By Lisa Carolin
Author, illustrator, and cartoonist Ruth McNally Barshaw introduced third-graders at South Meadows Elementary School to a different type of drawing during her visit to the school Wednesday, March 30.
The third-graders sat on the gymnasium floor each with a pad of paper and a pencil. McNally Barshaw asked them to write down the word penguin, and then showed them on a large screen how to turn the letter P into a penguin. But, that was one of the words they had a chance to decorate.
McNally Barshaw told them, “If you decide to be good at something and work hard at it, you will be good at it. Kids have great ideas. Put them in a journal or a sketch book.”
Her visit to the school was part of the March is Reading Month activities thanks to a grant from the Chelsea Education Foundation that helped the Chelsea District Library purchase books for students in grades 1-6 for the Authors in Chelsea Program.
The library also brought three authors into the schools so students could interact and ask questions of published authors. Students in North Creek Elementary and Beach Middle School also learned from authors on Wednesday.
“We are a very lucky school district to have a library program interested in supporting us and our students’ need for exposure to professional authors,” said South Meadows Principal Stacie Battaglia. “This isn’t just an adult lecturing to a group of kids. Mrs. Barshaw is engaging them in her story and they are getting the chance to work on their own writing skills while learning about her journey.”
Each classroom at South Meadows allowed interested students to write an essay on why he or she would like to have lunch with the author. One student from each class was selected to have pizza and pop with the author and be able to ask her questions.
McNally Barshaw grew up in Detroit and as a child enjoyed drawing pictures to go with famous stories. As an adult, she has worked in advertising drawing cartoons and has also done illustrations for newspapers and won six national essay-writing contests.
But it wasn’t until she started writing and illustrating kid’s books that she had discovered what she really wanted to do.
“Seeing the children’s enthusiasm for writing and creating stories is the best part of visiting a school,” said McNally Barshaw. “It’s so affirming and exciting to see this creativity.”
McNally Barshaw’s newest book is called Leopold is Lost. It’s the story of a lion who lives with two children and what they do with him while they’re at school.
She is also known for a series of books called The Ellie McDoodle Diaries.
