South Hillsborough LIbrary
South Hillsborough LIbrary
On Tuesday, October 10th, three celebrated authors visited South--Michael Hall, Marcie Colleen, and Tom Sullivan--as part of their Think Big tour. Think Big! Letters, Colors, and Shapes is a concept theme arising from their book titles Little i, Love, Triangle, and Blue vs. Yellow, which focus on respectively letters, shapes, and colors. The authors read these new books to South kindergarteners, first graders, and second graders. Their books demonstrate fundamental ideas for elementary aged children while still providing entertaining and engaging stories.
After sharing their stories, the authors used shape, color, and letters to create a story in real time during the assembly. South students were invited to create the names of the characters for the story (Ben and Teddy), their unique characteristics, the shape for the character, and the shapes for the setting. The children decided Teddy would be a triangle with three ears while Ben would be a circle with 15 eyes. Marcie Colleen began the story by drawing the shapes of the characters, and then Tom Sullivan anthropomorphized the shapes. He turned Teddy into a rabbit and Ben into a bear. The children decided the setting would be in a house that used three shapes, a triangle, a square, and an octagon. Finally, Michael Hall created the story about two lonely characters who met in a house and were not lonely anymore. It was simple and powerful and gave a concrete method to use with elementary aged children to create their first stories.
South was so fortunate to have these three authors visit, and the South community is grateful to Hicklebee’s books in San Jose for arranging the visit.
Michael Hall is a New York Times best-selling picture book author and illustrator based in Minnesota. He is also a highly successful graphic designer, acting as co-owner and principal at Hall Kelley Inc. When Mr. Hall was eight, he was diagnosed as dyslexic. Although reading was a challenge as a child, he was always interested in writing. He believes picture books are a stepping stone to other kinds of reading, and a legitimate form of literature and art. He hopes that his books will help children “broaden their sense of wonder, celebrate their differences, and come to know the power of their imaginations.” He shared that he’d had the idea for Little i for 10 years, but he kept putting it aside as he imagined how he would tell the story. Learn more about Michael Hall by visiting his website.
Prior to becoming a writer of children’s books, Marcie Colleen was a teacher, actress, and nanny. Of course she loves reading, but in her free time she also enjoys long distance running, watching baseball, and eating ice cream. She has beautiful, naturally curly hair and lives with her husband, a LEGO artist, in San Diego. Ms. Colleen shared that she thought about the ideas behind Love, Triangle for about a year and a half before she was finally ready to write the story. Visit her website to learn more.
Tom Sullivan is an author, illustrator, and graphic designer who lives and works in Boston. He just recently began writing children’s books after spending a decade as a freelance art director and designer. Blue vs. Yellow is his second book, and he spent about three to four months writing and revising the story. When asked why he became a children’s author and illustrator, he joked that he was looking for fame and fortune. He revised that answer to tell South students that when he was younger, he had worked at a public library shelving books and had always dreamed of seeing his name on one of the books. To learn more about Tom Sullivan, visit his website.
Michael Hall, Marcie Colleen, and Tom Sullivan--Creating Stories Using Letters, Shapes, and Colors
Friday, September 29, 2017