| From the first read-aloud of a Graeme Base book, our third graders were hooked! Especially intrigued by the exquisite illustrations that are such a vital part of each of his stories, there has been much interest for the books as well as the person that creates them, Australian children's author and illustrator Graeme Base. Clues hidden in the illustrations challenge the reader to pay close attention to words and pictures while reading or listening to one of his stories. In particular The Eleventh Hour had a group of students up in excitement as they solved a secret code hidden in one of the pictures. I love seeing this kind of excitement over books! |  |
In addition to reading some of his stories and looking through his books, we spent some time already exploring his website, learning a bit about the author, his writing and illustrating. Here a few examples of what students found out so far:
Graeme Base was born in England in 1958.
He lives in Melbourne, Australia.
He is married and has three children.
His favourite animal is the warthog.
His favourite book as a child was Lord of the Rings.
Some of his books have won awards.
His books have been translated into many languages.
He is considered one of the world's leading creators of picture books.
It takes him about two years to write and illustrate a book.
He thinks that traveling is the best way to get ideas.
He did not always want to be a writer but always wanted to be an artist.
Graeme Base was born in England in 1958.
He lives in Melbourne, Australia.
He is married and has three children.
His favourite animal is the warthog.
His favourite book as a child was Lord of the Rings.
Some of his books have won awards.
His books have been translated into many languages.
He is considered one of the world's leading creators of picture books.
It takes him about two years to write and illustrate a book.
He thinks that traveling is the best way to get ideas.
He did not always want to be a writer but always wanted to be an artist.
Some of the things we are still wondering about are for example what his daily routine (as an author and illustrator) looks like, what he does when he takes a break from writing and illustrating, and what inspires him as an author. Of special interest to some of our students seems the question whether the words or the pictures come first as he creates his books. While reading The Eleventh Hour we wondered whether it would have been possible to just make all the illustrations first and then write the story or vice versa. Or is he going back and forth between words and pictures? We hope to find an answer to this as well as to other questions as we continue to explore his books and website.
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