Teaching Children To Draw Seagulls

This past week, Emerson had the opportunity to work with 100+ children at a local Vacation Bible School. The theme of the week long, all day program was "The High Seas Expedition." In addition to a set curriculum, each afternoon featured special guests from the community. The Bay Gull was a perfect compliment to the program with the ocean theme and the sea gull himself being on quite a journey of his own throughout Narragansett Bay.

A typical book event is about 30 minutes with reading the book plus Q&A time. The coordinator scheduled Emerson to fill one hour of the afternoon program. So how do you fill an hour and keep a group of 3 year old through 5th grade children entertained?

It was not an easy task that I presented Emerson with the night before his presentation. He spent hours online researching interesting facts about the lighthouses presented in The Bay Gull. We went over the information together and discussed how this would keep the whole group engaged.

With half a morning to think more about the event, Emerson came up with a fabulous idea - teach the children how to draw the sea gull! Each of the kids were given a sheet of paper and a crayon. As Emerson went through the elements of the bird, the children repeated the actions on their own paper. A few of the children chose to make paper airplanes instead (including our son) but the majority of the group followed along.

The quick activity produced countless sea gull art pieces which the children proudly showed off to each other and their guest. Children are so fun to teach because they are so eager to learn. I bet we'll see some fabulous artists, illustrators, story tellers and authors coming out of that group.

Our middle child, Grace, was very proud of her sea gull art. Not exactly like daddy's but it sure is cute.

Feel free to check out the video and learn how to draw The Bay Gull!

Teaching Children To Draw Seagulls

Rhode Island Lighthouses and Narragansett Bay History

Our home in Arizona is filled with reminders of the ocean. The walls are covered with pictures of boats, framed charts of Narragansett Bay and a few fabulous lighthouses. Most guests who spend some time with us are treated to a history lesson from Emerson about "The Ocean State" as he walks them through the pictures, telling stories about his home state. Most recently, he tracks the sea gull's journey from Bristol, RI to Block Island, describing the various points along the way through Narragansett Bay.


A visit to our house is much like his presentations to children, taking them on the trip with the bagel loving seagull. Little did we know that he has been practicing his storytelling for over two years before the book was released. The message of sharing is certainly foremost for importance in the story. All parents we know would love for their own children to be as kind, generous and polite as this seagull. The geography and history Emerson shares during his presentation is a side benefit for those children fortunate to hear him read the book here in AZ. 
 
As you flip through the pages of "The Bay Gull," you may notice that several different lighthouses are part of the seagull's journey. Emerson incorporated six of Rhode Island's twenty one standing lighthouses which together protect ships from the 384 miles of shoreline in Narragansett Bay. His illustrations were created from photographs, drawn with accurate detail and incorporated into the book as resting places for the sea gull.
 
If you are interested in learning more, there are many lighthouse resources on-line. One of the best sites to check out Hog Island, Prudence Island, Castle Hill, Beavertail, North Light and Southeast Light is Lighthouse Friends. Thanks to their hard work, you can look up U.S. lighthouses by state, then click on each lighthouse individually to receive well organized, accurate, detailed information along with interesting stories about each one.
 
In addition to all the information, the site offers lighthouse merchandise. Perhaps we'll even have "The Bay Gull" available through their site one of these days!

Rhode Island Lighthouses and Narragansett Bay History