We were so excited to learn that we had won another Storylines National Story Tour visit! On Monday 17 June, Aki Fukuoka visited our school. The year 3/4s (whanau pohutukawa) were treated to a lively presentation in the hall.
Aki Fukuoka is the talented illustrator the famous Billie B Brown series and the Lily - the littlest angel series, both of which are really popular at our school. She also illustrated the Sam Kerr series, and picture books like Witchy goes shopping and Giraffe attack.
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Aki showed us the many versions of Billie B Brown that she created for the publisher. There were around 100 versions before they decided on the perfect character. Billie B Brown has sold over 5 million copies worldwide!
We learnt about the publishing process, and how a drawing goes from a pencil draft, to "inked" to shaded and then to full colour. After that we enjoyed a drawing demonstration. Aki asked us to select two volunteers. I selected a girl and a teacher selected a boy. She created adorable 'book covers' of them and asked us to come up with the title. It was a wonderful, interactive time. The children were engaged during the Q&A time and asked thoughtful questions.
Thank you so much to Storylines and to Aki Fukouka for an inspiring morning! Afterwards the children told me they were "hooked in", Aki was "inspiring", "an amazing artist", and a teacher told me that many children started their own books after the visit. Once again, we are most grateful for the time and energy that goes into these tours!
