Ruby the Red Worm
Stories about the making of our book, Ruby the Red Worm’s Dirty Job. Part of the Make-A-Book Project.
Synopsis: Ruby the Red Worm is a humorous and educational introduction to composting and the essential role worms serve in the ecosystem. More importantly, it is a story about living a life of passion despite life’s bullies — even if it means eating dirt.
How the school photos are made
How I make the aerial view photos look real, including using satellite views and chalking the drawing out square by square.
How the books are made
The following is a step by step summary of how the book is made, including: planning, creating, celebrating and making a difference in the world.
School book signing
The ice cream social and book signing celebration for “Ruby the Red Worm” drew over a 1000 people. It was one of the most overwhelming, amazing and fulfilling moments of my life to see the dreams of so many students coming to life.
Cover design challenges
The new book, Ruby the Red Worm, is finally here! Perhaps no one is more surprised how beautiful it is then me, especially the cover!
We ❤ Worms
School playground photo of “We ❤ worms”. I’m very surprised this picture turned out so great! Another one of my personal favorites. And a giant framed photo will soon be hanging in the school office until the end of times.
Collateral worm book projects
While I was producing the final book, the students continued exploring some related projects. Pictured here is Mrs. Lambert’s class examining some red worms up close.
Retouching the illustrations
After sorting through my foot-tall stack of drawings, I begin selecting and editing my favorites.
Choosing drawings for the new book
After working with the elementary students for 6 days, I got approximately 1000 drawings to choose from. So, being more of the right-brained-artistic type, it is a major organizational challenge.
Name that bug contest
One fun idea to get the students more involved in the production of the book was to have them name the characters in the story. So I, along with my self-appointed fan club, made this ballot box.
Thinking outside the words
I continue to learn how to work with the various ways kids learn and create. Some students prefer to illustrate an actual sentence from the book, which requires a more literal interpretation; while other students prefer a more conceptual approach.
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article
World traveler came home to fulfillment. This is a great story about my trip around the world, coming home, and how this all evolved into working with local schools to illustrate children’s books.
Storybook parade
During my visit, which was Reading Week, one of the teachers organized a Storybook Parade, where all the teachers dressed as their favorite storybook character and paraded through the hallways.
