Beaches Episcopal School hosted two Florida authors and a Florida illustrator Sept. 30 for a presentation aimed at helping students develop a love of reading and self-expression.
Pre-K3 through sixth-grade students learned how the writing skills they are learning in school apply to the real world. Juvenile fiction author Jane R. Wood of Jacksonville used mystery, adventure and her love of animals to capture the imagination of young readers while also teaching them about the history of places such as St. Augustine, Amelia Island, the St. Johns River, Savannah and Boston. Wood shared photographs and personal anecdotes about the people, places and animals featured in her books.
Longwood, Florida illustrator Mark W. Adams and Jacksonville author Linda Smigaj, meanwhile, demonstrated the value of storyboarding. Partners on the “Fly on the Wall Series,” Adams and Smigaj also shared methods of using art to bring stories to life, the importance of multiple rewrites, and the use of the third-person perspective to make the reader feel as if they are part of the story.
