South hillsborough Library
South hillsborough Library
South students couldn’t stop laughing during Aaron Reynolds’s visit on September 19th. Mr. Reynolds shared how he became a children’s author, including how he ruled out writing books for adults (too boring!) and cookbooks (not quite enough expertise). He also discussed how he really did not want to write a sequel to his extremely successful story, Creepy Carrots with illustrator Peter Brown. He was finally persuaded by his many fans and settled on writing about a creepy pair of underwear rather than writing another book about fruits (Creepy Cantaloupes or Terrifying Tomatoes just didn’t work for him) or vegetables. After settling on a funny story about underwear, he and illustrator Peter Brown had really wanted to make the green illustrations literally glow in the dark. Unfortunately, the materials needed to make glow in the dark illustrations would have made the book extremely expensive--greater than $45 for one book! So, Peter Brown settled on using a color that appeared to glow in the dark.
Jasper Rabbit is back as the main character in Creepy Pair of Underwear, but Jasper thinks he is a big rabbit now, and he begs his mother for glorious, green underwear. However, he soon decides that their ghoulish nighttime glow as well as the creepy, ever-changing face on the underwear are just too much for him. Jasper’s unsuccessful attempts to get rid of his new undies made South students laugh while his final solution to his underwear problem surprised and delighted them.
Aaron Reynolds lives in Chicago with his wife, 2 children, and 5 cats. He told students that he just can’t own a dog--too much slobber and he couldn’t stand picking up poops! He graduated from university with a degree in theater, and prior to becoming a writer he had a variety of interesting careers, including actor, businessman, waiter, dancer, carpenter, and chef. He fell in love with stories while listening to his 5th grade teacher read aloud Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary. He loves to eat pepperoni and pineapple pizza as well as the color orange.
To learn more about Aaron Reynolds, visit his webpage.
Aaron Reynolds--Author and Entertainer
Friday, September 29, 2017