Press Release

Release Date: November 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Susie Pickering

Oak Lane Day School

137 Stenton Ave, Blue Bell, PA 19422

Phone: 610-825-1055

Fax: 610-825-9288

Email: spickering@oaklanedayschool.org

Children's Book Author/Illustrator Visits Oak Lane Day School

The yearly "Celebrate Books Week" at Oak Lane Day School, located just outside the Chestnut Hill area, was held recently to great success. The tradition was kicked off most wonderfully with a visit from children's book author and illustrator Alexander Stadler. With six books currently in print including Beverly Billingsly Takes the Cake and Lila Bloom, the Rhode Island School of Design graduate is a favorite of children, teachers, and parents alike for his charming, imaginative drawings and quirky characters who always learn interesting and valuable lessons during the course of the stories.

Each grade level had an opportunity to meet with Alexander and learn a bit about his craft. A dynamic presence, he caught and held the children's attention as he enthusiastically described his process of creating his characters, storylines, and illustrations. Watching the world around him and taking note of what is funny and inspiring provides a spark for his imagination as does actual events in his own life. The conflict that arises in Beverly Billingsly Takes the Cake is based on a time when he was a child, and, while working on a drawing, spilled paint all over the floor. He was enraged, but his mother encouraged him to get down on the floor and create a flower out of what was seemingly just a big mess. Beverly is faced with a similar challenge when a cake she bakes doesn't turn out the way she expected it to. With her mother's calm support, the character turns her "ruin" into something new and wonderful. It's a sweet story, and more than that it provides an excellent model for children for the development of emotional intelligence. In many of his stories, Alexander acknowledges the importance of children learning to work through frustration and how not to be discouraged when things don't go according to plan.

The drawings in Alexander's books are as telling as the words he writes. The layout of text and illustrations is crucial to the flow and progression of a story, which is something Alexander learned over time and with the help of one of his heroes: Maurice Sendak. The children learned terms such as "bleeding" (the overlapping of an illustration onto another page) and "spot pictures" (thumbnail sketches) and how these devices help to focus the reader's attention on pivotal parts of a story or to move the action along. A particularly clever illustrating device of his own invention is the use of weather in the window to reflect a character's mood. While Beverly is anguished over her not-so-perfect cake, the rain falls heavily outside her bedroom window, but when Mom comes in with her suggestion to view the situation in a different way, the sun emerges behind the clouds as Beverly's spirits begin to rise.

Each student group session ended with Alexander leading the children in a story- writing adventure. The artist's pleasure in his work was abundantly clear as he encouraged the children to join in his fun and play a brainstorming game that resulted in the creation of a story of their own. Characters, plot, setting, illustrations: it was all there to the excitement and gratification of all. As a boy, Alexander was influenced and inspired by the great Sendak and Dr. Seuss, William Steig, and Ellen Raskin. He returned the favor during his visit to Oak Lane Day School. Who knows how many Oak Lane alumni author/illustrators we'll be seeing in the years to come?

Almost every week of the year, the teachers and students of Oak Lane Day School, located just outside of the Chestnut Hill area, gather together for an assembly program. The assemblies are informative, interactive, and entertaining, and sometimes, as in the case of the most recent one, downright inspirational.

Oak Lane Day School Information

An independent elementary school, founded in 1916 and located in Blue Bell, Oak Lane Day School serves a diverse population of boys and girls. Oak Lane honors each child's unique individuality while fostering intellectual, creative, academic, and personal growth within a diverse community of active, engaged learners. Small class sizes and an atmosphere that encourages children to develop their academic and social skills are priorities at Oak Lane, where learning is a meaningful and joyous pursuit. Oak Lane's country-like property of 30 acres along Butler Pike and Stenton Avenue boasts a stream, pond, woods, meadows, and specimen trees as well as athletic fields and playgrounds.

Oak Lane Day School is accredited by the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools (PAIS), and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and the Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools (ADVIS).