Saturday 23 January 2016

Create Readers Review

I was really honoured and pleased to read a great review of Otea: Rock of Ages 1 recently, in the National Library's Services to Schools Create Readers blog.

The librarian (or teacher?) who wrote the review chose a photograph to go along with it of Panekire Bluff, above Lake Waikaremoana, which I could completely envisage within the fictional world of Otea. It confirms for me what an amazing landscape for stories we have in Aotearoa.


Copyright Zak Waipara

The review is particularly interesting, because it focuses on how teachers might use the comic to support learning about writing and illustrating in the graphic novel form. For instance, at the end of the issue I have included a few pages of notes - some explanations of my creative decisions in the story, character sketches, and draft page layouts. I simply enjoy reading about the working process of other writers and artists, and was thinking about what I would like to see myself! But this review reminds me that these notes can be useful for teaching and learning too...

Check out the review here:
http://schools.natlib.govt.nz/blogs/create-readers/15-11/tea-rock-ages-zak-waipara