The Mazza Summer Conference Blog

This blog is dedicated to the Mazza Museum's Summer Conference, told through the eyes of a student at the University of Findlay. The week-long event features children's book authors and illustrators, as well as several pull-out sessions.

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Moving this blog elsewhere

Hey everyone! I've decided to move my previous entries and future blogging to mazzamusing.blogspot.com. It's a much better layout and more conducive for viewers outside of tumblr. Let me know what you think and thanks so much for following!

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Day 5: Roger Roth & Chris Raschka

On the final day of the Summer Conference, we were blessed with two highly successful and talented individuals. Roger Roth and Chris Raschka shared with us stories of their lives, struggles with creating and editing a story, and what or who inspires them. 

Roger Roth is an illustrator of several children's books including The Giraffe That Walked to Paris, The Roller Coaster Kid, and The American Story. He has also written a few of his own books such as Star of the Week and Fishing for Methuselah. 

Roger was raised in a very creative family where he was encouraged to pursue his artistic passions. He attended Pratt University in 1980 and has been working on illustrations since 1982. Most of the books Roger has created were based on situations he has experienced; for instance, the main character in Star of the Week is based on his adopted daughter.   Some of my favorite pieces from his presentation include:

"Children's books show that child within all of us that shares a sense of mystery and the unknown. If we don't keep that wonder, we lose it." 

The American Story took two years to illustrate. It would have taken longer, but Random House kept sending boxes of reference photos and materials Roger could work from. 

He likes to hide his wife, child, and dog somewhere in his books. Darlene and Eden can be found in Fishing for Methuselah and The Roller Coaster Kid.

Owns a drawing board that is over 100 years old and has created more than 7,000 drawings on it.

Chris Raschka has illustrated and written numerous books for children. He has been awarded two Caldecott Medals - one for Hello, Goodbye Window and one for A Ball for Daisy, as well as a Caldecott Honor for Yo! Yes?. 

During Chris' presentation, he discussed the structure and importance of visual storytelling and the ongoing battle with an editor when creating a children's book. Chris told us he rewrote A Ball for Daisy a total of seven times before his editor approved of the story. He believes that storytelling and the experience of reading a children's book is not a linear process, but more of a multisided experience between the reader or child, the book, and the teacher or parent reading to the child. 

Some highlights from Chris' presentation include:

"Children learn more vocabulary from wordless picture books than books with words." This is because children have to describe what they are seeing in the book rather than being told what is going on.

Worked on A Ball for Daisy for ten years. The story was inspired by his son losing his favorite yellow ball because a neighborhood dog accidentally broke it. 

Two of the different versions of A Ball for Daisy were considered to be a little too shocking or saddening to children, and the fourth version of the story was never shown to the editor before Chris began working on the finalized pieces of artwork. 

Believes reading a book is a group project but is also a personal experience for everyone.

From stories of ice fishing in Wisconsin to reenacting A Ball for Daisy on stage, Friday was filled with wonderful memorable moments. Chris and Roger were excellent presenters, and Friday's events were an amazing way to end the Mazza Museum's annual Summer Conference. 

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Delayed Entries

Hey everyone, I'm sorry I have not yet posted about the final day of the Mazza Conference. There was a death in the family, and this blog had to be put on the back burner. I've got my notes compiled and it shouldn't take me very long to get the next post up. Sorry for making you wait! 

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Day 4: Tom Lichtenheld, Sherri Duskey Rinker & Michael J. Rosen

Today was good... Today was fun... On the fourth day we were amazed, inspired, enamored all-in-one. The presentations of Tom Lichtenheld and Sherri Duskey Rinker were delightful and hilarious. They each told of their childhood, how their stories came to be, and how the illustrator and author of Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site met. 

Tom Lichtenheld is the author and illustrator of several children's books; some of them include Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site, Exclamation Mark, Bridget's Beret, and Cloudette.

A lot of Tom's presentation revolved around how important children are to his creative process. He believes that children are creative way more than adults because they haven't put up the barriers yet that adults often do. Tom loves creating books for children because kids are very visual - "They like specificity without the context." He has found that kids often teach him the meanings of his books, not the other way around. The artwork in Tom's books portrays a lot of expression; this is because Tom thinks it is important that children are able to identify their feelings. That being said, Tom will spend hours working on facial expressions to get the perfect one for every feeling in the book.  Here are some of my favorite bits from his presentation:

Does not like working from reference photos and is not fond of seeing art that is a direct copy of a photo.

"The computer provides a linear process, which is not at all like painting. Painting in real life is four hours of pure joy... or pure hell. Four hours on the computer just isn't as much fun." 

Tom would eventually like to write a book and have someone else illustrate it for him because "those stories need a completely different visual voice."

When asked what advice he would give to people trying to break into the children's book industry, Tom said that it really helps to have a distinct voice in your work, be it illustrating or writing. But, you also need to be willing to take criticism. 

Sherri Duskey Rinker is the author of Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site and Steam Train, Dream Train. Her collaborative work with Tom Lichtenheld has helped her achieve wonderful success in the children's book industry. For instance, Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site was #1 on the New York Times Best Seller List for Children's Books for 92 weeks! This was the first time that Sherri and Tom presented separately for their books, as they are used to doing tours together. The inspiration for Sherri's books come from her two children; they are tremendously passionate about trucks and trains. Desperate to find a relaxing story to tell at bedtime for her enthusiastic child, Sherri developed what is now know as Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site. Following the success of that book, Sherri wanted to combine everything that her boys ever loved into one book: trains, trucks, animals, ice cream, bikes, paint, etc. This became Steam Train, Dream Train.

Some of my favorite parts of her presentation included:

She has never felt guilty about buying a book for her kids. "If a kid wants a book, you buy them a book!" 

She did not like Tom's original illustrations because the editor showed her pieces from Duck! Rabbit! and that was not how she viewed the story. However, after Tom sent another sketch, her vision completely changed for Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site. "I didn't picture my story as that but it felt like fate." 

It took 3 years for the manuscript to become a book in her hands.

Sherri says she is very blessed with the success she has gained, and was so appreciative of being at the Mazza Conference.

Michael J. Rosen is an editor, author, and illustrator of several amazing books. A lot of his books feature dogs, Jewish and Christian tales, recipes, poetry, and animal behavior. His books are very eclectic, as you can see. Some of his books include Night of the Pumpkinheads, Chanukah Lights, The Dog Who Walked with God, and Our Farm: Four Seasons with Five Kids on One Family's Farm. 

Dr. Melissa Cain had Michael as a guest in her pull-out session called the Writing Strand. Here Michael worked with prospective writers, editing their manuscripts and learning about the industry. Michael also brought artwork to sell from many different artists.

Isn't this all so exciting and enriching? I think I'll end with Dr Seuss, as this is the perfect way to summarize the day: "Today was good, today was fun, tomorrow is another one." 

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Day 3: Michael Hall & Ed Young

Wednesday was a day to remember. Family, successes, failures, exploration of future projects, and life lessons learned were important topics of discussion for both Michael Hall and Ed Young. From hearing tales of growing up in Shanghai to humorous stories of accidentally ruining a pair of someone’s shoes to create art, Ed and Michael captivated the audience.

Michael Hall is a graphic designer and illustrator of the highly acclaimed books My Heart is Like a Zoo, Cat Tales, and Perfect Square. Michael works with bold colors, clever words, and experiments with creating animals and objects out of simple geometric shapes. For 25 years, Michael worked as a graphic designer with his wife in their own home based business. He loved using bright colors, shapes, and negative space to create eye-catching and humorous logos for companies and businesses. It was a suggestion to him that he create children’s books, and he was fortunate enough to dive right into the industry. Michael said that he often finds the story by first doing the illustrations. Like Julie Paschkis, Michael lets the story come to him, rather than go searching for it. During his presentation, Michael explained the original ideas for Perfect Square and My Heart is Like a Zoo, and also shared with us a few upcoming book ideas for adults and children. Some highlights from his presentation include:

Got in trouble by using his wife’s fabric-only scissors for his art in Perfect Square. This is a reoccurring issue for Michael, since he also used a pair of shoes that were not his to stamp an ink pattern and he poured flour on a Xerox machine just to doodle and see the effect when it was printed.

His books often have a hidden spiritual meaning behind them.

Michael has dyslexia, just like Walter Wick. One page in Cat Tale is a representation of what it is like to have dyslexia.

Made over 70 different animals out of hearts for My Heart is Like a Zoo.

After finding out his daughter was diagnosed with having type 1 diabetes, Michael came to the realization that "Brokenness is the source of all beauty" and this realization can be noticed in his book Perfect Square.

Ed Young has been writing and illustrating children’s books since 1962. His success in the industry has earned him a Caldecott Medal, two Caldecott Honors, two nominations for the Hans Christian Andersen Award and the Mazza Medallion. Today, Ed shared the back story and family history behind the book The House Baba Built.

When Ed began working on The House Baba Built, he wanted his children to understand where and how he grew up in Shanghai, China. The task was a little daunting for many reasons; there were very few resource materials due to the family’s photos and letters being destroyed, he didn’t quite know where to start or how the story should progress, and many of his ideas weren’t approved by the editor. There were several different versions of the story before the final one was printed, but Ed said each time he re-wrote the story he learned a little more about himself. Ed described his process of creating the illustrations of his family through telling us all of the funny and heart-warming tales from his childhood. Ed talked about Jean, a Jewish refugee that came to live with Ed’s family. He considers her to be his sister, and surprised the audience by bringing her to the conference and letting her speak with us.

Some highlights from Ed’s presentation include:

After telling the audience it took him 20 years to finish the book, he said, "Even for me, publishing a book isn’t easy - it was very frustrating."

He lost the artwork twice for his book, Wabi Sabi. The first time he left the artwork on his editor’s doorstep so he could focus on his wife who was dying of cancer; the portfolio was stolen. The second time was when his assistant left the portfolio on a train; it was recovered that day. One year later, after losing the first set of artwork, it arrived on his porch still intact. So, he now has two sets of artwork for Wabi Sabi.

"Problems and challenges are the spices of life."

Ed and his brothers used to catch crickets together and they would listen to the chirps to see which ones were the strongest. They would raise them and name them, and then they would have cricket fights. It was a popular past time.

As you can see, there is never a boring day at the Mazza Museum. Every day is special in it’s own way. Michael and Ed were fabulous storytellers, and we are so thankful that they shared these tales with us.

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Day 2: James Dean, Julie Paschkis & Sheila McGraw

Today was quite an eclectic day - filled with fairy tales and cat tales, hopes and dreams, humble beginnings, words of advice, and even recipes! The keynote speakers that presented today were James Dean, Julie Paschkis and Sheila McGraw. 

James Dean is known for his Pete the Cat books. James shared with us his role models, how he stumbled into the children's book industry, and why it is important that parents give their children a vision. James, who is indeed named after the famous actor, adopted a small black cat in 1999. James began drawing and painting the cat he named Pete. After his paintings of Pete sold very well, James quit his engineering job and devoted himself full time to becoming an artist, something he had always wanted to do. A chance encounter with Eric Litwin led to the creation of Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, which took two years to finally publish. While still relatively new to the children's book industry, James believes that his road to becoming a successful artist was a blessing.  Here are some of my favorite bits from his presentation:

James' father had the vision that James would become a concert pianist. While this dream didn't come to fruition, James believes that giving kids a vision, even if it may be the wrong one, encourages them to set goals for themselves.

He is an admirer of Jon Klassen, and the two share a common dislike: they do not like to draw people.

While in college, James would show up to class barefoot.

His goal was to go to art school at the age of 65 after he retired from his engineering job.

Julie Paschkis has illustrated several books, her most famous being Apple Cakes: A Recipe for Love, Mooshka, A Quilt Story, and Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal: A Worldwide Cinderella. Julie once heard "You take other people's vegetables and you make your own soup" and believed this is a very accurate description when it comes to illustrating someone's story.

While growing up, Julie was exposed to many different kinds of Russian and Norwegian children's books. Because of this, Julie was determined to go to Norway. Her parents laughed when she told them, but she made her dream come true and left high school early to finish her education in Norway. Julie told us that she has many ideas for her illustrations but she has to ponder over them for a while before they become great ideas. She said, "Being able to look at something in a different way can give you the best ideas." 

Some highlights from her presentation include:

A fabric company saw one of her books and asked her to create designs for fabric - this led to her interest in quilts which in turn gave her the idea for Mooshka.

Learned Spanish for her book Pablo Neruda: Poet of the People.

She found it difficult to illustrate the wide variety of Cinderella stories for Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal, but used textiles from each culture as a way to weave the story together.

Sheila McGraw illustrated the immensely popular book, Love You Forever, as well as I Promise I'll Always Find You, Pussycats Everywhere! and Where the Lost Things Go. 

Sheila shared with us the up's and down's of the children's book publishing industry. Because of her experience, Sheila's advice was  essential to the many aspiring authors and illustrators attending the conference. Questions such as "What makes a good illustrator?" and "What makes a successful author?" were addressed, and the ideas of compromise in the editing room and consistency in a story were highlights of her presentation.  Some bits of advice included:

You must embrace failure because failure is the only way you grow.

Don't sit down to write a successful, award-winning story because chances are, it won't come to you. Write and create because it's what you love.

Always be consistent in illustrating a story. Children will immediately notice the details, and if Dad has a goatee on one page, but he doesn't on the next, the children will know.

Wow, what a wide range of things to cover all in one day at the Summer Conference!  It was jam-packed with wonderful success stories, great advice, and inspiring tales. Many thanks were given to James Dean, Julie Paschkis and Sheila McGraw for spending the day with us. 

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Walter Wick's "Balancing Act."  Walter wanted me to share this video with you all. He showed it to us during his presentation. Enjoy! :)

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Day 1: Walter Wick & Jon Klassen

Well we are off with a bang! Today's keynote speakers were Walter Wick and Jon Klassen. Both artists were very unique, and provided a great insight to how they develop children's books and what drives them to create their work.

Walter Wick is known for his I Spy and Can You See What I See book series. During his presentation, he explained how exactly he sets up the intricate and complex scenes that are in his books, and how he photographs the complete sculpture to create the desired look of either an optical illusion or objects suspended in mid-air. Walter is passionate about letting children discover and create things themselves, whether it is through finding the objects hidden in his books or exploring ways to build structures using unit blocks or Legos.

Some highlights from his presentation include: 

Received an Honorary Doctorate from the university he was originally denied acceptance.

As a child, his mother let him paint on the walls of his bedroom

While growing up, Walter found it very difficult to read. He believes that his books can be perused by a reader of any level.

He explained that even if a child is having trouble learning to read, there are usually other avenues that the child will succeed in, be it through art or building blocks. "Children need to be told they are smart." 

Jon Klassen is the author and illustrator of This is Not My Hat, a 2013 Caldecott Medal book. He also received the Caldecott Honor in the same year for Extra Yarn. He has worked on a book with Lemony Snicket called The Dark, as well as working as an animator for the movies Coraline and Kung Fu Panda. His books are simple, graphic, humorous, and sometimes allow for the reader to create their own interpretation of the ending events. 

Some highlights from Jon Klassen's presentation:

I Want My Hat Back was written in approximately 15 minutes.

He found out he received the Caldecott Medal and Caldecott Honor early in the morning while he was waiting for a cab to take him to the airport.

After being accepted into Sheridan College to study animation, he quickly realized he did not like animation. 

He thinks it is interesting to explore the indifference of presumably guilty characters. 

All in all, it was a great start to a wonderful week at the Mazza Museum Summer Conference. Both individuals had wonderful presentations and later provided some Q&A for their pull-out sessions. Not only were their presentations insightful as to how they created their books, but Jon and Walter were incredibly kind and humorous. We hope to see them again soon. 

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A Brief Intro

As stated in the description above, this blog will be my contribution to the Mazza Museum's annual Summer Conference. This event is week-long, features several amazing and award-winning children's book authors and illustrations, and offers many pull-out sessions with various topics helpful to potential writers and teachers.  That being said, I'll give you a brief introduction about me and why the conference is important to share with you. My name is Kelsey Rich, and I'm a graduate of The University of Findlay where I majored in Studio Art and Art Management. I've volunteered and interned at the Mazza Museum since my sophomore year and the experiences there have changed my life. I've helped out with the Summer Conference and Fall Conference twice now, and I felt that this year I could contribute more to this exciting conference.  A blog like this one was formerly written by a published author by the name of Michelle Houts. Unfortunately, she cannot be working on a blog this year, so I hope I do my best at it, as her blog was quite amazing. :) The authors and illustrators that are keynote speakers at this event include Jon Klassen, Walter Wick, Michael J. Rosen, James Dean, Chris Raschka, Michael Hall, Roger Roth, Julie Paschkis, Ed Young, Sheila McGraw, and Tom Lichtenheld.