Awesome April Events

So many awesome things happen in April and I want to be sure you know about some of the things I'm exited about.

First, April is Script Frenzy! If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you'll remember that National Novel Writing Month happens in November every year. Script Frenzy is hosted by the same wonderful group of people. In April, adults are challenged to write a 100-page script in 30 days. For kids 12 and under, or classes of students in kindergarten through 12th grade, there is a Young Writers Program complete with a writer's resources section that teaches you how to write a script. The site even offers safe, kid-friendly chat rooms.

I will not be participating in Script Frenzy but I will be working on a new novel in April while some of the members of my writing group work on scripts. I will set a much smaller word-count goal for April than I did in November but I will post a word counter in the sidebar so you can keep track of my progress if you're interested. I hope you'll write along with me!

Second, April is National Poetry Month! I urge you to check out 30 Poets/30 Days at GottaBook where Gregory K. will poet a new poem for kids everyday of April. The poems are all previously unpublished. The poets who are participating include Jon Scieszka (who wrote Seen Art and Math Curse, which you've read about here) and Jane Yolen. The celebration begins on April 1 with a poem by the former Children's Poet Laureate, Jack Prelutsky.

If you want to write some poems of your own, you might consider looking to art for inspiration!

And finally, April is the first full month of spring! Warm weather is on its way. Make sure to get outside and enjoy it! If you live in the D.C. area, the National Cherry Blossom Festival is underway. The peak bloom period is expected to begin on April 1 and continue through April 4, but the cherry trees have already begun to blossom. There will be a parade in the city on Saturday, April 4 and there are sure to be tons of people enjoying the cherry trees.

I took the above photo last year. I'm not sure if I'll be able to see the cherry blossoms this year, but I am certainly going to try!

What does any of this have to do with art? Well, script writing is an artform, poetry is an artform, and if you take photos at the National Cherry Blossom Festival, photography is an artform, too.

I can't wait for April!

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Two Year Old Artist

You all must go watch this video! Of course, videos like this pop up from time to time, but they always amaze me.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if all two-year-olds were given tubes of paint and canvases to play with?

Create Your Own David Wiesner Cloud Scene

This is another project inspired by David Wiesner. To try the first project, click here.

I don't think you really need to see my attempt at this. It was fun and that's all that really matters.

Supplies Needed:

Construction Paper
Oil Pastels
Baby Oil
Q-tips

Read Sector 7. In fact, you should probably not read the rest of this project until you have read Sector 7. I don't want to ruin anything for you.

As you'll remember from the book, sector 7 is where all the clouds for the eastern coast of the U.S. are made. When the boy visits sector 7 he helps the clouds take on new shapes--as sea creatures.

Today, draw your own underwater scene made entirely of clouds. Use a dark colored piece of construction paper. Go with blue, green, or black. Fill your page with sea creatures such as fish, starfish, seahorses, dophins, and whales. Draw them with white oil pastel and then fill them in with white, black, and shades of grey.

Blend the colors with Q-tips. You may want to use a little baby oil to help the colors blend. The oil with also help the clouds look whispy. For big, fluffy-looking clouds, skip the oil.

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Create Your Own David Wiesner Picture Book

I’ll post two projects inspired by David Wiesner. The second will post later today. Enjoy!

Because there are only 24 hours in a day, and even fewer waking hours, there isn’t an unlimited amount of time for art (obviously). But art, and the opportunity for art, is everywhere. Teachers and homeschoolers may be interested in reading this before completing the following project. I know that if you found my site you think art is important, but sometimes we all need to be reminded.

Supplies Needed:

Paper
Construction Paper
Pencil
Crayons/Colored Pencils/Markers
A short story with no (or very few) pictures
Imagination

David Wiesner is able to tell a story in only pictures. Now it’s your turn to do the same.

Read a story. Fairy tales work especially well for this project. They are short and can be printed from the internet without pictures. As you read, try to picture the characters and the setting in your mind. Try to watch them as they move. Hear them when they speak. These are things that good readers do without thinking.

You may want to read the story a few times so you can clearly picture everything.

Retell the story in pictures. You’ll want to draw and color 1-3 pictures for each scene. Be careful to draw the characters, settings, and actions the way you saw them in your mind as you read.

If several of your friends all illustrate the same story, everyone will draw their pictures a little differently. This is because no two people see exactly the same thing in their minds when they read. And that’s okay.

You might instead each choose one scene to illustrate, put the scenes in order, and make a group picture book.

When you’ve finished illustrating the story, make a construction paper cover and staple your book together. Share your book with your friends and family.

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David Wiesner

Remember all the things that a picture book has to be to win a Caldecott Medal or Caldecott Honor? When I read that list, I think of David Wiesner. And I’m not the only one. He is only the second person ever to win three Caldecott Medals. Two more of his books are Caldecott Honor Books. This is extremely impressive but what really matters is how the books make you feel. Do you like his books?

I do!

I especially love the books that do not use words at all to tell the story, like the three I’ll tell you about today.

David Wiesner’s Caldecott Honor Book, Sector 7 is amazing. Using only pictures, Wiesner tells the story of boy who makes friends with a cloud while on a class trip. The cloud takes him to Sector 7 where all the clouds for the eastern coast of the U.S. are formed and sent into the world. There, the boy and the cloud cause some mischief that turns the sky into a giant, under-the-sea-themed art exhibit.

Tuesday, winner of a Caldecott Medal, uses words only to tell us that the story takes place through the night on a Tuesday. Just as you would expect from David Wiesner, the rest of the story is told with pictures. On this particular Tuesday, a collection of frogs rise out of the water and ride their lily pads like magic carpets through the town. I especially love when the frogs get caught up in the drying laundry.

And finally: Flotsam, another Caldecott Medal winner. In this story, again without text, an interesting piece of flotsam washes up on a beach and a boy discovers it. The underwater camera is ancient and filled with unbelievable pictures of sea life. In one picture, a family of octopi relax in their living room while fish swim between the pieces of furniture. In another picture, colonies live in seashells on the backs of turtles. But the best part of the story is the history of the camera. Generations of children have passed the secrets of the sea from one to the next by putting a new roll of film in the camera, taking a picture of themselves, and tossing the camera back into the ocean.

I recommend that you check out Houghton Mifflin’s webpage about David Wiesner if you’re interested in knowing more about this incredibly talented artist.

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