NT_021518

20 | February 15, 2018 | The Northbrook tower School
northbrooktower.com
Author, illustrator inspires young readers
Submitted by Northbrook
School District 28
New York Times bestselling
author Peter
Brown surprised elementary
students earlier this
month when he told them
it took him seven years to
write his first children’s
chapter book and that it
takes about a year to write
and illustrate a picture
book.
Brown, author of the
children’s novel “Wild
Robot” and numerous
picture books including
“Mr. Tiger Goes Wild,”
“Children Make Horrible
Pets,” “My Teacher
is a Monster” and “The
Curious Garden,” shared
his creative process and
where he gets his inspiration
with students at
Westmoor, Greenbriar and
Meadowbrook Schools
Jan. 30-Feb. 1.
“It’s amazing that it
took that much time (to
write ‘Wild Robot’) and
how much he had to think
about it and not give up,”
said Westmoor student
David Kaminsky.
The students learned
other interesting facts
such as: Roz the robot got
her name from the first
robot story ever written,
“Rossum’s Universal Robots,”
Roz is powered by
solar energy, though most
of the technology used to
build Roz is not yet invented
and
It takes Brown an average
of three days to finalize
one illustration, from
concept to ready to print,
and there are 65 illustrations
in “Wild Robot.”
Brown visits about 20
schools a year, he said, and
enjoys seeing children’s
reactions to his work.
“There’s nothing like
seeing [kids’] reaction firsthand
with my own stories.
Meadowbrook student Emily Peterson (right) gets her birthday hat signed by author Peter Brown during a visit on Jan. 30 Photos Submitted
Brown presented to students at Meadowbrook,
Greenbriar and Westmoor schools Jan. 30-Feb. 1.
To see what jokes work,
what they react to, that
is great information for
my next project,” he said.
Brown lives in New York
and grew up in New Jersey,
inspired by his grandfather,
who was an artist.
Brown studied painting
and drawing in college with
the intent on becoming an
animator, until he took a
class in children’s books.
“The nice thing about
children’s books is, where
animation needs hundreds
of people to make
it come to life, you can do
it by yourself in a picture
book,” he said. “I think of
my picture books as short
films where I’m the director,
writer, producer, and
I design the lighting and
costumes and write all the
dialog. So its kind of the
best of both worlds.”
A Westmoor third-grader,
Sydney Rubin, summed
up the value of his visit.
Westmoor students enjoy hearing about the creative
process from the best-selling author Brown.
“He’s very inspiring
and I want to accomplish
what he accomplished one
day,” she said.
Brown’s second children’s
novel, “Wild Robot
Escapes,” will be released
March 13.