CS 21, Crispus Attucks School, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, District 16

Javaka Steptoe, The Jones Family Express: A Collage Book Project

Visit 1: March 9, 2010
Visit 2: March 16, 2010

Author-Illustrator Javaka Steptoe worked with a fourth grade class to create accordion books during three writing and illustration workshops. The class read Mr. Steptoe’s book The Jones Family Express, which tells the story of a young boy in Brooklyn named Steven Jones who wishes he could travel the world like his favorite aunt. Aunt Carolyn is coming back for the block party and Steven wants to find a special gift to welcome her home. With time running out and only a $10 budget, Steven is in a bind. Just in time he finds a discarded model train, which, using paint, family photos, and creativity, he transforms into "The Jones Family Express." Under Mr. Steptoe’s guidance students created accordion books with their own stories about their families. They illustrated the stories using Mr. Steptoe’s signature collage technique. The class even added their own style to the books. Adding a new dimension to the collage technique, students cut the top of each page of their books at a different creating a layered background for the cover of the book.

Having created, written and illustrated their own books, the students were ready to experience the publishing process. Behind the Book took the class on a trip to visit Random House, one of our corporate partners. Students toured the publishing house and met with members of the marketing department who explained how they chose which manuscripts to publish and then created a marketing campaign for the book. Then students were given the chance to become the publishing executives. They split into groups and read several manuscripts that had been sent to Random House. Each group chose the manuscript they would publish and presented their marketing ideas to the rest of the class. The trip finished with a welcomed bag of newly published books from Random House for each student, which the students poured over on the train ride back to Brooklyn.

Javaka Steptoe reads aloud from The Jones Family Express.		A student smiles as she works on her accordian book.f
A boy reads his story in front of the class.		As he cuts and pastes, this student performs the art of collage.
A girl uses colored pencils to expertly illustrate her accordian book.		The class poses wearing proud smiles after writing and illustrating their own work.

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