Cara Loverock
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, November 28, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - In celebration of Children's Book Week, kids ages four to nine were treated to a book reading and drawing lesson from children's author and illustrator Diana Bonder at the Yellowknife Public Library last Friday.

Children's author and illustrator Diana Bonder autographs one of her books for young fans Ty and Hannah Jenkins at the Yellowknife Public Library on Nov. 23. - Cara Loverock/ NNSL photo

"Books are so good, because the minute we open a book we get to learn stuff we didn't know," said Bonder.

The 30th anniversary of national Children's Book Week was being celebrated with 30 authors, illustrators and storytellers travelling across the country to spread this year's theme: the magic of books.

Bonder was scheduled to tour the NWT, stopping in Hay River, Fort Resolution and Fort Smith as well as Yellowknife.

At Bonder's reading at the Yellowknife Public Library, a crowd of children sat on the floor, many of them yelling out important facts, such as "I have a puppy" and "I have a new puzzle."

Using easy, basic shapes she showed the kids and adults in the audience that anyone can draw a picture, constructing a dog from circles, squares and triangles.

She read from her latest book Dogabet, a dog-themed alphabet book, as well as from another of her books, Eleven Lazy Llamas.

She got the kids to help out in the reading by yelling the word "Schlark" as loud as possible.

Bonder has illustrated a number of books, in addition to the three she wrote. She mostly uses watercolours and some acrylics for her illustrations, she said.

One painting for a picture book can take between 20 and 40 hours of work, and her illustrations are detailed as well as being colourful.