By Maria Prato, Staff Writer
MONROE — It began with a couple of rough circles but in a few strokes of a pencil those circles took on features and a personality all their own.
The transformation began in front of an assembly of Woodland Elementary School students on April 13, as illustrator Chris Soentpiet made a blank sheet of paper come to life.
He will give a similar lesson to 30 to 40 students from both Woodland and Brookside Elementary schools next week after the schools select winners from an essay contest they held in Mr. Soentpiet’s honor.
”He obviously has real appeal to kids because of his background,” said Joan Kofke, a librarian for both schools.
In fact, Mr. Soentpiet’s illustrious career began in a somewhat similar way, after his mother entered him into a contest at Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland and the 7-year-old artist won, allowing him free enrollment into the college’s art classes.
Since then, Mr. Soentpiet has graduated college, made a name for himself in both his profession and as a fine artist and has approximately 20 children’s books under his belt.
He chooses each topic carefully, finding subject matter that will entice children to read.
For instance, “Silver Package” is a story about a wealthy man who would drop Christmas presents off to a group of poor West Virginia children by train each holiday season.
”I personally believe that from history we learn to move forward,” Mr. Soentpiet said.
”My Brother Martin,” a book about Martin Luther King Jr. through the eyes of this famous civil rights leader’s sister, is a prime example of how involved Mr. Soentpiet is with his work. Not only did he meet with Dr. King’s family, but used many original photographs from their albums to create his illustrations.
Each new project requires a new set of photographs, which Mr. Soentpiet typically takes himself.
It’s not unusual to find a makeshift scene or a model in costume in his Brooklyn apartment.
But photographs aren’t his only tools, Mr. Soentpiet said. He might use toy cars for a high-rise New York City scene or clay and bed sheets to construct a dragon.
So far, the process has paid off. During his 15-plus-year career, Mr. Soentpiet has won the Society of Illustrators gold medal for “Peacebound Trains”; has been honored by Parents’ Magazine for illustrating the best book of the year for “Something Beautiful”; and has won the International Reading Association’s book award three times for “More Than Anything Else,” “Molly Bannaky” and “Coolies.”
One book, however, stands above the rest for him, “Jin Woo,” the story of a Korean baby adopted by an American family. The reason is that the story is similar to his own.
After Mr. Soentpiet found himself orphaned at age 6 in Korea, both he and his sister were adopted by a U.S. family.
”I remember the day I came to America,” he said to students. “I got off an airplane and saw tall Americans everywhere. I was really scared and I couldn’t understand anything anyone was saying.”
Shortly after entering the airport, Mr. Soentpiet’s new American family grabbed him and his older sister, yanked them up and down with hugs and, in their faulty attempt to say “I love you” in Korean, unknowingly told them they looked like a cow.
Woodland’s children roared with laughter after hearing a few of Mr. Soentpiet’s anecdotes, whether they were from his personal family affairs or on the job stories about young, unruly models.
”This is important for children,” he said. “Artwork can be a vehicle for them to have a love of reading and a love for the arts.”
Although there are many lessons that the children can learn from Mr. Soentpiet there is one in particular that he hopes they’ll leave with, one from the pages of his own biography, he said.
His final message to students: “Follow your dreams and believe in yourself.”
For more information on Mr. Soentpiet log onto his website at www.soentpiet.com.
