ADVOCACY

Two students share thanks with the publisher of the book they illustrated. 

Bob Reeker

In Lincoln, Nebraska, we are fortunate to have a nonprofit grassroots organization called Teach a Kid to Fish (TKF), whose mission is to empower Lincoln families to get outside, eat healthy, and be active. TKFʼs executive director, Dr. Karla Lester, has three children who attended the elementary school where I teach. She, along with TKF employee and children’s book author Rick Helweg, came to me and my principal to discuss having a book illustrated by our young students.

The six books planned for Helwegʼs series focus on the characters of young Mookie, his sister Syd, and their dog Joe. The trio explores many ways to be healthy, including food choices, drinking water, and sleep behavior. Through a collaborative discussion, we assembled a group of students to complete illustrations for the first book, Mookie’s Mission E! for Energy.

Student Artists
I selected three highly motivated third-graders from our afterschool art club to create the illustrations. They received sketchbooks and spent hours outside of club time developing ideas. The illustrations took seven one-hour sessions. Helweg then reviewed the characters and loved them as-is. I discussed with students how an author often requests changes from an illustrator.

Students learned the importance of working as a team, of being consistent, and how illustrators must meet the requirements of the author.

The following school year, we added seven more illustrators, a combination of fourth- and fifth-graders. Using Helwegʼs text, students worked independently and in pairs to illustrate the pages. The new illustrators worked hard to match the original character style, and we discussed the importance of continuity. Illustrations for the 42-page book were completed by the end of the year and submitted to the publisher.

Revisions
During the summer and first semester of the following year, further revisions to the book were made and many pages were eliminated. This was tough on a few students as they realized their hard work would go unpublished, but all students were represented on at least one page in the final book. Also, pages were combined, resulting in the need for additional illustrations. The initial illustrators (now fifth-graders), along with two other fifth-graders, met the demand by redesigning about a dozen illustrations.

One of the first student-illustrated pages in the book, Mookieʼs Mission E! for Energy. 

The illustration on this page highlights the importance of fruits and vegetables.

Publication
More than four months later, we received word that the book had been published. Five hundred copies out of the 1,000 book run were shipped to our school. All proceeds from the sale of these books went to our playground renovation fund, connecting it back to the TKF health initiative. All materials were provided by TKF and my principal paid me a stipend for working with the children.

TKF also sponsored a book launch party for students and their families, including food, books for sale, a slideshow presentation, and a book reading. Student illustrators also received a complimentary copy of the book.

Reflection
Students learned the importance of working as a team, of being consistent, and how illustrators must meet the requirements of the author. The collaboration benefitted many including TKF, our school, and especially our student illustrators and me. This is an experience I would highly recommend for any educator to take part in should it ever present itself.

Bob Reeker is an art teacher at Eastridge Elementary School in Lincoln, Nebraska.
breeker@lps.org