SACO — Students at Young School got a chance to meet one of their favorite authors on Tuesday.

Maine children’s author and illustrator Chris Van Dusen met with students and discussed his work that included designing the lobster license plate and creating art work for L.L. Bean catolog covers and illustrating and writing the popular Mr. Magee series.

Van Dusen’s books feature imaginitive stories in lively rhyming text accompanied by
colorful, whimsical drawings.

Enthusiasm for Van Dusen’s visit ran high Tuesday at the school, which has students from Kindergarten through second grade.

Literary Specialist Nicola Braley said all students at the school had received a copy of Van Dusen’s “Leroy Ninker Saddles Up,” and the school had recorded videos of teachers reading chapters of the book. Many students had brought the book to school for Van Dusen to sign, said Braley.

The school also drummed up excitement for Van Dusen’s visit with bulletin board projects, a scavenger hunt and a coloring competition. Students had even had animal crackers for a snack in honor of Van Dusen’s book “The Circus Ship.”

Students assembled in the school’s auditorium and listened as Van Dusen spoke about his creative process. He said each book takes about nine months to a year to complete, with each illustration taking about two to three weeks.
Van Dusen said his first book, “Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee,” which was published in 2000, took about nine years to complete.

“That’s a long time, isn’t it?” he asked a group of second graders, noting that nine years was longer than the children had been alive.

Van Dusen said he had drawn “wacky characters” for Nickelodeon Magazine, and had at first sketched Mr. Magee in this style, with a hot dog-shaped head and thin arms. He was convinced his initial drawing of Mr. Magee was the right look, and illustrated the entire book with this prototype. After being told that this illustration was not going to work, he felt a bit discouraged, but went back to the drawing board and came up with a drawing of a tall, lanky man with a large oval head and a pointy nose that has become Mr. Magee.

Second graders Natalie Temm and Chase Noyer said they enjoyed the story of Van Dusen’s first book, because it was fun to see the different versions of Mr. Magee. They said it was also interesting to learn how much work it takes to create the perfect drawing.

Natalie said her favorite book by Van Dusen was “Randy Riley’s Really Big Hit” because she liked the robot in the story.

Chase said his favorite was “The Circus Ship” because he liked the way the circus animals in the story, like the hipppotamous who pretended to be a rock, disguised themselves to hide from people.

Second grader Fenway Parke Cochrane said his favorite book by Van Dusen was “Learning to Ski with Mr. Magee.”

Fenway, an aspiring writer and illustrator, said he has written several books, including a series inspired by the Goosebumps series. He said he liked the illustrations in “Learning to Ski with Mr. Magee.” He said he liked how Van Dusen’s used different shades of white to distinguish different objects in a picture and shading in an image of Mr. Magee’s green jacket to show the pattern in the coat and the shadows.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or [email protected].

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1OedUOcKFU&index=2&t=3s&list=PLmAabjmqOI2RpObiLkouWjI0E8OdY7uC6