Books & Broncs Literacy Project Book and Mural
An original story with illustrations brought to life through an original mural.
Coming from a family heavily involved in scouting, I had always known I would complete my Girl Scout Gold Award Project. My local council certainly doubted me, and it took me MONTHS to get this project approved… little did they know I had started it long before approval. I knew I was going to do the project either way. Getting my Gold Award was just a potential perk!
Part 1: Writing the book.
The first step for creating the book was to decide on content and then to write it. The Books & Bronc’s Literacy Project is all about introducing the sport of rodeo to young kids from the city who would otherwise never learn anything about it. So, naturally, a book to educate them on what the rodeo entails seemed like a natural fit. Of course, the other main objective of the project is to promote reading. So, with the help of my Mom, who is a teacher, I wrote the story using language that would be able to be read and understood by first graders as that is the grade level targeted by the project.
Once the book was written, I moved on with illustrating the book. I had become really into doing a lot of line art in my sketchbook and so I adapted that style to create these black and white illustrations. Using pastel, I also created color versions of each illustration, but in the end, I made the decision to leave the illustrations uncolored so that the kids could add color themselves if they chose to.
Part 2: Painting the Mural
I was asked to paint the mural before I had the idea of connecting it with the book. When the book wrapped up around the time I was starting the mural, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to truly bring the book to life. Using a projector, I traced the basic outline of each illustration onto the wall and then went ham adding all the details! The ending result was a vibrant mural using illustrations straight from the book.
Once the creative part was complete, I got to see the Books & Bronc’s Literacy Project project in action for the first time using the materials that I created. As an artist, when you get to see people truly interacting with your work for the first time, it can be a pretty surreal experience. I often felt like an imposter when I talked to others about my work on the project. For most of the kids, it was their first time learning about the rodeo and seeing a horse up close, in person. Seeing their excitement when they read the book and got to meet horses in person was the perfect cherry on top to finish my project.
What’s next?
On my always-growing to-do list, I want to add more to this project! Among my ideas includes recreating the original book, but also creating a second book to go along with the first that tells a fictional story involving the rodeo.