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| Ivan Brunetti speaks at Columbia Teachers College's Reading & Writing Institute featuring his newest TOON bestseller, Comics Easy As ABC —already in its second printing! Last week in New York, Ivan Brunetti captivated teachers with his interactive workshop entitled, The Simple Things: The ABC's of Graphic Novel in which he discussed designing characters and the basics of storytelling as part of Columbia's Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP). Founded by Lucy Calkins, the week-long institute brings together over 1,500 teachers from around the country for a symposium on inspiring a love of reading in young people. Learn More about TCRWP Ivan Brunetti with Gene Yang at the Teacher's College Ivan Brunetti's Five C's of Cartooning Calligraphy — A visual handwriting unique to everyone Clar ity — T he simplest drawings can be the clearest drawings Consistency — C haracter design, settings/place, point of view and style. One can be consistently inconsistent as well; inconsistencies can be part of a story and can signify POV shifts times shifts, memory. Composition — Letting the story define the structure as the story is being told. Communication — The ultimate goal...Comics as a way to create meaning, a language to tell the stories that we want to tell. More insights from Brunetti... “Comics go beyond just illustrating the te xt,” said Ivan Brunetti. “What I try to get across is that every mark counts.” Simplicity, Brunetti explained, is often preferable to detail when it comes to comics -- too much visual chaos can disrupt the eye of the reader and detract from the narrative. Brunetti is a cartoonist and a comic book scholar who’s been drawing professionally for well over twenty-five years, but still, when he begins teaching students he makes sure to “equalize the classroom... to remove all the opportunities for people to show off.” The most surefire way to get everyone on the same level is through speed sketching, so Brunetti had the class do ever faster sketches of a car -- a 3 minute car, a 2 minute car, a 45 second car, etc. until they got down to a 5 second car. “ So, what happens to the drawings as we do them faster?” said Brunetti. “You’re removing detail, but you’re not just randomly removing it -- you want to get to the essence of the thing. Everyone’s kind of got a different sweet spot for sketching, but there’s a zippiness and a unique quality to those ten second drawings.” For Brunetti, therein lies the beauty of comics -- they get to the essence of things and there’s something inherently democratic about them. “It’s very low-tech, so anyone can do it,” said Brunetti. “The most essential tools are paper, pencil, and life. I’m hoping that when kids see these, they think ‘I could do that!’ It’s supposed to look easy and fun.” ★ ★ ★ " Drawing guides have never been so appealing. A must." - School Library Journal STARRED REVIEW ★ ★ ★ Comics: Easy as ABC! IVAN BRUNETTI TOON GRAPHIC INTEREST LEVEL: Age 8+ READING LEVEL: Grades 3+ LEXILE LEVEL: 740L F&P: Level M HARDCOVER EDITION ISBN 918-1-943145-44-7 PAPERBACK EDITION ISBN: 978-1-943145-39-3 For years, Brunetti has taught cartooning at Columbia College Chicago. He is the author of numerous books, including Cartooning: Philosophy and Practice and Aesthetics: A Memoir. For young children, he recently published two hugely successful Level One TOON Books: Wordplay (2017) and 3x4 (2018). Ivan's other TOON Books include... 3x4 TOON LEVEL: 1 INTEREST LEVEL: Age 3+ READING LEVEL: Grades K-1 ISBN: 978-1-943145-34-8 WORDPLAY TOON LEVEL: 1 INTEREST LEVEL: Age 3+ READING LEVEL: Grades K-1 ISBN: 978-1-943145-17-1 ★ ★ ★ THREE STARRED REVIEWS from Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal & Publishers Weekly! Indiana's Young Hoosier Book Award Top 20 List "Praiseworthy!" - Kirkus Reviews Starred Review ★ ★ ★ Lots of love, The TOONies | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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