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News & Photos
Local Author, Illustrator Tells Tales of Learning to Love Reading and Writing
When local author and illustrator Jonathan Scott Fuqua visited the Middle School last year, his book “Calvert the Raven in the Battle of Baltimore” was still a series of illustrations. When he spoke to the fourth graders this week, he showed them the finished product; a 32-page work of historical fiction designed to make history fun.
But, Fuqua wasn’t talking to the kids about making history fun, he was at McDonogh to share how he makes reading and writing fun. Speaking to the entire group of fourth graders, he had them on edge of their seats and giggling. Fauqu told wild tales of how he saw the characters in his life; and at the same time had them thinking about how they too could turn the small details of their lives into stories.
He shared how he takes events in his life, smashes them together, and makes a book. “Writing isn’t about writing,” he said. “It’s about stories.”
The fourth graders were very familiar with Fuqua’s style of writing, having read “Darby,” the story of a spunky, nine-year old growing up in the racially charged South Carolina in the 1920s. They peppered him with questions about the characters in the book, whose descriptions are based on people and details he observed in his life.
Fuqua’s enthusiasm for writing was contagious as students showed off stories they have been writing. Having heard how the author and illustrator, who once hated books and “couldn’t stand the smell of the library,” became a successful storyteller, even the most skeptical fourth graders were convinced of what he said he learned when he was their age…words are stories.
When local author and illustrator Jonathan Scott Fuqua visited the Middle School last year, his book “Calvert the Raven in the Battle of Baltimore” was still a series of illustrations. When he spoke to the fourth graders this week, he showed them the finished product; a 32-page work of historical fiction designed to make history fun.
But, Fuqua wasn’t talking to the kids about making history fun, he was at McDonogh to share how he makes reading and writing fun. Speaking to the entire group of fourth graders, he had them on edge of their seats and giggling. Fauqu told wild tales of how he saw the characters in his life; and at the same time had them thinking about how they too could turn the small details of their lives into stories.
He shared how he takes events in his life, smashes them together, and makes a book. “Writing isn’t about writing,” he said. “It’s about stories.”
The fourth graders were very familiar with Fuqua’s style of writing, having read “Darby,” the story of a spunky, nine-year old growing up in the racially charged South Carolina in the 1920s. They peppered him with questions about the characters in the book, whose descriptions are based on people and details he observed in his life.
Fuqua’s enthusiasm for writing was contagious as students showed off stories they have been writing. Having heard how the author and illustrator, who once hated books and “couldn’t stand the smell of the library,” became a successful storyteller, even the most skeptical fourth graders were convinced of what he said he learned when he was their age…words are stories.