Area brothers honored at 2011 New York Book Festival for story
Brothers Mark and Jack Graber have had an adventure of their own as they help children take a journey through reading.
The latest book by the Graber brothers, The Swamp King, received honorable mention at the 2011 New York Book Festival, and they recently attended a reception held for all the winners, runner-ups and honorable mention award recipients at the Algonquin Hotel in Manhattan on Friday, June 10. Their book was recognized for the story-telling ability of the author and the potential for the book to reach a wider audience. The brothers both live in the Capital District, with Mark in Troy and Jack in Niskayuna.
`We entered that contest with the only book that we had,` said Jack Graber. `When it took honorable mention, we were very, very happy.`
The book entered into the contest was actually the sample the brothers had gotten from the printers, but with the deadline nearing, they decided to send out their only copy.
The story is set in the Florida everglades during a dry season, with Little Turtle setting off on an adventure to find water and eventually meeting the elusive Swamp King, who is an alligator. Throughout the book, children learn different animal species and their classifications, which include birds, mollusks, arachnids, insects, amphibians, mammals and reptiles.
This book is the brothers’ fifth, and the second one under Journeytime Books. The first three books they did were commissioned by Owens Corning and were a series of environmentally themed children’s books. The first book they ever produced was actually a story Mark Graber had written for his daughter.
`The next two (books) were less environmentally themed, but they all have an educational value that might not always be environmental,` said Jack Graber. `All the books seem to have a journey kind of feel to theme to them. We seem to take the reader along on a journey.`
Ever since Mark asked his brother if he wanted to illustrate the first book, `A Raindrop’s Journey,` the two have been working together.
Jack Graber is the art director for The Creative Advantage, so he was more than prepared to start illustrating children’s books.
`I was always interested in illustrating and drawing,` said Jack. `I just had to make my style a little more kid-friendly, and that worked out really well.`
Some of the ideas for books come from what Mark’s wife, a second-grade teacher, is doing in her course work with the children. Jack said they like to have the books complement what teachers are doing in the classroom.
`The teachers love the books. They become almost like teaching aids in a way,` said Jack. `The schools like two brothers who have done this together. The teachers tell us that it is a great example to give the kids.`
To promote their book, the two offer a full-day school program for children in grades K-3. Along with getting to meet the men behind the book and hear the author read it to them, students get an insight into the creative process. Children can even participate in a hands-on drawing presentation along with the multimedia presentation.
`We get a lot of nice feedback from teachers,` said Jack Graber.
For Jack, the recent book had him exploring a different way of illustrating. In previous books, he would draw and color everything by hand, but for `The Swamp King,` he did the outlines by hand and then used a computer to color it using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator.
`The combination came out very nice,` he said.
For information on the brothers’ work and school program offerings, visit www.JourneytimeBooks.com.
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