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Inspiration sensation
Author’s lesson to Brooklyn students: Write and draw what you love
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Author-illustrator Brendan Wenzel gives autographed copies of his book — “They All Saw a Cat” — to students, with help from PS 289 Chapter Leader Lisa Highland (left) and UFT Vice President for Elementary Schools Karen Alford.
“How many people think that cats are cute?” Brooklyn author-illustrator Brendan Wenzel asked the young children assembled in the auditorium of PS 289 in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. “How many think cats are creepy?” Each question prompted a show of hands.
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“So we all see different things when we see a cat; everyone has a different point of view,” said Wenzel, explaining how perspective shapes what we see — the premise of his latest work, “They All Saw a Cat.”
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Miller Photography
Students read along with Wenzel and act out the book’s refrain, “The cat walked through the world, with its whiskers, ears and paws.”
The Nov. 9 author visit was organized by the nonprofit First Book in conjunction with the book’s publisher, Chronicle Books, which used the occasion to launch its annual holiday #GiveBooks campaign. Each of the 200 kindergarten through 2nd-grade students received a signed copy of the hardcover picture book courtesy of First Book.
The children peppered Wenzel with questions. How long did it take him to write the book? (One night, but the idea had been percolating for years.) How did he make the illustrations look so real? (He starts with thumbnail sketches and then makes them big. “When I find one I like, I’ll carefully draw it.”) What inspires him? (The natural world.)
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Miller Photography
A 2nd-grader creates a drawing with Wenzel’s encouragement as Highland looks on.
“I love going outside and seeing animals — that’s what I’m passionate about and want to share with other people,” Wenzel told the children. “But that’s just me. Whatever you love — rocks, buildings, sports — can inspire you” and be the source for writing and drawing.
Next, a group of students clustered around the author and crowdsourced a new creature for the story, a frog, which Wenzel drew.
Afterward, 2nd-grade teacher Susan Nelli said one of her students, hearing how Wenzel drew sketches for a previous book in Prospect Park, now plans to go to the park and do his own drawings.
Chapter Leader Lisa Highland, a pre-K teacher, said she plans to use “They All Saw a Cat” as a springboard for her students to create their own stories in class.
First-grade teacher Myriam Paul said it was like a light bulb went off in the children’s heads. “They were able to relate what they saw with what they do in class as writers,” she said. “They were able to see the pictures and make connections, which is why they were so excited.”