PS 310 BX Students Send Letters / Q&A

I had a really sweet visit with first and second graders at PS 310 in the Bronx last month. A few weeks after my visit a packet of sunshine arrived on a cold gray snowy winter day. 

Beverly Manasch, the school librarian, sent a note, since the visit my books have been circulating in and out of the library. That is music to my ears. I also received a thick stack of colorful thank you notes from the students who asked me great questions.

 

I love my mermaid legs

Question: How do I make the lovely paint?
I buy tubes or jars of paint called gouache. They are thick paints and they glow. They also vibrate when certain colors lie side by side. I mix hundreds of colors. I use small plastic bins or even aluminum foil or tins to mix the paints. I label each tin with the colors they were mixed with. Once they dry the paint gets hard. With some water on a brush the dry paint comes back to life as a honey mix of pigment to spread on watercolor paper.

Inside my studio

Question: How much time does it take to make a picture book?
That depends how complex the art is. It normally takes 6 months to one year to create the art for the book. Then the art goes to a printer and the pages are sewn and bound into the covers of the book. That process takes another year before you get the book on your bookshelf.

**More student letters from PS 250 BK.
**Click this link to learn about my school visits.
**Autographed books can be purchased here.

Art by the students of PS 310 BX
Photos copyright Melanie Hope Greenberg

Second Visit to the Eric Carle Museum

My second visit to the gorgeous Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art was much busier than my first visit. Not only did I present a Story Time in the museum's library and sign bunches of books, I also presented a literary craft workshop with young students in the Art Room.


They jumped right into getting their hands busy.


Here are the beautiful 3D collages they created. Some were literal.


Others not so much. This boy told me the psychedelic strip of paper he glued to the top was the second Sun in the composition. I love that!


This young artist followed her own spirit. Love that, too!


This boy mixed the media using markers. So creative.


After my programs I had some time to hang out with Rebel Bookseller, Andy Laties, the manager of the museum's bookshop. I was very fortunate that Andy provided my car lifts to and from the Springfield Amtrak station. Talking shop with Andy is always enlightening and appreciated.

With the museum's librarian and bookshop manager.

The shop is stocked with Eric Carle everything. But it's also creatively stocked with everything else. For book lovers, there's a vast array of children's books, graphic novels, and kid-lit related cross over to adult books. Greeting cards, toys, and plush dolls are colorfully displayed.


Thank You Eric Carle Museum for selling my books in your shop and on your website!


For art lovers there are signed prints and limited edition lithographs and fun minimalist sculptures.


Who?

You!
Visit the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art!

All Photos Copyright Melanie Hope Greenberg 2011

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