1 2 »

Wednesday Writing & Illustrating Prompts With Pat Simmons and Katrin Drelling

Today we’re so lucky to have both the creators of a wonderful new picture book, Cicada Sing Song visiting Writing Classes for Kids and talking about their craft.

Author, Pat Simmons created the fabulous concept and text and Katrin Drelling is the talented illustrator who has brought Pat’s words to life in pictures.

Today they’re talking about their journeys with the book and they have two great creative prompts for you.

ABOUT PAT

Pat Simmons lives at Scarborough on the NSW south coast with her cats, dog and the occasional mini beast. Pat writes poetry, short stories, flash fiction and children’s picture books.

Pat loves encouraging children to explore the natural world.

www.patsimmonswriter.com.au

ABOUT KATRIN

Katrin creates quirky illustrations that feature a mix of different media, texture and techniques.

Her picture book “The World’s Worst Pirate” has been awarded “Notable Book 2018” by the CBCA Australia, short-listed for the 2018 Speech Pathology Australia Award and the Society of Women Writers NSW Biennial Awards 2018 and she also delivered illustrations for a highly successful video animation production.

Additionally, Katrin conducts illustration workshops for both children and adults.

https://www.katrindreiling.com/

ABOUT CICADA SING SONG

Free teacher notes written by Kellie Nissen can be downloaded from Pat’s website. They appear under, ‘Latest News.’

The cicadas are above ground at last. This is the loudest sing song ever. Who knew that cicadas could rap?

Come along to the Festival of Sound.

THE HARDEST THING ABOUT WRITING

The hardest thing about writing a book for me is getting started. I spend ages thinking about an idea. Will it work? Where to begin? I write lots of messy notes before a story starts to take shape.

THE HARDEST THING ABOUT ILLUSTRATING CICADA SING SONG

My characters never really look realistic but of course require a certain recognition value. With this book, the text aims to introduce different kind of cicada species to children in a fun yet educational way and so it was important that the main characters looked cute and appealing AND could be identified as cicadas. I went for very round shapes (and let’s not forget the Rapper clothing) and was happy with how the cicadas turned out in the end but I can also see that some kids will think they are ‘green potatoes’ maybe…? 😊 I do believe though that at some point the artist/illustrator has to let go and let the creation speak for itself and just see what happens.

THE MOST FUN THING ABOUT WRITING THE BOOK – PAT

The most fun thing is watching my ideas come to life. What if? What if cicadas actually plan a music festival? What if they’re rapping in their own little way?

The very best fun thing is seeing how the illustrator interprets my words. That is so special.

THE MOST FUN THING ABOUT ILLUSTRATING THE BOOK – KATRIN

Exactly what I have described above – figuring out how to create cicada characters in my style. I love that challenge. Also, I really enjoyed illustrating the end papers for this book. I used a combination of mixed media and digital, as usual, but in this case also tried an etching technique for the tunnel system. There is something immensely satisfying about scratching paint off paper while other parts of creating this book require more of a steady hand and detailed elements. Apart from the technique, I really love showing what is happening in “secret places” and make it visible to the audience.

THE WRITING PROMPT

  • ‘If you could be any insect in the world, which one would you choose and why?’
  • Compose a haiku or rap about this insect.

THE ILLUSTRATING PROMPT

  • Draw a parade of cicadas with different instruments together
  • Draw a tunnel system for your cicadas in the shape of a maze. How do the cicadas get out and up to the surface?
  • Illustrate a cicada habitat: collect leaves and use them for printing, create paper collages for leaves, mushrooms, branches, flowers and combine with your prints. Lastly, hide a little drawing of a cicada somewhere in your nature illustration

Cicada Sing Song is published by Little Steps

Share This Post

Wednesday Writing Prompt With Karen Hendriks

ABOUT KAREN

Karen Hendriks is  an Australian picture book author with Go Away, Foxy Foxy, Feathers and Home recently being published. Feathers was shortlisted for the international Rubery Awards in 2021. The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson read Feathers on her You Tube channel. Home is listed on the Australian Refugee Council’s webpage as a picture book resource.

Karen’s website is karenhendriks.com.  Karen writes stories that are heartfelt and quirky. Her home is on the south coast of New South Wales and she loves the ocean and nature. Karen has swum with manta rays and turtles. She’s too afraid to scuba dive and prefers to snorkel. Karen dreams of swimming with whale sharks one day.

KAREN AND ALISA’S BOOK
Home is a picture book inspired by Karen’s own family history. The heart locket character is based upon her heart locket from the village of Wunschendorf where her Mum and Oma were born. Home is about losing a home, finding a new one but never forgetting the home that you lost. War ends, yet its dark shadow remains. A family is forced to flee their home. As they journey through hunger, long cold nights, and homelessness, a heart locket whispers words of hope. And a country that’s far away, calls  for those that are no longer wanted. It offers new beginnings and a precious place, once more to call home. 

The illustrator, Alisa Knatko is Russian and she lives in St Petersburg, Russia so Home has a very European look and feel.

THE HARDEST THING ABOUT WRITING HOME
I wanted to shine a light not on a story that is largely unknown but I also wanted it to be one my mum would be happy with. There’s a lot of sadness about war and it’s important to know these sort of stories because war is cruel. It was hard to write because my own mum, grandmother and great grandmother went through this event in history.

THE MOST FUN THING ABOUT WRITING HOME
The most fun thing was discovering that the family home still stands today. My dream is to visit the house one day. I discovered that a small group of survivors still visit the village each year in June. 

Writing clipart free clipart images 2

KAREN’S WRITING PROMPT
What is a favourite memory you have about your own home? See if you can make this memory into a story? You can be the main character in your story or you can invent a completely new character.

Share This Post