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Comics project: Supporting investigation

Published by Lori Pickert on October 15, 2007 at 06:40 PM When I realized J had taken his interest in Calvin & Hobbes to a whole new level, and I thought it might translate into an interesting project, the first thing I did was support what he was already doing.

He asked me for a sketchbook that would be only for drawing comics. So we got that. (My job is so hard.) Then I went an extra step and I bought him a couple of expensive (a couple of dollars each) drawing pens and gave them to him, telling him “These are the kind of markers artists and cartoonists use.” He was suitably impressed, and very pleased. Offering him high-quality tools was my way of showing that I respected the work he was doing. Next he asked for a special desk just for drawing comics. We already have a table set aside for drawing in our art studio (though that’s way out in the barn) and he already has a regular desk. I suggested maybe we could just outfit his desk for drawing. He was perfectly amenable to this plan, and together we cleaned it off and found the materials he said he needed — pens, markers, pencils, etc., a stack of paper, his comics sketchbook, and his C&H books. (Note: Later on, when this project was showing some staying power, we did create a new drawing space in his room.)

He wanted new Calvin & Hobbes books, so I suggested we go to the library and see what they had. I also went online and did a little research. (We have a lot of C&H books already.) We found the Calvin & Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book , which has essays and stories about the comics written by Bill Watterson. I remembered reading somewhere that Bill Watterson loved Peanuts. I remember Charles Schulz saying that Bill Watterson drew shoes that looked like little dinner rolls. So I found a copy of the Peanuts Treasury for the boys to check out. They loved it. (Oh, the hours I spent as a kid reading Peanuts!)

The trip to the library yielded two Peanuts books (found by Jack) that included interviews and essays by Charles Schulz: Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and Me (out of print) and Happy Birthday, Charlie Brown: Celebrating 30 Years… (also out of print). Both books include Charles Schulz’s stories about the comic strip and its characters.

So now we have a pile of comics anthologies, a stack of autobiographical works by famous cartoonists, tools for making comics, and a space to make them.


comics project
project-based homeschooling


You know what, I totally want to make comics now. The markers, the books, the freshly gathered supplies! Good stuff, very very good!

i know! that's how i felt .. i bought myself a turquoise marker! lol

(and thank you, stef ;o)

And you folks are still interested in comics, 'cause I am stalking you too, and you were ALL OVER the comics section of the children's library, and even went upstairs in search for more specifics in the "grown-up books" as David calls them.

Gotta figure out this method. I'm lovin' it!

With the boys right now over here its Garfield mania, and legos, and of course (you guessed it, my sweet friend) race cars!!!

Bekah is a little trickier - Ballet, drawing & painting, Garfield - she's a very private person, so it is not as easy to see the intensity of her interests... any suggestions for how to search those out?

last year they only read calvin & hobbes - this year, i introduced them to peanuts and whoa nelly - hold onto your seats - now they want to read every comic ever written. i just wish they hadn't discovered garfield...

i was a little huffy when the librarian said to jack, who was holding about 20 garfield, peanuts, and foxtrot books, "you know, it's good to read other kinds of books, too." it took everything i had to not leap over the desk and listing all the novels he's read this year, lol.

yes, i do have suggestions for you! mm .. this goes along with that secret project .. i will e-mail you ..
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