.

Zart Extra Term 4 2010

Books for Boys

Scotch College Junior School

How do we look for new ways to stimulate boys to write and illustrate? A magnificent seven metre long resident dragon named Zingora, created by the boys of Scotch College Junior School, was the impetus for a project designed to promote the love of literature.

During 2009 the whole Junior School (boys age range 5 – 12) participated in a collaborative project integrating Literacy and the Visual Arts. All boys were involved in the production of a series of seventeen professionally printed picture storybooks. Each boy contributed to their class book, based on the adventures of Zingora, by writing the text during Library lessons and creating the illustrations during Art lessons. Zingora was created in 2008 as part of an artist in residence program. Lyn Ferrall was commissioned to work with the Art department to produce a textile masterpiece, inspired by China and the Beijing Olympics.

Everyone in the school created a piece for the dragon. In a busy six months, all artworks were completed and skillfully sewn together into a three dimensional sculpture. Zingora was awakened by the Chinese Youth Society’s special ceremony in December 2008 and boys paraded Zingora around the school grounds with excitement and pride. At the beginning of 2009, Zingora found his home in the Library where he spends his days sleeping and watching over everyone. However at night it is a whole different story… Zingora magically flies out of our Library and has adventures all over the world.

It was this notion that ignited the boys’ imagination and before long they were speculating on where Zingora had gone the night before. Subsequently, the idea for the ‘Zingora Picture Storybook’ series was born. The project was carried out during Terms 3 and 4 in 2009. Ownership of the project at every stage was one of the main aims. The boys selected topics democratically and made decisions during the entire process.

To complement the variety of written genres, each Year Level focused on a different art style in conjunction with the Art curriculum. Prep was based on drawing with minimal background; Year One used paper collage (with handmade paper) inspired by Eric Carle; Year Two applied paint and glitter and were inspired by photographs; Year Three used black ink and coloured pencils and were inspired by real structures; Year Four created 3D mixed media collages inspired by Jeanie Baker; Year Five explored a limited colour background and used acrylics, watercolour and collage techniques; Year Six drew with black ink and were inspired by the illustrator Neil Curtis. Preparing the text and illustrations for publication was a long process and the boys learnt a great deal about the publishing industry and the importance of careful editing and attention to detail. Although the boys focused primarily on their own class book, there was a feeling of unity throughout the school and they enjoyed following the progress of each book. There was always great excitement when one of the seventeen books was ready to go to the publisher.

This was a self funded project, in that parents and the wider school community pre-ordered the books and the number of each book printed corresponded with the orders. Subsequently, it is the type of project that could be adapted to any size school and have far reaching benefits regarding promoting literacy through the arts.

Each book sold, generated a small profit that was donated to charity. The books were recently presented at the International Boys’ Schools Coalition conference in Philadelphia, USA and attracted a great deal of attention. They are now on display in the Zart Art Student Gallery for all to read.

Jocelyn Pride
Head of Library
Scotch College Junior School

 

Download a PDF version of this article

© Copyright Zart Art 2010

Key words: Zart Extra, newsletter, article, school projects, teacher resource,