Author/Illustrator: Robert McCloskey

For my author/illustrator study, I really thought it would be interesting to look at and discover the works of an author who based his art and literature on items in New England. Since most of us will be teaching around this area, this would be a fun area to study with children to learn about the world around us and bring schoolwork closer to home. Therefore, I decided to study Robert McCloskey, whose works have captured almost everyone’s hearts over our lifetimes. Not only is he the author of his works but also the illustrator, so it would be a great person to study with children to learn about his way of writing and his creativeness in drawing. What I thought would be interesting with him is that you could incorporative his writing and illustrations into a unit on New England in general. The three works that I thought would be appropriate to look at to study Robert McCloskey as an illustrator and author are Blueberries for Sal, Make Way for Ducklings, and One Morning in Maine, because they are all done with the same form of drawing. Many of his other works do take place on the shores of Maine also, including Time of Wonder and Burt Dow, Deep Water-Man.
Biography:
The talented American author and illustrator, Robert McCloskey, entered this world on September 14, 1914 in Hamilton, Ohio. In 1932, he came to Boston to study art where many years later would become the inspiration of one of his most famous works, Make Way for Ducklings. During World War II, he married Margaret Durand who happened to be the daughter of children’s author Ruth Sawyer. They had two daughters, Sarah and Jane and the family spent a lot of time in Maine where many memories were made and where many of McCloskey’s books were inspired from. Sarah and McCloskey’s wife are said to be the inspirations for the mother and daughter in his story, Blueberries for Sal. During his lifetime, McCloskey received two Caldecott Medals for his works, Make Way for Ducklings in 1941 and Time of Wonder in 1957. Sadly, in 2003, Robert McCloskey passed away at his home in Deer Isle, Maine.
In the New York Times article covering McCloskey’s death, they share the quote that he once said ''drawing is most of all a way of seeing and thinking.'' I think that that quote is exactly what we need to teach our children when we study illustrations in books.
Lesson One:
Prior Knowledge: No prior knowledge is necessary, but an overview
of his life and works would be interesting and helpful.
Materials Needed: Paper
Pencils
Charcoal
Smocks (charcoal can get messy!)
The 3 McCloskey Books
Bus/money for fieldtrips (optional-if you choose this route)

Overview: To begin the unit on Robert McCloskey, I would first allow the students to look and examine the illustrations in each of the stories. This will allow the children to activate their minds and explore the pictures to come up with their own conclusions on how they think the illustrator created his illustrations. After they came up with their guesses, we would begin our study on art. My first lesson would be to introduce the appropriate name of the technique that McCloskey used and also the materials. These would be simply pencil and charcoal for One Morning in Maine and Blueberries for Sal (blueberry-colored pencil!). While he did it a little differently for Make Way for Ducklings by first drawing in charcoal but then lithographed on zinc plates. The way he draws in simple charcoal and pencil make for a calm, smooth feel to the illustrations. The pictures are simple to look at, but at the same time have so much detail that you could spend hours looking at them.
After we are done studying the “history” of the illustrations, I would have the children create their own illustrations based on childhood memories of New England or go outside to sit and draw to be able to study their surroundings using charcoal and pencils, the same materials that McCloskey did. By going outside so the children can explore would be a perfect way to let their imaginations run wild, but also if the school allowed it, taking the children on a fieldtrip to the beach to explore and draw the shore like Sal in One Morning in Maine; Boston to see the statues of the ducks in the Gardens and explore the path of the ducks in Make Way for Ducklings; and lastly, take them blueberry picking so they can feel how Sal felt in Blueberries for Sal. All of these trips will allow the children to illustrate in much more detail than if they just look at the pictures of the book. This brings me to my next lesson...

Lesson Two:
Prior Knowledge: Some English skills are necessary to be able to write their children’s stories.

Materials: Paper
Pencils/Pens
Binding
Computer (if they want to type)
The 3 McCloskey Books


Overview: My second lesson would allow the children to study Robert McCloskey as an author. These three works that I have chosen to look at for my unit are based on three different types of stories. Although Blueberries for Sal and One Morning in Maine each have a character named Sal, she is a different age in the two stories. In Blueberries for Sal, she is seen as a younger child while in One Morning in Maine, she is an older child. So each of the stories is different enough so that we are not only working with the same characters over and over again but the students can discover how the author creates different stories and scenarios by using his creativity. McCloskey is able to create stories based on people, families or just ducks trying to cross the busy streets of Boston. I would introduce the idea of dialogue into the children’s vocabulary and different ways of describing the elements that create their stories. Instead of just using simple sentences like “there was a hawk,” to describe the environment they see around them, they can use examples like “the fish hawk flew straight to her nest on top of a tree without answering. She was too busy feeding breakfast to her baby fish hawk,” (One Morning in Maine 16). This allows the children to see how they can elongate their sentences and stretch their minds to describe something so simple like a hawk.
After using both the elements of art and literature in Robert McCloskey’s works, the children now have a base to allow them to create their own children’s books about their times in New England. They could be books about special times with their families that they remember or just times at school that made an imprint on their minds. I would allow them let their imaginations run wild with what they write about. In the end, we would put together a book by binding their pictures and written work together so they can take it home to read and share with their families.


Lesson Three:
Prior Knowledge: All the things we have already learned about Robert McCloskey and to be familiar with different areas and animals/nature in general.
Materials: Books about nature/the three different areas
Bus/money for fieldtrips
Paper, Pencils, Markers for drawing and writing what they smell, see,hear, etc.
The 3 McCloskey Books

Overview: My last lesson that I would integrate into my study of Robert McCloskey is really to bring a new element into looking at his works and it would cap off the unit on New England. My lesson would be to look at the nature and environment in the three stories. Each of the books explores a different area in New England-the city, the beach and the hills/fields in a small town. I think that it is amazing that we are able to have each of these three different settings so close to us and just a drive away. With different environments bring different everything-different animals, bugs, fruit, smells, colors, sounds. If you were able to go on a field trip to each of these areas and explore the elements of each, you would find material for a new unit all together. The different smells in the city, the beach or even the blueberry fields would be enough to keep the children’s minds flowing. I would study all the different animals you can see in the three areas in the weeks leading up to the trips to get the children familiar with what they will see once they are there. Think about all the possibilities you could study! Lobsters in the ocean, rats in the city or bears in the blueberry fields! The ideas and lessons would be endless.


Conclusion:
I find it wonderful and amazing that just by studying three of Robert McCloskey’s works, I am able to come up with all different ideas and lessons that you can take the time to work and look at with children of all ages. He is a wonderful author to study, especially in New England, because he captures the elements of all the surroundings in this area. It is a breathtaking area to live in and McCloskey really shows this through his literature and illustrations! If you are interested in more information or just want to check out McCloskey’s work, there is a book entitled Make Way for McCloskey that Amazon.com explains as “From those famous ducklings to Homer Price's delicious donuts, generations of children have grown up delighting in the timeless stories of Robert McCloskey. Here, for the first time, all of his published works--Make Way for Ducklings, Blueberries for Sal, Lentil, Time of Wonder, One Morning in Maine, Burt Dow, Deep-Water Man, Homer Price and Centerburg Tales--are brought together. With biographical information and photographs, and an introduction by renowned critic Leonard Marcus that outlines McCloskey's career and his unforgettable contribution to children's literature, this collection is an in-depth look at the life and work of an extraordinary children's book legend.”


Sources:
http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/robert-mccloskey/biography.html
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Robert_McCloskey
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/01/arts/01MCCL.html