Have you ever wondered what to do if you were eaten by a huge mutant hamburger? How to get rid of a rather nasty large frog with a taste for French people? How to handle a camel as a teacher? Or have you just ever wondered what it would really be like to have no adults in the world? Then perhaps you need to speak with some of the participants of the workshop mentioned below!
On Tuesday 6th July a group of 19 enthusiastic youngsters took part in a writing and illustrating workshop with Perth children’s author Joel Hart and his local illustrator Melissa Daw. Joel has now written three books with the latest recently launched at Beaconsfield Primary School.
The workshop began early at 9am with Joel reading his latest picture book “Zoe’s Puppy”. During reading Joel talked about the parts that make up a narrative and the children were encouraged to speculate on how problems would be resolved. The rather large group was then divided into smaller ones of various ages to work through the “Narrative Meal Deal”, a technique that likens the writing process to a burger, drinks and fries! It was easier to then think of the main idea as a drink, an opening line as the top half of the bun, events and problems as the salad and burger and a final solution as the base of the bun….with fries of descriptive words scattered throughout the meal.
Once the groups had decided on their narrative plan the older children were then given the task of writing it out on large paper whilst the younger ones broke away with Melissa to talk about a cover page for their story. They looked at many examples of picture books as well as one Melissa had brought in to help describe the techniques of collage and frottage. The children had to design something that would capture a reader’s attention yet also include the title and authors names.Well, you know kids are having a good time when they don’t want to eat or play…so after a quick lunch they all asked to get back to work! Poor Joel and Melissa didn’t even get a chance to have lunch!
The illustrating proved to be a fun part and a chance to really show off some creative talents. The groups worked together extremely well to develop interesting pictures to go with some pretty funny stories. All the children will receive a copy of their final book. It was a fantastic day all round. Thanks to all the kids who took part, you worked very hard over the day…a big ask for some of the younger ones who came through with flying colours. One group even had to come back the following Friday to complete the epic that their narrative turned out to be- the cat is out the bag now boys! You will have no excuses in school now that we know what you are capable of!
But Joel’s day did not finish there! After cleaning up from the madness that 19 creative kids can make (and a short kip) he was rushed off to his next appointment at the Dunnart Studio Gallery to meet with local writers. Joel was asked many questions in regard to his experiences with writing and publishing and he was able to hand out a lot of good advice as well as a few contacts that will hopefully prove fruitful for those keen to publish their work. It was also a good chance for books to be signed by both author and illustrator, not something you can usually do!
If you missed out on meeting with Joel you can find out more about him and his books and also how to contact him on his website at www.joelhart.weebly.com.au or just catch up with Melissa Daw for more information.
Special thanks to Joel for coming down to share his knowledge with us, he is a great teacher and writer. Thanks also to Vicki Carter who stayed on at the workshop to help out, we really needed those extra hands! Thanks must also go to Mr Griffiths at RDHS for allowing us to use the art room for the workshop and to the Ravensthorpe District Art Group for the use of the Dunnart Studio Gallery.
This project has been financially supported by Country Arts WA
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