Learning about art and writing from Kevin Hawkes

Kevin Hawkes is visiting with our first graders today! We've been reading his books in the library and the classrooms.

The students have been learning about his writing and his art.

They've been sharing their questions:

And today they got to meet him! The students learned about his inspirations, his writing process, and his art. It was a fabulous visit. Check it out!

ReedALOUD: Library Lion

This week, my students and I have been reading Library Lion, written by Michelle Knudsen and illustrated by Kevin Hawkes.  It's hard to believe that it has been ten years since this gem of a book was published. It hasn't lost any of its appeal. There was absolute joy on the faces of the students as we read. 

The fourth graders could share the humor in a different way now that they are older. They also appreciated the language and we talked of creating a reader's theatre or skit for the book. The striding, marching, and reaching would all be fun to act out. There's wonderful dialog and an emotional arc to work with as well. Stay tuned. We might have to squeeze this into our plans! You can see how the story inspired the fourth graders here: Fourth graders share their ideas for taking care of the library.

With the second graders, I showed them the StoryLie Online version:

With the kindergarten and first graders, I read the story and act it out. I have the students roar with the lion during the two points in the book. It is much fun to see their faces light up at making such a sound while in the library. We don't really ever roar in here. 

Library Lion is a visual and auditory treat, so reading it would be enough, but we are still in the midst of creating our rules and establishing routines. This book leads us right into this conversation. Along with noting the helpful manner of the lion, we work through these questions:

Why are rules important?

What will it look like and sound like when we are taking care of our library space and the materials in it?

What does effective browsing and borrowing look like and sound like?

A visit from Kevin Hawkes

Today, the wonderfully nice and talented Kevin Hawkes visited with our first graders. They have been preparing for this visit in the classrooms, so all I had to do was provide the space and promote his books. 

As you can see and hear, Kevin drew pictures and talked about where he creates his books as well as how he keeps his creative ideas flowing.

A few of the interesting things my students learned:

Kevin Hawkes gets inspiration from other artists like NC Wyeth and Arthur Rackham.

Kevin has MANY sketch books in lots of different sizes where he keeps ideas for characters and objects and places.

Kevin likes to work in a small quiet space. When he has a manuscript, the small quiet space to allows the images to emerge.

My favorite pieces of advice?

One followed this question,  "Have you ever tried to draw something that didn’t quite turn out the way you wanted?" Kevin advised the children to keep drawing and that almost any shape can become a person. He modeled what it looks like and feels like to feel like you have made a mistake, he continued to sketch until a new shape emerged. 

"You can make a sketch book for your ideas by folding pieces of paper and stapling them."

There were many great questions, like these, from students.

How do you choose which books to illustrate?
It depends upon how excited I am about the manuscript and if I can see images for it right away.

How do you make your faces come so alive? 
I like to look at people and study faces.

It was a fabulous visit!