Author of “The Watermelon Seed” visits Baker School
In the multipurpose room of the George C. Baker Elementary School, children wearing hats of green crocodiles excitedly gathered for a special presentation. If there was any indication of what was going on, the bulletin board near the main entrance of the hallway explained it all, with pictures crayon-colored crocodiles eating watermelons, welcoming children’s author and illustrator Greg Pizzoli of Philadelphia for Author’s Day on Wednesday, Dec. 3.
Pizzoli is the author and illustrator of “The Watermelon Seed” and “Number One Sam,” as well as illustrator for “Not Very Scary” by Carol Brendler. In total, Pizzoli has six books published. “The Watermelon Seed,” a story about a crocodile who accidentally eats a watermelon seed, received the 2014 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for most distinguished beginning reader book.
Author’s Day, brought to Moorestown’s Baker Elementary School by the Baker Elementary Home and School Association, is held every year for children to learn about and meet authors of some of their favorite books. However, this author had a connection to Baker’s very own art teacher, Katie Paetzold. He was her professor when she was in college.
“Greg was a fantastic professor! I took a week-long intensive screen printing course at the University of the Arts with Greg three summers ago, and I’ve stayed in touch with him ever since. I found him to be very personable, highly knowledgeable, and a skilled instructor,” said Paetzold.
“I invited him for two reasons. First of all, he was the art professor of our art teacher, so when he published his first book, she brought it in to show me, and as soon as I heard that he won the Seuss Geisel Award, that kind of sealed the deal for me,” said the school’s librarian Ann Ferruggia. “The books are delightful and the children love them, so it seemed like a no brainer.”
For the last month, students have been doing an author’s study on Pizzoli. They learned about his life, read and analyzed his books and drew and colored pictures of the characters. The books were also sold to students so Pizzoli could sign them.
On Author’s Day, Pizzoli gave a presentation to different grades throughout the day. With each grade, he talked about his experiences as a writer and illustrator, showed them how he drew some of the characters, as well as read the students his books.
Pizzoli started out drawing and writing stories when he was in first grade. He even said before he could write, he would tell stories to his mom, who would write them down for him. Since then, he pursued his dream in college, where it solidified this is what he wanted to do.
Earning his master’s degree in fine arts, Pizzoli now teaches at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. It was there that he not only taught Paetzold, Baker’s art teacher, but another student, who was also an illustrator, who introduced him to his agent.
Pizzoli also gave the children a preview of some of his new and upcoming books. He read “Templeton Gets His Wish,” a book coming out in the spring about a cat who makes a wish with consequences, and “Dragon Was Terrible,” a book written by Kelly DiPucchio about a dragon who does terrible things to a town, coming out in 2016.
At the end of the presentation, Pizzoli allowed the students to ask questions about him, what he does and the characters. Pizzoli also gave advice on writing and illustrating stories, expressing the need to draw and write every day and to work hard.
“I write every day. Sometimes I throw it all out, and sometimes it gets into a book,” Pizzoli said. “Draw every day, draw from life. Work hard and be nice to people. I teach at the college level in Philly, and I find the ones who are successful are the ones who work hard, not necessarily the ones who draw the best.”
Ferruggia said she hopes children take away not only the love of literature and reading from these author events, but also realize there is a lot of work to put into writing or illustrating a book.
“I think it is important for them to understand it is a process. Sometimes a book is published and sometimes it isn’t, but you have to keep writing,” Ferruggia said.
Pizzoli expressed his happiness for being invited to the school and seeing the children’s reactions to his book.
“It’s exciting reading to the kids and sharing stories with them. I enjoy being in the studio, too, but you don’t see how it is received there. It is really nice connecting with the kids,” Pizzoli said.
