Category Archives: books

Wow.

I finally had some time to read through To Teach: the journey, in comics by William Ayers and illustrated by Ryan Alexander-Tanner and I have to say that Ayers message and Alexander-Tanner’s illustrations meshed so powerfully together that I decided I need to pass this book along to my student teacher (who left the other day as her time with me ended).

In this graphic interpretation of Ayer’s reflections on being a kindergarten teacher (which were told prior in a book format), but also his philosophies of teaching in general (particularly the conflict between inquiry-based teaching and standardized curriculum) hit right home with me. I could have lived on Ayers’ words alone, but by bringing the medium of comics into the story, the entire thing just came to life perfectly.

Ayers gives us stories of real teachers, and real students, making discoveries around learning and he doesn’t sugarcoat the hard work of teaching, either, noting that the teacher is often learning alongside their students, even in the younger grades.

“The intellectual challenge of teaching involves becoming a student of your students, unlocking the wisdom in the room, and joining together on a journey of discovery and surprise. The ethical demand is to see each student as a 3-dimensional creature, much like yourself, and an unshakable faith in the irreducible and incalculable value of every human being.”

Tell me that is not a powerful statement! Again and again, Ayers relates how he, and how we, must try to resist the pigeon-holing of our students as special needs or labeling them with ADD when what we are seeing is the curiosity, the inquiry and the impact of home life on school life.

The comic illustrations here are modeled on Scott McCloud’s work and the images are not just for fun. Alexander-Tanner effectively uses the medium to move from the concrete to the abstract, using visual representations of teaching and education, along with fine doses of humor, to help move Ayers’ writing along. The comic element is not just a throw-away device here — not just some selling point in this time of graphic novels — but a real addition to the storytelling.

I highly recommend this book.

Peace (in the book),
Kevin

This is the last book that I am writing this week for the Seven Picture Books in Seven Days challenge by Paula Yoo. Phew. I decided to write it about writing. Awww man!

It’s called Writing is an Adventure

Writing is An Adventure on Storybird

Peace (in the composition),
Kevin

I’ve been thinking of my writing process when it comes to using Storybird for creating my 7 picture books in 7 days, as part of Paula Yoo’s challenge. Honestly, I could not have even considered this challenge if I had to do the art, and my hats go off to anyone who has been able to keep the pace. Even Paula has been reflecting on the challenge of the challenge.

I decided early on to use Storybird, which provides you with illustrations and a book-creator tool. You write the story, constructed out of the images at the site. There is a wide selection of art, and styles. The end result is an e-book that you can embed in other sites as well as become part of the Storybird community.

I purposely went into each day with no story idea whatsoever. None. I really wanted to find a story as I discovered the illustrations, which is an odd way of going about writing a book, if you think about it. Mostly, we write stories from idea that germinate in our minds or come from characters that start to live a bit in our imagination.

I avoided that. Purposely. I felt as if I were backing in, using some sort of reverse writing.

I would wander around the Storybird collections, trying to find some art that piqued my interest and then I would slowly formulate a story idea. A lot of times, it was nothing but dead ends. The story didn’t always hold or gel. I tried not to think of audience, either, which is another no-no for writing stories, right? We are often told to keep our intended audience in front of us. Here, I kept the audience behind me and only at the end, when Storybird prompted me, did I even think about who my story might be a appropriate for.

The result is a series of hits and misses this week.

I really liked the first book — MoonSong — and I enjoyed the one about a girl dreaming of her future — Remember — but wished I had done a better job with another — To Dance is To Disappear (I couldn’t find the right rhythm consistent with what I was trying to convey about the creative process of dancing) — and I thought two of the books to be too cute with not enough substance — The Best Ice Cream in the Galaxy and Go Outside and Play! — while another one tried to teach a lesson but got too bogged down on me — The Boy with the Angry Stomach (although I did have fun with “voice” in that one, particularly the talking piece of bread and the invisible audience of listeners).

One of my stories completely and utterly derailed itself midway through. It was an odd one about a girl who has been shipwrecked, and is now all alone, but is discovered by the forest animals who lead her to a house situated on top of a mountain. That’s as far as I got because none of the illustrations led me any farther into my story narrative and I could not for the life of me figure out how to get this girl moving forward in any feasible direction of the narrative. Here, instead of being inspired by the art, I was held back, and the story died in the draft bin.

All in all, it was fun to do this challenge, but it was a challenge. I have one more book in the bin for tomorrow, the seventh day. It’s no award winner. It’s about how to write a story. Come back tomorrow and check it out, if you have a minute.

Peace (in the reflection),
Kevin

I saw one of the illustrations in this set in Storybird and thought: that was so me as a kid — reading books, oblivious to the world. And my mom or dad would tell me to get outside and play. Inspired, then, I created this picture book story as part of a challenge by Paula Yoo to come up with seven books in seven days.

This is Go Outside and Play!

Go Outside and Play! on Storybird
Peace (in the imagination),
Kevin

I was inspired by the joy on the faces of these characters in these illustrations. They seemed so free in their dancing. So, as part of Paula Yoo’s picture book challenge, I offer up To Dance is To Disappear.
To Dance is to Disappear on Storybird

Peace (in the moves),

Kevin