Editor: Elissa Brent Weissman
Illustrator: Various
© Date: 2017
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Pages: 183
Chapters: No, just different author/illustrator stories
Illustrations: Yes, many photos/illustrations are included
Publisher Recommended Age: 8-12 years
Bonus Activities at End of Book: No
Summary from Book: Everyone’s story begins somewhere.
For Linda Sue Park, it was a trip to the ocean, a brand-new typewriter, and a little creative license.
For Jarrett J. Krosoczka, it was a third-grade writing assignment that ignited a creative fire in a kid who like to draw.
For Kwame Alexander, it was a loving poem composed for Mother’s Day—and perfected through draft after discarded draft.
For others, it was a teacher, a parent, a beloved book, or a word of encouragement. It was trying, and failing, and trying again. It was a love of words and pictures and stories.
Your story is beginning too. Where will it go?
Compiled by Elissa Brent Weissman, Our Story Begins presents some of today’s foremost children’s authors and illustrators as their quirky, smart, vulnerable, youthful selves, revealing young talent, the storytellers they would one day become, and the creativity they inspire today in kids everywhere.
Note: This review is done from memory. I originally read this awhile ago.
Page Pig Thoughts: Admittedly I did not study each and every story that was included in this one. I skimmed around the stories about the people and skimmed the included childhood works. I did find several gems that resonated for me and I shared at least one story with Page Pup.
If you are looking for something to remind a child that everyone starts somewhere, maybe this will be a treasure trove. Several illustrators mentioned looked at images that a professional created and realizing that they had to practice over time to get that good. One even said that the illustrator that made the images that he loved was so incredibly old, so he had many years to practice and get that good.
Several authors/illustrators poked fun at their younger selves for things that they did, but hopefully that is a reminder not to take ourselves too seriously. I appreciate that so many people were willing to share photographs of their younger selves and the things that they created, hooray for vulnerability and not being embarrassed about who you once were.
This one has the potential to help a child find comfort and inspiration along their journey because the person’s work that they admire didn’t start out that way. And that is a good thing to remember about just about anything that we attempt in life, from sports to art.