Two weeks ago, 151,000 people attended New York City's biggest pop culture event --- Comic Con. While lots of action was happening at the Javits Center, there were a number of satellite events around the cityl Carol Fitzgerald, who founded Kidsreads.com and who runs The Book Report Network, blogged about one of the kid-centric events that happened at the McNally Jackson bookstore in downtown New York City: "Pictionary with Graphic Novelists starring Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Raina Telgemeier, Kazu Kibuishi, Sara Varon and Frank Cammuso. Read below to learn more about it, and to see some great pictures from the event.
To celebrate New York Comic Con, some of the top creators in kids' graphic novel world appeared at an event at McNally Jackson Booksellers. Their mission was to draw from clues given to them by a host from the store who served as the master of ceremonies. The audience’s mission was to guess what they drew. All of these quick drawings were signed by the artists and then given away via raffle.
There was something magical about seeing the illustrator get a clue then seeing his or her face light up as a thought came to mind about what to draw. From there, through art, the audience was enthusiastically engaged. When their ideas were not immediately recognizable the artists took to hand gestures and feverish drawings of extra figures and objects to get their points across.
I, who jokes that I cannot even draw a straight line with a ruler, loved watching creativity happening in quick burst like this!
The audience of kids and their parents was wildly enthusiastic! Everyone was caught up in the spirit of the event. It was an event where everyone had fun.
The talent included: Jarrett J. Krosoczka, author of Lunch Lady series PLATYPUS POLICE SQUAD and PUNK FARM; RainaTelgemeier, author of SMILE, DRAMA and SISTERS; Kazu Kibuishi, author of the Amulet series and the designer of the 15th Anniversary covers of the Harry Potter books; Sara Varon, author of ROBOT DREAMS, BAKE SALE and ODD DUCK; and Frank Cammuso, creator of The Misadventures of Salem Hyde series, as well as the illustrator of OTTO’S ORANGE DAY and OTTO’s BACKWARDS Day.
Also seen in the audience was CeCe Bell, the author of EL DEAFO, a book that has been getting lots of raves; I loved seeing her carrying a copy of Sara’s book, BAKE SALE, for her to sign. I got a bit of time to mingle with the artists afterwards as they signed books for the super-engaged audience. I had not had time to chat with Raina since SISTERS had come out, and was happy to finally do that. She was headed out on the next leg of her mega-tour the next day! The crowds at her events have been HUGE!
Below are photos so you can see some of the fun.
