Kevin Henkes Yesmean Aysheh LAE3414

Background History Kevin Henkes is an American author and illustrator. He has been writing and illustrating children’s books for over thirty years. He was born in Wisconsin, and during his childhood, he often visited the local art museums. Henkes was greatly inspired by these visits. However, it was a high school teacher’s encouragement of his writing that gave Henkes the idea for his future career.

Style and Craft When creating his stories, the words always come first. His books begin with a character; “character is the seed from which a book grows.” His writing is filtered through his eyes, meaning that his writing is inspired by his own experiences. There is no set theme in his writing. He wants his characters to be believable and the story to be convincing.

Famous for his Mice Books As his books became more humorous, Hankes thought that he can match his text by drawing animals as the main characters. He made many sketches of different animals, but he liked the mouse sketch the best. He used mice as the protagonists in many of his picture books. He did not plan this, it just happened. Chester Shelia Rae Owen Wemberly Chrysanthemum

Illustrations It may take Hankes months, and even years, drawing out all of his illustrations for one book. He completes each illustration in stages: -First, he does sketches for the entire book. -Next, he’ll do a finished pencil drawing for each illustration. -Then he traces each picture with black ink. -Lastly, he makes several copies so that he can test different colors.

Awards and Honors Henkes was awarded the Caldecott Medal for his book Kitten’s First Moon and the Caldecott Honor Medal for Owen. He has won the Newbery Honor Award for two of his books, Olive’s Ocean and The Year of Billy Miller. Overall, he has earned a variety of different awards for 17 of his picture books.

Website: http://www.kevinhenkes.com/ On his website, you can find a short biography on Kevin Henkes, videos of him in his studio, information on all of his books which includes his picture books, mouse books, and novels, and there are activities for children that teachers can use which corresponds with his books.

Activities For Students: For Teachers: Pictures to Color Matching Worksheets Cooking Activities with Recipes Cut and Paste Activities Discussion Questions Printable Stickers Mouse Mazes Word Search Puzzles Mouse Stick Puppets There are teaching and discussion guides Reading Group Guides Extension Activities Before, During, and After Questions http://www.kevinhenkes.com/for-teachers-librarians-parents/