Bookworm International Literary Festival 2012: Emily Gravett
A few months ago we were tipped off that British children's book author Emily Gravett had confirmed her participation in the Bookworm's Beijing International Literary Festival and we anxiously awaited the opportunity to buy tickets. In our home, especially with Brigid, Emily Gravett is huge. I don't know how popular she is in the US, but we have been able to purchase several of her books at the Bookworm. Monkey and Me is far and away Brigid's favorite. It's a great rousing read-a-loud, with the kids acting out each of the zoo animals in turn. At least, that's how we roll.
Monday morning, bright and early, we were back at the Bookworm waiting for Emily Gravett to start.
In a striking contrast to Peter Brown, who seemed to know since childhood that he wanted to be a children's book author, Emily Gravett's life took a few more turns and detours before she discovered her vocation.
More after the jump
She knew she had a talent for drawing. At the age of three in nursery school, she drew a picture of a clock that hung on the walls of their home. This clock was not an ordinary clock. When Gravett's mother was pregnant with her, the clock had fallen off the wall, hit her mom in the head, and stopped working. Still they kept the clock. When Gravett brought home her drawing, her mother, as any proud mama would, stuck the picture on the wall. But then....something strange happened. Her mother believed that she could hear the picture-clock ticking faintly. Others in the family and neighborhood confirmed what she heard. Freaked out, Gravett's mother threw out the drawing. Gravett was not, however, freaked out. She was amazed. She thought she was magic. Her drawing of a clock, after all, came to life.
This would be a great lead in to the story of why Gravett grew up to become a beloved children's book author. And while there is definitely a connection, her life still had more turns ahead of her. As a dread-locked high school student, her teacher suggested she might want to become a hairdresser. After graduation she did not take this advice, and instead took up living in a bus for eight years. She still was drawing, but mostly pictures of her caravan life. What changed all of this was the birth of her daughter. She started reading books to her baby, and the baby kept asking for more. And she continued reading these books to her child, and she wondered. Selling her bus, she took off for art school and became Emily Gravett, children's book author.
Emily then treated us to reading two of her most popular books, Again! followed by Monkey and Me. In the book-author-as-rock-star-moment, Brigid could not sit in her seat during Monkey and Me.
After that, Gravett crowd-sourced a new version with the crowd of children. Instead of a monkey, the kids chose an alien to be the narrator's companion. Rather than just looking at animals, the audience decided taste-testing random things with the friendly alien would be fun.
"Alien and me, Alien and me, Alien and me, we went to taste, we went to taste..." A book. A worm. A snotty tissue. All "Yuck!" Only until the Alien discovers ice cream is is a "Yum!"
Of course, afterwards, she was graciously available for book signings and photographs.
Monday morning, bright and early, we were back at the Bookworm waiting for Emily Gravett to start.
In a striking contrast to Peter Brown, who seemed to know since childhood that he wanted to be a children's book author, Emily Gravett's life took a few more turns and detours before she discovered her vocation.
More after the jump
She knew she had a talent for drawing. At the age of three in nursery school, she drew a picture of a clock that hung on the walls of their home. This clock was not an ordinary clock. When Gravett's mother was pregnant with her, the clock had fallen off the wall, hit her mom in the head, and stopped working. Still they kept the clock. When Gravett brought home her drawing, her mother, as any proud mama would, stuck the picture on the wall. But then....something strange happened. Her mother believed that she could hear the picture-clock ticking faintly. Others in the family and neighborhood confirmed what she heard. Freaked out, Gravett's mother threw out the drawing. Gravett was not, however, freaked out. She was amazed. She thought she was magic. Her drawing of a clock, after all, came to life.
This would be a great lead in to the story of why Gravett grew up to become a beloved children's book author. And while there is definitely a connection, her life still had more turns ahead of her. As a dread-locked high school student, her teacher suggested she might want to become a hairdresser. After graduation she did not take this advice, and instead took up living in a bus for eight years. She still was drawing, but mostly pictures of her caravan life. What changed all of this was the birth of her daughter. She started reading books to her baby, and the baby kept asking for more. And she continued reading these books to her child, and she wondered. Selling her bus, she took off for art school and became Emily Gravett, children's book author.
Emily then treated us to reading two of her most popular books, Again! followed by Monkey and Me. In the book-author-as-rock-star-moment, Brigid could not sit in her seat during Monkey and Me.
After that, Gravett crowd-sourced a new version with the crowd of children. Instead of a monkey, the kids chose an alien to be the narrator's companion. Rather than just looking at animals, the audience decided taste-testing random things with the friendly alien would be fun.
"Alien and me, Alien and me, Alien and me, we went to taste, we went to taste..." A book. A worm. A snotty tissue. All "Yuck!" Only until the Alien discovers ice cream is is a "Yum!"
Of course, afterwards, she was graciously available for book signings and photographs.
Comments
p.s. the resemblance is uncanny - Brigid IS the 'me' little girl of the title, so cute!