THE BLOG
Off to the National Watercolor Society Show
This little lady has been dressed up with a bit of water, brush and color and is getting ready for a trip to the National Water Color Show. Whoo Hoo she made it into the show. I’m going to bundle her up into a frame and pack her carefully in a box and send her off to San Diego and then San Pedro. Wish her luck.
Hop Hop Hop
They set up the nest a twig at a time, right in front of our living room window. I would step out onto the front porch and she would swoop down past my head with a mouth full. Each twig was placed carefully. First one blue egg, then two, then three. We watched the momma and pappa take turns on the nest. A wind would come up and blow. The tree and the nest would sway back and forth and the Robin would hunker down and protect the eggs. I would scare marauding cats away and click my tongue at the bird each time I left the house. Soon eggs turned into three open mouthed nestlings. The parents filled the little gullets with worms and an assortment of winged insects. The whole family watched out the window. Then one day the nest lay on the ground with one dead nestling nearby. We had no idea what happened. Then we saw it, one little nestling tucked behind a piece of wood on our porch. The mother bird would come and feed it. The mother must of sensed too many people coming in and out of our front door. We watched out the window while the mother came and got the nestling and led it hop, hop, hop, across our lawn, down the curb, across the street, up the other curb and into the bushes of the house across the way.
Logan Summerfest 2012 and more on “Babysitting Your Grandpa”
I spent a delightful few days up in Logan for Summerfest. The temperature was perfect. The company was great. I had a chance to talk to many people. Thanks to all that took home a bit of Meidell Art with them. I hope it gives you many hours of joy.
Kim Meidell graduated with a dual degree in Elementary and Early Childhood Education. She has taught students from pre-school to 6th grade. She has agreed to post from the teachers viewpoint on picture books from time to time. Give a big welcome to Kim Meidell.
How to Babysit a Grandpa: A Teacher’s Point of View
by Kim Meidell
How to Babysit a Grandpa is a great book, teaching important skills: sequencing, listing, and most of all instructions. The book is one giant “how to” that incorporates smaller “how to” lists throughout for more detail.
“How to” writing is popular throughout elementary and can take many forms: an instruction book, pamphlet, newspaper article, or as simple as a recipe. It is a great way for children to think about the world around them, and how things work–or how they ‘think’ they work, like Grandpa-sitting.
Allowing children to write their own “how to” articles allows them to become the expert on a subject. I believe children should have as much choice in their writing as possible, therefore I would allow them to pick their own topic–what they want to be an expert in–whether it be how to use an iPod, or how to feed an alien that doesn’t have a mouth…Give the students choice and they will succeed in what you really want from them–writing with a purpose, and, oh no, actually enjoying it!
Below are some ideas for younger and older grades, along with some examples of work, example rubrics (can be adjusted to apply what you are focusing on in class), and outlines.
Lesson idea for younger grades:
Keep it simple so it can be enjoyable. I would have them pick their topic, but provide some guidance so they don’t become overwhelmed, for example, around Thanksgiving you could suggest “How to Cook a Thanksgiving Dinner” or around St. Patrick’s Day, “How to Catch a Leprechaun.” Then have only 3-5 steps on how to do it. In grades where students can’t write yet, have them illustrate their steps and have an adult help write the step with their picture. (See example, “How to ride a bike”)
In grades where writing is prevalent, have the students write their ideas and then illustrate. Have students write their ideas first, that is why an outline is useful, so they will know what illustration to do, otherwise you might end up with a picture of a 6 legged horse, when is should be a picture of a pizza. I would suggest just making simple booklets for the younger students. (Again, see the example, “How to ride a bike”)
Lesson idea for older grades:In the older grades students should be capable of planning and writing instructions. So it would be appropriate to encourage their choice of topic along with the type (ie, newspaper article, instruction manual, pamphlet, etc.) Provide the students with a rubric so they will know exactly what is expected of them. You may even want to have your students include why it is important to know how to do what they are explaining.
The Quintessential Instruction Manual on “How to Babysit a Grandpa”
You better check your local library or run out and buy it now, the picture book “How to Babysit a Grandpa” written by Jean Reagan and illustrated by Lee Wildish, published by Alfred A. Knopf. It contains all sorts of valuable tips on everything from “What to Feed a Grandpa” to “How to Wake Up Your Grandpa” if he happens to drift off while you are tending him. My favorite illustration is the one where the boy sings “On Top of Old Smokey” first very softly, and then gets louder and louder. I can feel the cat claws digging into the Grandpa’s bald head. That could wake up any Grandpa.
The Author:
I got in touch with Jean Reagan who is somewhere out in some wilderness taking courses on how to rescue people and be a good park ranger. Now that would be fun. I had to follow the tracks through the forest and waaaalaw’ (which is french for “Voila”) there she was between the bear tracks and the thimble berries.
Sherry: What was the inspiration for “How to Babysit a Grandpa”? How did you come up with the idea.
Jean: I had a friend whose father babysat her daughter (his granddaughter) once a week as part of the daycare arrangement. I thought, “How cool is that? Just the two of them, once a week, for what ended up being many years.” This inspired the first kernel of an idea for a picture book story. After a few drafts, I “flipped” the story so the child is explaining HOW to babysit a GRANDPA. Adding this twist changed the story from another one-day-in-the-life-of story to a layered, humorous story with a “hook,” I think.
Sherry: Did it easily become a book or was it a struggle?
Jean: I worked on the story for several years with my critique group. I always joke that my critique group should be listed as co-authors. In addition, at several SCBWI events, I signed up for one-on-one critiques with editors. These were invaluable.
Sherry: What is your favorite illustration in the book?
Jean: How to choose . . . . how to choose. . . . I am thrilled with Lee Wildish’s vision of the story and particularly with the characters he created. He captures the characters’ emotions and loving relationship just beautifully. And he does it so subtly. As an non-illustrator, I am blown away. If I had to choose just one favorite illustration, it would be the double-spread, “How to Play With a Grandpa.” The characters convey so much energy and joy. Also, readers will, no doubt, find new aspects in the illustrations each time they re-visit the pages. In fact, most of Lee Wildish’s illustrations invite the reader to pore over them again and again.
Sherry: What surprised you about the illustrations?
Jean: I did not realize I had created so many different vignettes to illustrate. By adding a few words here and there, whole new scenes or spot-art opportunities emerged. I’m totally impressed with what Lee did with these, but my first response was, “Oh dear. I hope these weren’t a burden to him.”
Sherry: Were there any illustrations that the illustrator brought more to the manuscript than you had envisioned?
Jean: I could go on and on because Lee brought so much more to the manuscript with every illustration!!
First of all, overall, he did an excellent job of capturing the gentle, loving relationship between the two characters. Second, he paced the story so there are energetic spreads and then calmer, peaceful spreads. My editor wanted to be sure that both “loud” and “quiet” children reading the book would be able to relate to the story. Lee’s illustrations celebrate different moods and personalities, I think… Third, he added bits of his own humor and also stories within the story. For example, when the characters go on a walk, lizards follow them home. In all scenes after that, there’s a cat-and-mouse (lizards, in this case) chase going on. The final art shows the cat bossing the lizards around, demanding food treats. This was not in my manuscript, at all, but what fun! Fourth, once we saw Lee’s sketches, there were many scenes where the words were unnecessary and redundant to his illustrations. My editor and I removed many of these words, often saying, “The illustrations should steal the show in this scene!” A specific example is the page where the parents return. We realized words would interrupt the emotional flow Lee created.
Sherry: What did you learn about writing for the picture book format?
Jean: I learned that some vignettes I’d created–which in my mind were completely different–would be fairly identical when illustrated. For example on the spread for “How to Wake up a Grandpa,” two instructions originally were: Make the sound of a loud, crashing thunderstorm. Sing “On Top of Ole Smokey” Even though these seem like completely different actions, as illustrations they would appear nearly the same–the child making a loud noise. So I eliminated the thunderstorm and replaced it with tickling. The sketches also helped me realize that my order of progression for waking up someone was wrong. Now the list ends with singing LOUDLY as the final, successful tactic.
Sherry: Did you put any illustration notes with your manuscript?
Jean: No I didn’t. I wanted to stay out of the way of the illustrator so he could work his magic. And, boy, did he!
Sherry: Thanks Jean for the wonderful answers. You can see Jean’s website at www.jeanreagan.com
The Illustrator:
Now we travel across the pond to England the home of the illustrator Lee Wildish.
Sherry: How did you come up with the character for the Grandpa and does he look like anyone in your life?
Lee: The character was just created from scratch, no resemblance to anyone in particular. Maybe bits of people I see here and there (the funny bits).
Sherry: Were the illustrations created digitally or did you use another medium?
Lee: Digitally
Sherry: Was it easy to come up with the illustration ideas for this book?
Lee: A book can sometimes be challenging when you do not know your subject. But everyone has had a Grandpa at some time in their life so it’s just a case of remembering. Subject matter is always the main concern when I am illustrating, so you have to get the characters correct or the book just does not work well. The public has to see and visualize the personality of each character while keeping it commercial with a wide appeal.
Sherry: What are you working on now?
Lee: Yeti’s, aliens, frogs, dinosaurs and bears. I can’t really say much more than that as the books are not out yet.
Sherry: Thanks Lee for taking the time from your Yeti’s to talk to us. You can find Lee’s web site at www.leewildish.com
Parent Activity (Make And Eat A Grandpa)
Take five strands of spaghetti and cook them in boiling water until tender.
In a separate bowl add pancake mix, an egg and milk as per the directions on the package.
Adding the Milk
Pouring the milk into the bowl.
Cracking the egg
Take one wire whisk
Mix with vigor
Form breakfast sausage into a ball. Have your parent get the cooked spaghetti out of the boiling water and rinse. Then ask your parent to cook the sausage ball until it is cooked thoroughly. Then you must wash your hands with soap and water. 
Wash your hands carefully. There is no time to rest yet. Your parent needs to cook two pancakes, one for you and one for them. If you can handle scissors, cut the spaghetti in short strands the size of reading glasses. Go out to your garden or to your freezer and get two peas. Now you are ready to make your grandpa.
The sausage nose.
Here Comes the Sun
My husband said I’ve bought you a pair of genuine, stare at the sun and not damage your eyes, eclipse glasses. I’ll leave them on the top of the stairs for you. A couple of weeks ago, we viewed the eclipse through a pair of eclipse glasses that our son bought but now we would have the opportunity to see the transit of Venus.
Only one small problem, clouds, a completely cloudy socked in sky with not a beam in sight. There was a slight spot of hope on the horizon. On most gloomy days, the sun will drop low enough in the sky and break forth to bath our home in a moment of sunshine. Maybe this would happen today.
There it was. We could see it from our front porch, the sun. On that sun was an almost invisible speck above the surface, Venus. When I’m riding my bike I will look up to the mountains on the east to gauge how far I have left to travel to get home. I had that kind of moment last night looking at the sun. It put the whole elementary solar system models into perspective. Ahh there’s Venus and here I am.
The Kindergarten Graduation and Controlled Program
I attended my granddaughter’s Kindergarten Graduation. It was controlled chaos. The teacher was controlled and the Kindergarten Students supplied the chaos. You had your Program Position:
which the teacher would remind the students of frequently and you had your Non Program Positions:
My grand daughter did great during the rehearsal but could not control the tears during the actual program. I suppose there were too many parents in the audience and it shocked her system into tears. She did however remain in the proper program position. Way to go girl.