SMASH Visit to Sweetbriar Elementary School

SMASH writer Chris A. Bolton had a wonderful time visiting with a couple of fifth grade classes from Sweetbriar Elementary School, where he read from SMASH: TRIAL BY FIRE (with the help of his good friend, Levi Buchanan) and answered students' wonderful questions -- including a few he had never heard before!

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Lots of ideas exploding from this amazing group of creative kids!

Chris collaborated with the students to create an original comic strip based on their suggestions. These brilliant kids volunteered awesome ideas for panels and dialogue, then the class voted for their favorites. Being a writer, naturally, Chris struggled a little with the artwork. Check out the zany results below! (Click on the pic for a larger view.)

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Can you tell they're supposed to be a monkey, elephant, and unicorn?

Special thanks to Lynn Reaney for inviting me, and to the whole staff at Sweetbriar for making me feel so welcome.

SMASH Reading at Sweetbriar Elementary!

SMASH writer Chris A. Bolton got to meet and chat with the amazing 5th graders at Sweetbriar Elementary School in Troutdale, OR.

These enthusiastic kids are studying graphic novels and are about to make their own, so Chris talked about their creative process and showed them a few things from How to Make Comics - the Smash Way.

(And yes, Chris mentioned that when he was a kid, they didn't study comics in school -- they tried to hide them from the teachers!)

Big thanks to Lynn Reaney and all the staff and faculty at Sweetbriar for being awesome. And HUGE thanks to the students for their super-smart questions and great ideas! We can't wait to see how their comics come out.

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Chris shows the kids how to thumbnail a comic page.

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Chris tries to draw... *Gulp!*

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The kids made their 1st comic - a banana and a pickle in a car! (It doesn't end happily for the banana.)

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A roomful of eager young comic lovers!

SMASH Is a Top 10 Circulated Graphic Novel of 2015!

For the second year in a row, we're honored that the School Library Journal blog 100 Scope Notes has selected our graphic novel, SMASH: TRIAL BY FIRE, as one of the Top 10 Circulated Graphic Novels of the Year!

This puts us in fine company like Bone, Amulet, Smile, Stone Rabbit, and Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales. Thanks to Travis Jonker for checking in to find out what K-5 students are checking out.

 

SMASH Reading at B.F. Day!

SMASH artist Kyle Bolton gave a reading for the kids at B.F. Day Elementary School in Seattle. A wild and raucous time was had by all! Obviously the "B.F." must stand for "Bright Future!"