From the monthly archives: March 2012
Preparing for the final illustrations
Mar 23, 2012
By the Illustrator, Lisa Mertins
I’ve been drawing like mad for the past month and I’ve had to put everything else on hold the last few weeks. However, I can show how I create texture in the final art before I begin the drawing process while I wait […]
Saying Your Words with “Verve”
Mar 21, 2012
By the author, Jim Doti
The next four pages are critically important to the narrative structure of the book. Up to this point in the story, Jimmy has had a challenge thrown at him (being cast in the play), and he hasn’t figured out how to confront this challenge.
One way for him to do […]
Continue Reading →Speech Helpers
Mar 20, 2012
By Dr. Judy Montgomery, CCC-SLP, Professor, Chapman University
A 7 year old boy made this diagram of his “speech helpers” with the guidance of his speech therapist. He knows that he uses all these muscles to talk every day.
Jimmy bunched up his tongue in one direction, when he needed to smooth it out instead! […]
Continue Reading →Rehearsals Begin
Mar 15, 2012
By the author, Jim Doti
While it’s been almost 60 years since I appeared in “The Elves and the Shoemaker,” one of my lines in the play that I distinctly recall saying is, “Now that’s a good idea.” My recollection of this was aided by the fact that […]
Wow, isn’t it incredible?
Mar 13, 2012
By Dr. Judy Montgomery, CCC-SLP, Professor, Chapman University
This diagram shows the muscles and body parts in our chest, neck and head that enable us to speak. Air is pulled in through our nose and mouth (oral cavity) into the lungs. Oxygen is removed from the air and sent to our brain and blood; carbon […]
Continue Reading →Creating a Comfort Zone
Mar 08, 2012
By the author, Jim Doti
I think it’s time to change the scenery and move the action away from the school. I do that by first describing a scene that reconnects Jimmy with his mom and Blackie outside of the school. There, his mom directly observes the kind […]
