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Writer and illustrator visit Boardman elementary schools for Right to Read Week
By Jessica hardin
BOARDMAN
As part of Right to Read week at Market Street Elementary School, Christopher P. Stanley and Alex Levasseur began their presentation to students by asking the group who has written a story or drawn a picture.
Each student raised a hand.
The creators of publishing company Jump Splash Books informed the kids this week that this makes them authors and illustrators.
“I don’t think people think about that. You don’t have to be some famous published rich author to be considered an author. If you’re creating material, you are an author and illustrator,” Stanley said.
Right to Read is a program from the Ohio Literacy Association that promotes literacy in local schools.
The district’s programming also features themed days and guest readers, said Julie Kamenitsa, reading-intervention teacher at the school.
Stanley and Levasseur also gave presentations at each Boardman elementary school this week. Their presentations consisted of interactive readings of their book, “Dr. Ulysses J. Picklebottom’s Guide to Everyday Household Monsters.”
The groups of students collectively designed monsters that will appear in the next installment of Dr. Picklebottom.
Stanley, who lives in Canfield, and Levasseur, who lives outside of Columbus, started Jump Splash in 2015.
Their first book is titled “The Tree Watcher.”
“I was taking a walk with my son, and he was eight months at the time. ... We stopped under a tree, and I happened to stop and look and he’s staring at this tree with such amazement,” Stanley said.
Through their books, Stanley and Levasseur aim to encourage imagination. They intend to start producing chapter books next year.