Walt Disney-

Activity: Make a cartoon cell by painting a background and drawing characters and scenes on

acetate. Learn how to layer the background and acetates to create depth just like animators do!

Bill Watterson- Calvin and Hobbes

Activity: Study the many emotions portrayed in his comic strips and create your own cat with

personality by constructing one out of air dry clay.

Shel Silverstein- A Light in the Attic, The Giving Tree

Activity: Create a paper collage to coincide with Shel Silverstein’s poem: “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia

Stout would not take the garbage out.” Paint various foods/wrappers to cut out and collage

around a paper trash can to create a wild piece of folk art.

Lorna Balian- Humbug Witch

Activity: Use mixed media and your imagination to design your own unique witch, perfect for

decorating your house in the Halloween season!

Dr. Seuss- The Lorax, Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, The Grinch

Activity: Create a mixed media sculpture inspired by the whimsical creations of Dr. Seuss. Use

pipe cleaners, buttons, wire, cut paper and other mixed media items to form a colorful and

imaginative piece. Adults will sew a mini Seussical tree that the Lorax himself would want to

protect!

Jeff Kinney- Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Activity: Write your own book just like Greg Heffley from Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid!

Construct a book for your own stories, poems, memories and adventures. Create folded paper

and accordion books, learn basic bookbinding, and design your own book covers with

handmade papers!

Charles Schulz- The Peanuts

Activity: Make a Charlie Brown inspired Christmas tree sculpture out of sticks and mixed media.

Bring extra ornaments to adorn your new tree with and/or create your own at the studio.

Henry Moore

Activity: Use negative space to create an abstract clay sculpture like the work of Henry Moore.

Sol Lewitt

Activity: Experiment with two of Sol Lewitt’s methods. Create clean and graphic lines of bold

color by painting with tape. Explore the beauty of a ripple effect filling an entire page.

Eric Richard, James and Kim Dean- Pete the Cat series

Activity: Pete loves his high top sneakers because they help him to express his cool-cat

personality. Plan a design for your own dream shoes that show off your unique personality!

Decorate a canvas template of high top sneakers adding paint, glitter, embroidery, and of

course in Pete the Cat fashion, buttons! Bring your own real shoes to decorate if you’d like!

Eric Carle- The Very Hungry Caterpillar/The Mixed Up Chameleon/Brown Bear, Brown Bear

What Do You See?/A House for Hermit Crab/The Very Grouchy Ladybug/The Very Busy Spider

Activity: Create your very own Eric Carle style image using paint and contact paper-- just like he

does! Make your own insect, marine creature, animal, scene, or lettering inspired by the

amazing body of work of this iconic author and artist.

Ludwig Bemelmans and grandson, John Bemelmans Marciano- Madeline

Activity: What is a more iconic symbol of the city Madeline grew up in than the Eiffel Tower?

Create your own out of string art, paying attention to the sturdy triangles that make this famous

architectural feat so enduring. Plus: If there is extra time, create your own two lines of girls just

like Madeline and her classmates by painting clothespin dolls.

Jan Brett- The Mitten/The Gingerbread Baby/The Three Snow Bears

Activity: The most recognizable part of Jan Brett’s illustrations is the way she frames her

images. The borders are pictures themselves that add the story. Transform your stories by

framing your photos and art pieces with a custom decorated frame!

Hilary Knight- Eloise

Activity: Eloise’s favorite color is pink. To make her personality clear, Hilary Knight makes his

drawings black, white, and pink. Learn how to adorn your own line drawings with a single color

to best express personality, mood, and environment.

Victoria Kann- Pinkalicious series/Goldalicious

Activity: In Victoria Kann’s Pinkalicious, readers learn the importance of balance in life. When

things get a little too pink, Pinkalicious has to get more of pink’s complementary color, green.

Bring a little more balance to your life by painting and building a stick statue using your favorite

color and it’s complementary match.

Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake- Matilda/James and the Giant Peach/Witches/Charlie and the

Chocolate Factory/BFG

Activity: Taking inspiration from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, this activity has candy on

the mind. Collage together cut up tiles of (always colorful) candy wrappers and create sweet

mosaic images.

Kevin Henkes- Wemberly Worried/Chrysanthemum/Lilly’s Plastic Purple Purple/Sheila Rae the

Brave

Activity: Sculpt paper to create your own bouquet of chrysanthemums by creating various

unique paper version of the flower. Makes the perfect gift for moms, grandmothers, or teachers!

David A. and Noelle L. Carter- One Red Dot, Bedtime Bugs, Love Bugs, How Many Bugs in a

Box?

Activity: Become a paper engineer just like David and Noelle Carter! Create your own paper

pop-up sculpture!

Trina Schart Hyman- Little Red Riding Hood/Sleeping Beauty/Witch Poems/The Dragon Slayer

Activity: Hyman’s artwork mimics the style of medieval art. One of the biggest artistic styles of

this time was illumination (the decoration of the first letter in a passage.) Make your own

illumination, decorating one of your initials with paint, markers, stamps, and more for a truly

classical piece of personalized artwork.

Mary Engelbreit- Queen of Hearts/A Merry Little Christmas/Color/Cross-stitch/Queen of

Halloween

Activity: Design your own stamp to make countless handcrafted but re-creatable greeting cards!

Assemble and arrange foam shapes and letters on blocks of wood to create the perfect layout

for your own unique, but reproducible greeting cards!