchen table (only to get chicken soup on my picture), in the living room (only to get squished by my sister on the couch), in bed (only to be told by my mom that I need to go to sleep), sometimes it seems there is no place at all." Will Charlie Muttnik's love of drawing fade away or will someone take the STEPS to nurture and foster his artistic ability?
Bruce Degen is the author and illustrator of numerous picture books including Jamberry and Daddy is a Doodlebug. He teamed up with Joanna Cole to create The Magic School Bus series, illustrated the Commander Toad series of early readers by Jane Yolen, and the Jesse Bear series by Nancy White Carlstrom. He was asked how parents can nurture and foster artistic abilities in their children, "The one thing I would advise is to have different materials around the house appropriate to the kids' age and just let them draw. Give them time, give them a place to work. Stay tuned. If they want to, they will ask for more." (Cynsations). In Degen's I Gotta Draw it is Charlie Muttnik's teacher, Miss Rich, who takes the first STEPS to nurture his abilities. She provides the SUPPLIES Charlie needs to draw -- pencils, big paper, and a set of paints and brushes. She provides the TIME for Charlie to draw -- he can draw during spelling and social studies classes as long as he still participates in the lesson. She provides the ENCOURAGEMENT Charlie needs to improve, excel, and feel successful in school. She provides a PLACE for Charlie to work -- a empty blackboard at the back of the classroom. She provides the SPACE for Charlie to express himself without pressure and judgement.
For Degen I Gotta Draw was very autobiographical. (Mazza Museum Keynote). Just like Charlie Muttnik, Degen said, "I always, always drew, as early as I can remember." (Scholastic). His love of drawing lead him to chose a high school that specialized in art and later received a Masters of Fine Arts from Pratt Institute. He felt spending the rest of his career as an artist in an fine art gallery would be as stifling as Charlie Muttnik's small apartment. "When you go to a gallery, very rarely do you walk around and see people chuckling and having a good time. I decided to do children's books because they make you laugh." (Scholastic). There were many teachers in Degen's life that took STEPS to foster his artistic ability including Renee Devlin, for whom the book is dedicated. She was Degen's boss when he taught at Beach Channel High School in New York City. "She showed me what it was to change kid's lives by recognizing talent and helping them develop their skills, and inspiring them to go on to art schools and win scholarships, or else just be forever enriched by the development of their talents." (Cynsations).
I had the pleasure of listening to Bruce Degen speak about his career making children's books at the Mazza Museum Summer Conference 2012. He spoke about I Gotta Draw with such excitement that I knew I wanted use this book as the inspiration for our birthday celebration activity. In the book, Charlie Muttnik and his friends play a game called Skelly on the blacktop. Charlie says, "I love to play Skelly 'cause I get to draw." Bruce mentioned in his keynote that he loved the game as a kid too. I had the opportunity to talk to Bruce when he signed our copy of I Gotta Draw. I told him about my blog and that I was going to learn how to play Skelly with my children to celebrate his birthday. He thought it was the perfect idea and he even drew us a cool picture in our book:
Skelly, also called Skully, is a children's game for two to six players that is played on the streets of New York City and other urban areas. A Skully or Skelly board is sketched on a safe sidewalk or section of blacktop. (WikiPedia). It is typically played by using your finger to shoot a bottle cap through the course drawn on the game board. Once you have completed the course you earn the power to remove the other players from the game. (Read all the rules on StreetPlay.com)
Bruce Degen said in his keynote speech that he would melt crayons in bottle caps to make them different colors for each player. My children picked the color they wanted for their bottle caps from our crayon basket.
I placed a cookie sheet on the stove top set at medium heat. Then, we broke pieces of the crayon and set them in the bottle cap. If you notice, some of the plastic liners on the bottle caps melted as they sat on the burner. We carefully removed those before adding the crayons.
Once all the crayons melted, we removed the bottle caps from the stove top to allow them to cool.
While we waited for the game pieces to cool, we went out to the driveway to draw our Skelly board. We found directions for creating the board on Streetplay.com. In this photo, my son drew the skull in the middle of the board.
The object of this game is to flick your game piece to all the numbered squares in order from 1-12 and then into the SKULL center and then back again (12-1). But, be careful because you can get stuck in the trapezoid spaces around the Skull and other players will try to throw you off track by blasting your piece "out of town"! If you complete the course and remove all the other players from the game by striking their bottle cap three time the you are the winner!
My kids loved this game! Look at the concentration!
The little guy was able to play too with a little help from his big sister!
My wife said, "You have been playing that game for over an hour!" My kids said "Because it is awesome!"
It was so awesome that they wanted to take the chalk and game pieces on vacation with their extended family to show their cousin how to play.
It was really cool to watch them recreate the Skelly board and teach their cousin how to play.
My nephew ended up winning the Skelly game. On this trip he told me something that was very fitting to our reading experience based on I Gotta Draw and birthday celebration for Bruce Degen. He told me that he asked his mom and dad for his own art studio for his birthday (which isn't for a couple months), but they already surprised him with a space to do his drawing in a spare bedroom. He has a desk and lots of art supplies! I was so excited for him and proud of my sister and brother-in-law for taking the STEPS to nurture and foster his artistic ability. "STAY TUNED!"
Update:
This week, (June 17, 2013) berry picking season began in Ohio. I saved reading Bruce Degen's Jamberry until we had a chance to take the family to a berry farm.
We picked 20 lbs. of strawberries and used many of them to make strawberry jam!!
Bruce Degen said in the author's note of Jamberry, "When I was a little boy, berries never came from a store. We found them in the fields. Grandma would take a pot, Grandpa would take a can, and I would take my pail. We picked and picked and didn't come home until we had filled them up with berries. Then we would sit in the kitchen and eat fresh washed berries with sour cream and sugar."
I mixed equal parts brown sugar and sour cream. Then added a bunch of strawberries and my boys loved it!
"Anyone can write poems. Really. Here's the secret of poetry: the poems are already inside you. They are waiting." (Joyce Sidman, HMH Books, Poetry Kit). Poems, art, projects, imaginary play only need a spark -- a burst of imagination or inspiration -- to set forth spirals of creativity. Some spirals of creativity swirl slowly, others at a much faster pace. Spirals of creativity can widen and grow into one complete product while others shoot off into many new and different directions. There will be spirals of creativity that will just fizzle out, but that is okay because it is the spirals that matter. Where do your bursts of imagination or inspiration come from -- a conversation with a parent or a suggestion from a friend? What will spark the next spiral of creativity -- a warm, sunny day or a really good book?
Joyce Sidman is the author of over ten books of poetry for children including many award winning books like Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night, a Newbery Honor Award winner and Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems and Red Sings from the Treetops: A Year in Colors, Caldecott Honor Award winners. Amazingly, Sidman who has been described as "one of the 21st century's best new poets for children," wasn't focused on writing poetry for children early in her career (Anita Silvey). "I first tried novels and picture books without a great deal of success, and then one of my writer's group members gave me an 'aha' moment, asking me why -- since I'd written adult poetry -- I hadn't tried children's poetry." (Miss Rumphius). This "aha moment" led to her first book of poetry for children, Just Us Two: Poems about Animal Dads (2000). As Joyce Sidman's career continues to spiral and grow, she continues to receive awards for her poetry, most recently the 2013 NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children.
Many of Joyce Sidman's books of poetry are popular with school teachers and homeschooling families because of their emphasis on nature, including Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow. Renee LaTulippe of No Water River asked Joyce Sidman about her attraction to writing poetry about nature. Joyce responded, "I love to ask questions: What makes a species survive? How do creatures make their way at night? Why do spirals appear so often in nature? I start with something that intrigues me."
I became intrigued with celebrating Joyce Sidman's birthday when I received a promotional poster for her book, Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature illustrated by Beth Krommes at a conference last summer. Upon reading the book to my children this week, we learned that spirals help animals retain warmth, offer protection from predators, and can even be a useful tool. Joyce Sidman said, "It's always fascinated me that there are certain patterns that recur in nature. After many false starts with various pattern projects, the idea of a simple book -- just about spirals -- presented itself. They're so graceful, so beautiful, and they are found in so many places." (MYMCBooks).
My family was inspired bySwirl by Swirland a spiral of creativity started when I wondered if we could paint spirals...with a drill. (My first thought was to use a record player, but I didn't have one of those!) I warned my children before we started that I had no idea where this project was going to spiral, or if this idea was going to just going to fizzle out.
We have painted on plastic container lids before and sometimes the paint has peeled off. My son sanded each lid in hopes that the paint would stick better.
Next we stuck our drill through a cardboard box and pushed the plastic lid onto the drill bit. My children took turns pushing the button of the drill to make the lid spin while someone else squirted paint from above.
The spinning action of the drill swirled the paint around on the lid.
My children enjoyed layering colors to create their design. Sometimes they squirted a lot of paint and other times very little.
I carefully removed the lid from the drill when they were happy with how it looked.
They created many cool designs.
The cardboard box ended up being a work of art too!
Our swirl lids were fun to make, but as days passed this project idea wanted to spiral further. Joyce Sidman's book, Swirl by Swirl was all about spirals in nature and I thought our project needed more of an emphasis on nature. So, a few days later, I set up three canvases in the yard on a warm sunny morning. I asked my children to pick their favorite swirl lid and we glued it to a canvas. Then, we talked about what we could do to turn our swirl lid into something from nature.
My youngest son decided to turn his lid into a flower.
My oldest son turned his into a porcupine.
Since we were outside, my son observed the sun, the sky, grass, and the bugs around him and incorporated his observations into his painting.
My 1 year old daughter loved this activity too.
I think she tried every color of paint.
This is her first canvas-painted masterpiece.
My oldest daughter was intrigued by the project and wanted to be included too (she missed the activity because she was at school). So, the following morning we set her up with everything she needed. She chose to include two swirl art lids -- one that was blue and green that she thought looked like Earth and another that had glow-in-dark paint that she thought looked like the moon. Her younger sister was eager to show her the best way to paint!
In this photo she is adding a spiral-like sun shape to her painting.
Another fabulous finished product.
Swirl by Swirlsparked a small idea about painting with a drill that spiraled, widened, swirled, and grew into beautiful works of art. We were so happy with our paintings that we hung them in the hallway!
My passion for reading and blogging about children's books developed into a desire to write children's books. Last year, I submitted my first ever picture book manuscript to an online contest hosted by an eBook publisher. Even though my manuscript wasn't chosen as a winner, I felt like a children's writer for the first time and started to get more serious about the idea of writing for children. During the contest I noticed a fellow contestant, Julie Hedlund and began following her on Twitter. She used Twitter to promote a new picture book writing challenge she was organizing called 12 x 12 in 2012. I participated in the challenge, connected with fellow aspiring children's book authors and found that surrounding myself with like-minded people can be extremely motivating. The 12 x 12 challenge helped me stay motivated and focused on learning more about writing for children, much like this blog has helped me stay motivated and focused on learning and reading with my children. I am thankful to Julie for creating an experience that has enriched the children's literature community by inspiring children's book writers to achieve more than they ever dreamed was possible.
According to By Word of Beth, when Julie started 12 x 12 she too was looking for a way to stay motivated and focused. "I initially envisioned the challenge as a personal one that I would do on my own. Then, toward the end PiBoIdMo last year, I decided it would be nice to have company. I expected maybe 30-50 of my most faithful blog followers who were also picture book writers to join me. I NEVER could have imagined we'd end up with 400 strong!"
As members of the 12 x 12 writing community we support each other in our journey to publication. When a member of the community receives a publishing contract we all celebrate. We celebrated this year when Julie received her first publishing contract.
Julie Hedlund debuted as a children's book author with the iPad storybook app, A Troop is a Group of Monkeys illustrated by Pamela Baron and published by Little Bahalia Publishing. Troop is the first in the trilogy of apps dedicated to teaching children (and adults!) the collective nouns used to describe groups of animals. The second app in the series, A Shiver of Sharks, focuses on animals that live in or near the ocean,andis set to be released very soon. A third app will be released later in 2013 along a print book that will highlight the best collective nouns from the series.
Julie Hedlund's A Troop is a Group of Monkeys features a get-stuck-in-your-head theme song by Tim McCanna, colorful illustrations and animations, easy-to-read rhymes, and the opportunity to learn 16 collective nouns describing some of the most recognizable animals. My kids were happy to learn that a group of owls is called a parliament and a group of hippos is called a bloat. We read Troop together many times and my children also explored the app by themselves -- which gave them more time to interact with the monkeys, lions, giraffes, and bats.
My favorite page in A Troop is a Group of Monkeyswas "A colony of bats spends the day clinging." Most likely this page resonated with me because I recalled a time last summer when my children and I enjoyed watching a pair of bats fly around our backyard. I expressed to my children how I thought it would be cool to have a bat house in our backyard. However, I never got the little nudge I needed to tackle the project. This week, almost a year from the original idea, I decided it was the perfect time to explore attracting a colony of bats to live in our backyard.
Before starting this project I spent a lot of time researching on the Bat Conservation International website. I was pleased to find all the information I needed including the plans I would need to build the bat house. I also found oodles of information about the importance of protecting bats, the world's only flying mammal, including that "bat populations are declining everywhere and losing bats would have devastating consequences for natural ecosystems and human economies." Why are bats so important? I learned that they eat bugs that damage crops, pollinate plants, spread seeds in the tropics and elsewhere, and their droppings are great fertilizer!
After reading through the plans to build the bat house about a dozen times, it was time to take the plunge and give it a go. I had my little helpers and they were eager to participate. Here, my youngest son clamps the wood to the table before we cut it to size.
After all the cuts were made we started to piece everything together. Do you see the piece of wood with all the grooves? We cut those grooves into the wood to help the bats climb inside the house!
We learned that keeping the house sealed is vital because bats want a dry and extremely warm house. My oldest son carefully caulked all the gaps.
We primed the wood once the bat house was assembled.
Bat Conservation International provides recommendations on everything about your bat house. All the recommendations are based on many years of research. There is even a paint color guide based upon your location. In Ohio, our bat house needed to be painted as dark as possible to attract warmth during the daytime hours. (They, however, do not say you must paint the house while wearing a pirate hat!)
My boys started painting with a light brown color. Then, a dark brown for the second coat and finally black for the last coat. I felt doing it this way allowed them to see their progress as they painted.
We decided to paint the words, "COLONY WANTED" on the outside of the bat house. My oldest son used the Troop app to help him spell the word "colony."
I asked my son if he could painted a bat on the front and without even thinking he painted a really cool bat! I love how kids approach art with a "no problem"-like attitude!
The next step was to come up with a mounting mechanism. Thankfully, directions for mounting your bat house were also available. My original plan was to mount my bat house on a tree. But, research has shown that bats prefer bat houses mounted on poles or buildings.
I decided to mount the bat house on a pole in the sunniest part of our back yard.
I am so thankful for Troop. It was exactly the motivation I needed to complete this project. Now we just have to wait to see if the bats like our house. According to research, only 50% of bat houses will be occupied the first year. Then, if the house is not occupied after two years it is recommended that you try a new location.
My family hopes that Julie has a fantastic birthday this year! We were curious if she had a memorable birthday story that she was willing to share. We were excited to receive her response:
On my 8th birthday, what I wanted most of all was the "Fuzzy Pumper Barber Shop," a Play-Doh toy set. I'll never forget the thrill of opening that package, or the satisfaction of pushing the pump and watching the "hair" grow through the little holes in the people's heads. Then using those little plastic scissors to cut the hair. My favorite thing was to mix colors to give them rather psychedelic "dos." To this day I still love the smell of Play-Doh and often join my kids when they are having their own Play-Doh sessions.
Julie, thank you for sharing your birthday story and photograph! We played with Play-Doh this week in your honor, reread A Troop is a Group of Monkeys, and sculpted groups of animals. In the photo below my boys are making a quiver of cobras!
Bruce Degen is the author and illustrator of numerous picture books including Jamberry and Daddy is a Doodlebug. He teamed up with Joanna Cole to create The Magic School Bus series
, illustrated the Commander Toad series
