Todd Elementary Hosts Author Evan Turk

Todd Elementary School students were treated to a visit by Ezra Jack Keats Award–winning illustrator, author, and animator, and Croton-on-Hudson resident, Evan Turk. The visit was made possible thanks to the generosity of the Briarcliff PTA and the hard work of the PTA Author Visit Committee and Librarian Tara Phethean,
Students prepared for Turk’s visit by reading several of his books including The Storyteller, which they then used as inspiration in art class for both digital drawings and paintings that currently line the halls of Todd.
“Making art is a way of trying to understand something,” Turk explained. Because of the close proximity of his home to the school, he was able to bring many of his original drawings, which ultimately became illustrations in his books. Seeing the actual artwork allowed students to appreciate the “layers” of each piece and their depth, which was translated into print. This also led to a discussion of the fact that “sometimes happy accidents happen.”
One example of an ‘accident’ was in the book, Muddy: The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters. Turk described running out of white paper and being forced to use black. This ‘mistake’ enabled him to create differences in environment - the white backgrounds became country and the black became city. It also gave him the opportunity to maintain Muddy outlined in red on each page and when paired with the text, the illustrations reinforce Muddy’s personality. He went on to explain that planning out a story can help artists avoid mistakes, and connected with them on that feeling of having a piece not work out as expected, “Have you ever been working on a piece of art and at the last minute you ‘ruin’ it? Well planning helps!”
The students asked many questions about his artistic process and life as an author-illustrator. Asked which book was his favorite, Turk replied, “The one coming out in June: You Are Home,”which he described as a love letter to one of his favorite things, National Parks.