Author vs. Illustrator

K-Gr 4–Serious Lemke, the author, and silly Lentz, the illustrator, demonstrate how the two work together to create a picture book. Going by their first names for this dialogue, mustard yellow Don and blue-colored Bob start a story. Don begins his idea, and readers see Bob create a picture to go along with it; hilarity ensues as they discover the villain and superhero in Don’s mind isn’t what Bob initially draws on the page, and they must keep working to make the pictures and words become a shared vision. The narrative is told entirely through speech bubbles (Bob’s speech in pink and Don’s speech in gold), which will be harder for those listening or not yet reading themselves—but it makes for a great choice for readers transitioning from picture books to graphic novels, as full-color illustrations accompany the text. Kids will laugh at the banter between author and illustrator and the burps and roars that come from the characters created in the book within a book, but the serious sentiment of the importance of teamwork will be impossible to miss.