Monday, July 14, 2008
Yesterday I was invited to speak to a family-writing workshop of some 64 parents and kids about The Legend of Lil' Red at Walt Library in Lincoln, Nebraska. Read on for the story and a cool preview!
I'd never been to Walt Library before, it's in the newer, South-er part of town. I was always a Gear Library guy growing up. I showed up about a half-hour into the session as Paul Rea (the author) was winding down a reading of the story using what I supposed to be the final PDF of the book. I wasn't sure that the group would get to see the whole story (illustrations included) so the presentation I brought didn't include a lot from the second half of the book, because I didn't want to spoil anything. Too late!
There were lots of parents and children there, and after we were done talking they asked a lot of really great questions ranging from how the project got started, how many drafts the story took to complete, and a few questions on the process of illustration. Afterwards I got to talk to a few of the kids who really liked to draw; one girl beat out all the other first- and second-graders to win a local art contest — when she was still in Kindergarten!
This was the first group that ever got to see the book from start to finish, and they seemed to enjoy it. A few parts of my presentation elicited some laughs, including an "11-Nate" reference photo I'll post … someday. For now, here's a portion of what I was able to show; the complete coming together of one of the opening pages:
 
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