Illustrator draws on experiences to elucidate Mt. Lebanon students
Drawings of anthropomorphic animals – you know, making them do human-type stuff – play well with a young audience.
And so students at Mt. Lebanon’s Jefferson Elementary School laughed heartily as local illustrator Stacy Innerst showed examples of his work that included a dancing chickens and a gorilla dressed for Valentine’s Day.
Oh, and the kids got a kick out of a donkey and elephant hugging while “smashing the little guy in the middle,” not yet understanding, thank goodness, Innerst’s spot-on message.
Beyond his political acumen, the Mt. Lebanon resident has illustrated for an impressive lineup of publications and popular entities, from the nation’s most-renowned newspapers to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and – yes, he’s a Steelers fan – the National Football League.
What most interested his Jefferson Elementary audience during Innerst’s Dec. 21 visit was his series of children’s books, which number six so far, with a seventh on the way.
One of them is about the man for whom the school is named: “Thomas Jefferson Grows a Nation,” in which he and writer Peggy Thomas focus on the third president’s influence on American agriculture.
In 2003, Innerst collaborated with author Kathleen Krull on “M Is for Music,” a primer introducing kids to songs, styles, instruments, composers and the musicians, themselves, from Louis Armstrong to Frank Zappa.
“B” is for Beatles, (act) naturally, and the most influential of rock bands is the subject of “The Beatles Were Fab (And They Were Funny),” illustrated by Innerst and written by Krull and Paul Brewer. The book focuses on the sense of humor displayed by John, Paul George and Ringo.
“I’m going to be Ringo and play the drums,” Innerst announced near the start of the Jefferson assembly, and, indeed, it wrapped up with him and music teacher Doug Reichenfeld on a rousing “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”
In between was audience participation: Innerst asked audience members to name animals and activities, and he subsequently drew scenarios along the lines of a cat and monkey playing catch with a can.
He also told students about the influences on what became his career, including Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel and the lesser-known Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire and their 1939 book “Abraham Lincoln.”
And then there’s the 1959 edition of Kenneth Grahame’s “The Wind in the Willows,” featuring the illustrations of Ernest H. Shepard. The young Innerst was inspired to try his own hand at drawing Mr. Toad and his buddies, right on the pages of the book.
“Librarians cringe when they see this,” he told the students, while also imparting this message: “Keep on drawing.”
Just not in library books.