Shining Stars at Peaks Island Elementary

I am still floating from the warm welcome I received at the Peaks Island Elementary School (aka PIES:) on December 20. My visit was timed just before the winter solstice, and there were stars everywhere!

I was delighted to see students’ art all over the school. They had made a field trip in November to see the Great State of Maine Illustration exhibit at the Brick Store Museum, where this illustration from my book Skywatcher is on view. I love how they captured the bright lights, the red car, and all the wild things!

I set up my presentation in the library, where my name was in lights. Woot!

The first group of pre-K and Kindergarten students arrived wearing adorable hats with stars. I read the book and showed them a dummy, one of several mock-ups I made while developing the story. They asked me questions and then drew from nature objects I brought in. They also colored masks for an upcoming star gazing gathering we’ll do in January. My Nocturnal Creature Masks can be downloaded HERE.

Students could choose to be a Star Bear, a Luna Moth, an Owl, or a Loon. This little one was excited to be a Star Bear!

The next group was a combo of grades 3, 4, and 5. Two of these students have been models for illustrations in other books when they were much younger, so I discussed the importance of having good reference to draw from.

I shared some back story about my process for Skywatcher. They posed great questions! Naomi asked, “Why do you have pops of red in the book?” The book has a strong color scheme of blues and yellows, and red is an important personal accent. I grew up at the Red Doors Motel in Lincoln, New Hampshire. Red was my father’s favorite color and a cardinal appears in the book, as well as a car, modeled after my friend Mary Anne Lloyd’s little red Fiat.

I talked about trying to learn the constellations while drawing the end papers, which are a star chart of the Northern hemisphere in winter. But don’t try to navigate with it!

At the end of the book, Tamen is seen drawing a zine about defending the dark. I showed how to fold up a single sheet of 8.5 x 11 paper into an 8 page zine. Directions can be downloaded HERE. I invited the students to create their own zines, which are basically mini magazines, vehicles of expression about any topic at all. Once drawn and written while folded, they can be unfolded and copied flat, and folded up again to be shared. Zines can be potent nuggets of narrative. I’m always inspired by what students create on the spot!

Zoe was the model for Ana in Ana and the Sea Star when she was little. Now she’s a fifth grader, and very quickly wrote and drew a great zine about ways to help the world.

Everyone had their own approach and used some of my pastel pencils.

I brought in a luna moth specimen for direct observational drawing. Theo captured great detail.

One student imagined the earth’s worst fate!

Joseph drew a very detailed cover, with a sunrise over a waterfall.

Another student created a captivating color scheme.

This artist drew crisp scenes about his interests.

One zine was prompted by a striped rock in my collection of nature objects. This student wrote a story told in dialog with speech bubbles, very inventive!

The group created quite a variety of graphic narratives! Thank you!

During recess, I saw a flock of cardinals that thoroughly warmed my heart.

Teacher Leader Kelly Hasson grew up on Peaks, attended this school, and showed me a galaxy of stars created by students. It was nostalgic for me, since my daughter Daisy attended PIES, graduating from the fifth grade many years ago.

It was fun to see how math got into the creativity, too!

After the lunch recess, I visited the first and second grade classroom. Students were eager to show me their mural inspired by wildlife and the Milky Way. I love the moon rising over the building on the bottom right, and all the critters!

After my reading of Skywatcher they drew and colored, too.

Here is Skywatcher in the International Space Station!

This student told me he likes to make 3D work, and he did! A paper shooting star and a mini box next to a black hole.

Sam gave me his vivid pastel. How did he know these are my favorite colors?!

What a fantastic encounter with young artists and writers! I told them that my book took many, many versions before being published. This poster in a classroom says it all.

After students returned to their classroom, I gathered the drawings left behind. Such a quilt of colorful mark making. Thank you, Peaks Island Elementary for showing me a universe of your talents!

Thanks for reading, and may you all enjoy stellar holidays and safe travels! Keep looking up!