I am an author and an illustrator

We began our week with a review of the 3 author/illustrators we have been reading.

Morah Katie: How did you know if a book was created by Eric Carle and not Kevin Henkes or Lois Ehlert?
Abram: Well I remembered the story from when you read it and I remembered it was Eric Carle.
Ari: Most of Kevin Henkes has mice on them.  
Augie: And Eric Carle looks like paint with textures and lines.

I asked the children to think of a story they would want to tell,

 and how they would illustrate the pictures.

Would they be inspired by any of the author/illustrators we have been reading?

Judah: I am not so inspired by them. I like them BUT I am just inspired by ME!

Clara created a book about birds and cats.

Clara: I'm making a cat and these will be the ears and it will have legs.

I'm using glue and paper.

I already glued feathers for the birds.

Evan remembered what he loved about the ocean.

Evan: So that is the fish and it is in the ocean. 

It is under the water, the squiggly line is the wave on top.

Augie created a book about hot wheels.

Morah Katie: What is the title of the book?

Augie: The title of the book, is that the same as the name of the book?

 Morah Katie: Yes.

Augie: Oh then it is Cool Hot Wheels are the fastest.  Because they are cool and they are fast.

Abram was inspired by hot wheels as well.

Abram: I am drawing my hot wheels, 

there will also be rescue hot wheels and tracks for them to race on.

Judah wrote an autobiographical story.

Judah: I am writing a J and a M on the people so you know who is who.

Because it is about me and Maya going to school.

Nora used feathers and sticks to create a book about birds.

Nora: The sticks are going to be the nest.

Asher created a book about his day.

When we completed our stories, we put them in our library so our friends could reading enjoy them.

We took a renewed interest in all the books we have in our classroom.

Matan: Square hexagon square  square hexagon square.

Clara: I just have a stack of books because I like them so much.

Evan and Lochlan enjoyed looking at books about The Gan preschoolers. 

Clara and Evan enjoyed a shared Magic Tree House book.

Morah Katie: What does the author do?

Evan: He makes the story, the words of the story.

Morah Katie: What does the illustrator do?

Augie: The illustrator illustrates, he makes the pictures.

We co-authored a story together.

Some of the older friends created short stories as they practiced blending sounds.

As is the case every week, the "in between moments" were full of play, helping hands and fun.

You don't need paint or markers to create illustrations; paper, glue and imagination will do.

Lois Ehlert creates her illustrations with collage.  

She uses paper to create her images,

as well as real items to create layers and textures.

Judah: I am using the wood sticks to make a nest and the feather is a part of the bird.

We discovered that Lois Ehlert created the images to one of our favorite books: 

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

We created our own trees.

Morah Katie: Looking at the books in our library, how are Lois Ehlert books different from Eric Carle or Kevin Henkes?

Judah: Well she just uses stuff in collage. 

Clara: She uses a lot of shapes in her books to make her pictures.

Evan: The Color Farm book is really funny.  But they all like animals.  They all have animals in their books.

A few moments of play and discovery.

Lochlan created a road with bridges for his truck.

Play dough is always fun.

Nora: I am squeezing it all by myself. AND I'm putting the colors together.

Sharing and creating strengthens friendships.

Ari: Morah Katie guess what? I bet you didn't know I was hiding one pyramid in another! 

And there is still another one! 

Three. I made 3 pyramids.

Augie: I built this one, and I built this one so now I am moving on to this one. 

They are not easy but I really like it. 

So I'm just going to do it.

We have taken a close look at 3 very different author/illustrators. 

Next week, we will become the authors and illustrators. 

With all the imagination and curiosity these children possess,  

I have no doubt a Caldecott winner is in our midst.