Harrow Junior school was recently visited by Tim Beiser, author of the award nominated children's book, Bradley McGogg: The Very Fine Frog. Beiser spoke to students from both Harrow Junior and Harrow Senior School about his books and becoming an author.
AMHERSTBURG — A Toronto-based author up for a children's book award stopped by Malden Central Public School to share his work with the public.
J. Timothy Hunt, who writes the children's books under the name Tim Beiser, concluded a three-day trip to the Windsor-Essex County area Thursday as part of a tour promoting his book "Bradley McGogg, the Very Fine Frog."
The book is nominated for an Ontario Library Association "Blue Spruce Award" for books geared towards students in the primary grades. Students in Malden Central's youngest age groups were those who heard him read from his books Thursday afternoon.
"This is fun," said Hunt. "I've got two little boys at home so I love being around kids. I love talking to kids, answering their questions and letting them use their imagination. It makes me really happy."
By Beverley Brenna
The nominees for the Governor General’s Literary Award in Children’s Literature, Illustration, introduce young readers to an eclectic cast of characters, including a hungry frog and a big fat momma, and send them to far-off locales including an island in Nunavut and, er, Newfoundland. Mark Medley spoke with the five artists about their work. ...
Rachel Berman, Bradley McGogg, The Very Fine Frog (text by Tim Beiser)
Q What kind of experience did you have illustrating frogs before this book?
A None.
Q None at all?
A No. And, actually, I used myself as a model. I’m sort of skinny and funny looking, and I didn’t have a frog, so I was leaping all over my studio trying to emulate [a] frog. I could sort of see him as a person, so I decided to use me.
Q He reminded me of Mr. Toad from The Wind in the Willows, but I like your explanation better.
A Oh, well, I’m not going to deny that I was influenced by The Wind in the Willows. I looked at every version of The Wind in the Willows, and also I wanted to do — being serious now — they said it was just going to be a paperback, like most children’s books are. And I thought OK, even if it’s paperback, I’m going to give children credit for some sort of sensibility. I wanted it to be like the books I remember as a child. I wanted to have it as art. I mean that’s what I do: I make art. And I didn’t see any reason why children shouldn’t be given the benefit of the doubt and think that they could appreciate really good art. ...
Kirkus Reviews
Quill & Quire
Even more original are the illustrations. Rachel Berman locates this moveable feast in a gentle setting, rural and mildly Edwardian. Paying homage to illustrators of the past, she pictures a Miss Mouse who would fit right into Beatrix Potter’s Lake District and a white hare who, sitting down to tea in his frock coat, echoes the March Hare from Alice. Our hero Bradley, dressed in striped overalls, Birkenstock sandals and bow tie, looks like a hippie version of Lester B. Pearson. In her portrayal of facial expression and gesture Berman creates a frog who is diffident, courteous, tactful, and charming – everyone’s first choice as the eligible bachelor houseguest. The illustration of Brad’s dinner table, a toadstool romantically lit by candelabra, plays coyly against the content of the meal – “flies, squirmy worms, crunchy roaches, and fleas.” The slight contrast between words and pictures creates a delicious tension and a welcoming world for all diners and sojourners.
