Author Kate Hall and Illustrator Knox Hubard at Tuckahoe Elementary School
Richmond Rocks! – children’s book, inspired by children
At this month’s author visit at Tuckahoe Elementary School, author Kate Hall and illustrator Knox Hubard shared not only the story, but the creative process behind the story as well. And it turns out that this is a children’s book that was very much inspired by their children.
After the reading, Kate answered questions from the students, and one of the questions was, “How did you get the idea for your book?” Kate revealed that what first sparked the idea for the book was her son’s questions about Civil War history during an afternoon at Belle Isle. From there, the idea grew into a story about a family learning about the history of Richmond during their summer adventuring
Writing – a team effort
As well, Kate outlined the book-writing process, and the months that it took to not only write the story, but then the back and forth editing process with editor Nicole Eunice to hone the copy. A very important point that she stressed to the children is that creating a book is a team effort. And we know that the students at Tuckahoe understand the importance of teamwork!
Illustrations – how-to, step by step
Next, Knox Hubard took everyone through the process of producing the illustrations, starting from photographs of his children acting out parts of the book in order to get the poses just right, then sketches, and then adding color and bringing the illustrations to life.
For future authors…
On a final note, Kate and Knox told their audience to keep on writing and sketching and letting that creativity flow. You never know how many future authors were there today.
Special surprise!
And at the end of the visit, Kate and Knox felt that it was time to reward their well-behaved audience with a special surprise. Kate said, “Before you go, everyone, check under your seats for a special sticker!” Much to their excitement, six lucky students got to go home with a free copy of Richmond Rocks!
Would you like to have a free author visit/fundraiser at your school?
Would you be interested in doing a fund-raising book event at your school (or community organization)? It’s easy, and your school gets to keep 20% of pre-tax book sales!
Questions? Contact: Suzanne Sherif, Richmondmom.com: suzanne_sherif@hotmail.com.
