Share your smile Raina's guide to telling your own story

A guide to writing comics by Telgemeier herself? Yes, it's true, but right off the bat, librarians should be warned that this guide encourages readers to write and draw in the pages. Telgemeier's popularity is off-the-charts, particularly as anticipation builds for her forthcoming Guts, due out this September, and kids inspired by her brand of self-deprecating humor and appealing art style can bide their time using this guide to create their own comics. Telgemeier's tips and exercises focus on practicing drawing and using one's own life and stories for inspiration, and each of the chapters closes with guiding questions to help kids think about a story component, such as home towns, eventful trips, families, and interesting places. Perhaps most useful of all is her description of the stages of making a comic note-taking, thumbnail sketches, penciling, inking, and coloring along with the specific tools she uses and tips for scanning and posting comics online. Even if the book can't circulate, librarians might be able to use Telgemeier's guide for DIY comics programs.--Sarah Hunter Copyright 2019 Booklist

Bestselling graphic novelist Telgemeier encourages readers to tell their stories and offers "tips, tricks, and inspirational kick-starters for getting your story down on paper." Integrating sketches and sample art from her bestselling comics (as well as a few childhood photos), she describes her creative process, from building out her ideas and creating thumbnail sketches to inking, digitizing, coloring, and creating a cover. When translating the experience of losing her front teeth into the book Smile, she explains, "As I wrote and drew the story, I was able to look back and actually laugh at some of my more painful experiences." Blank panels provide space for readers to create their own drawings, while prompts and pro tips invite them to reflect on family, school, and friends ("If you feel scared or embarrassed, how do you make yourself feel better?"). An encouraging and compassionate guide for budding comics creators. Ages 8-12. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

A guide on how to distill the extraordinary from your own life and find a story to tell.The unabashed Telgemeier (Smile, 2010, etc.) once more shares her personal experiences on storytelling in a how-to book on finding your own story. Explaining that for her, "the process of creating Smile was therapeutic," Telgemeier coaxes readers to think about their own experiences by posing questions that will encourage closer looks into themselves, their environments, their families, their personal travel and school stories, their sources of inspiration, and even those supernatural elements that fascinate them. Although the book focuses heavily on creating stories from personal experience, the skills developed are meant to naturally translate into other types of storytelling. By beginning in the known world, Telgemeier gives readers a solid foundation from which to launch their artistic exploration. The book focuses mostly on the brainstorming process, offering lists of questions with space for answers, but it also provides other spaces to write full stories and to storyboard ideas. Readers also get useful tips, such as starting with loose shapes when drawing faces, with step-by-step instructions on how to illustrate faces and facial expressions. It's very much a place to start rather than a full-on manual, and it does not offer a bibliography for kids who want to pursue graphic storytelling further.Honest and encouraging, this will get young storytellers startedand perhaps leave them wishing for more. (Nonfiction novelty. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.