Friday, February 13, 2015

The Bad Picture Book Blog Hop: My Early Drawing & Writing Attempts

Dani Duck has started a "Bad" Picture Book Blog Hop where we post our early attempts at writing picture books. Do not miss the previous posts:

Feb. 9: Dani Duck, PEWE'S WONDERFUL ADVENTURE
Feb. 10: Becky Fyfe
Feb. 11: Marcie Colleen, RAINBOW HUNT
Feb. 12: Mandy Yates, A WORLD WITHOUT COLOR

And now it's my turn. I couldn't find the story that I wrote and illustrated in 7th grade about why turtles got their shells (they were magicians who needed to protect the spells they carried).

But rooting around in my boxes, I found a fair amount of evidence that I was drawing, writing, and making things up:

First Grade Journal

I had issues with my sister:






I made up pets I didn't have:


Santa Claus was my (dyslexic) "boyfried":



Oh, right:



First Publication

My first published work, in my first grade yearbook:


3rd Grade Story

A four page picture book that rhymes, and not very well. On the positive side, it is short (fewer words are better these days), and it has that trendy dark/existential ending.  







Creating Board Games

My sister and I loved making board games. Here is one that we probably made in junior high, THE ACE. It was a convoluted and long game that could side track you into side games:


Some of the side games:



A Cover Publication

By junior high, I was immersed in yearbook, and this was the cover I did for my 8th grade yearbook:



Around that same time, I did this pencil drawing:



So what kind of work would you find if you looked through your old boxes?

Be sure to check out Monday's blog hopper, Rachel Elizabeth Cole. Thanks for joining me on a trip down memory lane. 




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26 comments:

  1. UnknownFebruary 13, 2015 at 8:42 AM

    Sylvia, Love the fluffy bright snowman with buttons blacker than night. Great post.

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  2. Becky FyfeFebruary 13, 2015 at 8:48 AM

    These really made me smile. I was working on the school yearbook in junior high too. :)

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  3. Cathy C. HallFebruary 13, 2015 at 9:17 AM

    Oh my word--I laughed out loud at the Santa boyfriend story! But that game? I'd totally play that. :-)

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    Replies
    1. Sylvia LiuFebruary 13, 2015 at 12:31 PM

      I always thought I was a good speller, but looking back at those entries, I see that I was pretty atrocious.

      Delete
  4. Teresa RobesonFebruary 13, 2015 at 9:59 AM

    You've always had neat handwriting! Wow!

    I'm dying of laughter here...about your dyslexic boyfriend and "oh, right"...hahaha!

    This has to be my favorite Sylvia post ever! :D

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    Replies
    1. Sylvia LiuFebruary 13, 2015 at 12:33 PM

      Thanks, Teresa. That was a fun post to write. As my dyslexic "boyfried" would say, aH aH aH

      Delete
  5. catherinemjohnson.comFebruary 13, 2015 at 11:35 AM

    They are cute stories and you even had a bit of a zentangle thing going on back then you trend setter. That eagle is amazing!

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    Replies
    1. Sylvia LiuFebruary 13, 2015 at 12:32 PM

      Thanks, Catherine. My daughter saw that eagle and said to me, "What happened to you?" Ha ha.

      Delete
  6. Charlotte DixonFebruary 13, 2015 at 2:22 PM

    Thank you, Sylvia, for sharing these treasured times in your life :)

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  7. Becky ShillingtonFebruary 13, 2015 at 3:06 PM

    These are absolutely precious, Sylvia! Thank you so much for sharing them!

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  8. Romelle BroasFebruary 13, 2015 at 4:19 PM

    You were born to write and illustrate, Sylvia! I am so impressed by your middle school drawings. I think it is great that you've kept all the writings and drawings all these years. It was fun going through memory lane with you. I wish I had mines, but I remember my 5th grade teacher keeping all my writing projects.

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    Replies
    1. Sylvia LiuFebruary 13, 2015 at 7:56 PM

      Thanks, Romelle. I bet you had some great stories.

      Delete
  9. Elaine Kiely KearnsFebruary 13, 2015 at 6:08 PM

    Sylvia, This is a great post! I literally laughed out loud! Nice to see your sense of humor started long ago. My mom didn't save any of my stuff, so unfortunately, I have no written memories of all of my stories! WAH! Thanks for sharing yours! :)

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    Replies
    1. Sylvia LiuFebruary 13, 2015 at 7:56 PM

      I got my pack rat tendencies from my mom, I guess. Thanks, E!

      Delete
  10. AnninaFebruary 13, 2015 at 6:31 PM

    I enjoyed reading all of your work so much and was smiling. I especially enjoyed your rhyme about the snowman--really! It is great :)

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  11. Julie Rowan-ZochFebruary 13, 2015 at 6:58 PM

    Such a cool post, Sylvia!! Especially like those snowmen - they have great charisma!

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  12. Yvonne MesFebruary 14, 2015 at 4:13 AM

    How wonderful to still have all this! Go the boyfried!

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  13. UnknownFebruary 14, 2015 at 11:25 PM

    Oh my gosh Sylvia! I love this. Young Sylvia is quite the character! I would've been your friend for sure back in 1st grade. And I would have wanted to be just like you. I think you have a seed for book for now. I want to know more about this young Sylvia. I want to read more of her journal. it was absolutely hilarious. I like her better than Junie B. Jones and I love Junie B. And I love the evil look on the Sun's face as it's melting the snowman. Such a good post.

    ReplyDelete

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