The Wood County Committee on Aging will host a series of workshops for those who have ever considered writing or illustrating a children’s picture book for their own enjoyment, as a gift to the younger generation, or publication. This series will take place on Thursdays, April 3, 10 and 17 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at the Wood County Senior Center, 140 S. Grove St., Bowling Green.
Participants do not need to be a professional artist to do this. Come, play, and learn. Local author/illustrator Bettie Boswell will share her experiences creating children’s books and her journey to traditional publication. She will encourage participants to create stories and art of their own.
The registration fee is $15 due at time of registration to secure your spot; all supplies are included. The class is limited to 16 participants. It is recommended that you wear painting clothes for this series. Support and guidance will be provided along the full journey of this class. Create a book for your family, grandchildren or just attend the class to develop a new skill you may surprise yourself.
Boswell has taught classes about music, art, and elementary classroom curriculum from preschool to college, mainly at Sylvania Schools and the University of Toledo. When she isn’t creating her next book, she is active in church activities, volunteers at the Mazza Museum in Findlay, enjoys BGSU’s Silver Sneakers activities, and helps with the Bowling Green Schools elementary school choir. She has four novels and seven children’s books in print. She’s also been published in Guidepost true stories books and educational journals.
The class timeline is as follows:
- Thursday, April 3: Boswell will share a presentation about her journey as an author/illustrator and basic information about picture book expectations. Participants will do activities involving art materials and idea generating exercises to come up with a character with a problem to solve during a story.
- Thursday, April 10: Participants will explore settings and obstacles through a presentation, discussion, and art materials. Topics covered will be word count, theme, page turns, character essentials, background art in contrast to words, to rhyme or not, critiques, and more.
- Thursday, April 17: Learn about creating a book dummy through a presentation and hands-on activities to create book mock-ups. Discussion/presentation topics include leaving room for the words, leaving room for the pictures, and working with limited page counts.
Registration for this class is required by March 15. Call the Programs Department at 419-353-5661 or 1-800-367-4935 or email programs@wccoa.net.
