My Wonderful School Visit

Hi, Friends, thank you for a great patience for a new post!

I visited Haberfield Public School, joined "Book Parade" and enjoyed 3 sessions with children.

Teacher

Tadada~~~, "Book Parade"!

Pupils dressed up favorite book characters and proudly marched in a hall to show off. Actually, so cute and funny. (*Don't ask if Bat man and Spider Man are in "literature" or not.)

What a great honour for 2 authors and me, an illustrator, we held a banner! All teachers turned out fairies, witches and wizards.

Teacher

Parents got excited and took photos. Of course, youngsters, too, got very excited. I wondered if kids would go wild? No. 2 speakers (older students) handled situations very well, which impressed me so much. Once, teachers asked children to calm down, they kept silent. Children behaved very well. We, grown-ups must learn it from kids?!

Before Parade

After enjoying the marching, I talked over picture book illustration and how to draw at the library. Regarding oral presentation skills, "Speak slowly. If you feel TOO slow, it's just good to hear for audience," was my sociology tutor's nice advice. And good eye contact! I really respected each child and tried not to talk to them from a higher position. (*I cannot bend knees well. Sorry, kids, but I wanted to squat in order to keep my eye position same to you.)

Hall

But above all, teachers' backup and children's cooperation helped me.
Unfortunately, I had a very sore throat and could not speak loud. Children listened to me very well. Again, their good manner impressed me so much.

Primary school kids had a great interest in illustration and drawings. Hey, Painting Friends, can you answer for this?
"How do you make 3D paintings?" "Value" is the topic. To explain about value takes time. I checked the time and illustrated a simple sample, an egg and a shadow. Then, "setting 3 simplified values (= high light, middle, darkest)." Hopefully it would help children enjoy drawing.
Another main question was how to draw figures. I took a face for an example and talked of the proportion. Yes, the proportion of a human head. BUT I used a more simplified ratio for children. Today, children were Queens and Kings. No big words. If they could not follow my talk, it's all my fault.
I carefully observed children's reactions, body language and chose very simple doodles. I asked children to demonstrate their drawings and to speak out. Kids must be centralized in class. I wanted children to have fun, interest and confidence in drawings.

After the day, I got a wonderful and priceless "thank you card." Here we go! In my eyes, any child is so lovely, a living angel on the earth.
Librarian, Mr Michael Fraser is so caring for children. Certainly, he is a hero and so popular. Many students are from Non English Speaking backgrounds. He passionately assists children to study and make them join the library activities. Children proudly and joyfully carry out rending and returning books etc. Friends, being a picture book illustrator is very rewarding! Let us bequeath a bit better world to a next generation.
Mr Fraser still seeks more illustrators to join it. If anyone has interest, please contact Mr Fraser. Michael Fraser Haberfield Public School
mjo51266@bigpond.com
Ph: 9797 6336 Fax: 9716 7315

Friends, happy painting!
I'll get back to the ongoing project.

My Wonderful School Visit