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JAMESBURG: NJ author visits JFK school

By Amy Batista, Special Writer
   JAMESBURG — A New Jersey children’s book writer and illustrator recently visited with John F. Kennedy Elementary School students.
   The Feb. 22 event, Author’s Day, which was sponsored by the Jamesburg PTA, featured author Dar Hosta, of Flemington.
   In addition to the assembly, the students had the opportunity to spend additional time with Ms. Hosta doing various programs over the course of four days.
   The first was an assembly with the entire school, then six-minute Partner Poems later in the day with third- and fourth-graders.
   During the second and third days, Ms. Hosta took part in an Art-In-Residence Program with fifth-graders, which included painting, illustration and writing from which the students created three books.
   ”The program we are doing at JFK is called ‘Deluxe Publishing,’ and it is an exact mimic of the process that I go through when I write and illustrate a book,” Ms. Hosta said. “Students use the same methods that I use to create a single page in a collaborative book.”
   During the initial assembly, she spoke to the students about her life and books featuring animals.
   ”I love animals,” Ms. Hosta said.
   Before becoming a writer, Ms. Hosta said she was a teacher.
   She said she has written seven books so far in her career.
   Ms. Hosta said the moment that inspired her to want to write came when she was in second grade. She was 7 at the time, and it was her sister’s birthday.
   Her sister, who was five years younger, received a book called, “Where the Sidewalk Ends” by Shel Silverstein, as a present, which changed Ms. Hosta’s life.
   ”When I saw this book, I was like, I have to have this book,” Ms. Hosta said. “This was the book that made me want to be a writer. I started reading it every single day. I read it so many times that the pages started to fall out of it. I memorized parts of it.”
   According to Ms. Hosta, most of the ideas for her books come from “somewhere in my real life.”
   Ms. Hosta described her writing process for the students.
   ”At first, a book is just a whole bunch of thoughts,” Ms. Hosta said. “They are all kind of jumbled up. I like to write them all down — kind of like a list — so that I don’t forget them.”
   Next, Ms. Hosta said she uses her computer to organize her ideas over the next few weeks until she turns her ideas into the first draft of a book.
   ”I take stuff out,” Ms. Hosta said. “I add stuff in.”
   Ms. Hosta said she then reads her book over and over again and repeats taking stuff out, adding things in and rereading until she feels her story is done.
   ”I’ve always liked books, and I’ve always liked art,” Ms. Hosta said.
   All the illustrations in her books are created through collages, using scissors to cut lots of different sized papers to create pictures in addition to painting. The illustrations are started once the book is written, she said.
   According to Ms. Hosta, a detailed collage page can take her two weeks to do.
   She also had the opportunity to join a group of students for lunch earlier that week.
   ”I always love having lunch with kids.” Ms. Hosta said. “We rarely talk about my job, but, instead, these moments provide an opportunity to ‘be real’ and just chat about everyday life. We talk about our pets, what we do on weekends or what kinds of things we like to eat. It’s very relaxed.”
   Fourth-grade students talked about some of their favorite parts of the assembly.
   ”(I liked) how she talked about the books and showed us how she made them,” said fourth-grader Paris Belmont, of Jamesburg.
   Paris said she learned “you can write about anything you like.”
   Student Sarah George also said she enjoyed hearing about the books.
   ”I liked how she painted the books,” said Sarah, who learned it takes Ms. Hosta about a year to make a book.
   For those who would like to be able to meet Ms. Hosta in person and purchase her artwork or books, her acrylic on canvas paintings and limited edition prints will be featured at the Cranbury Art Show at the Cranbury Elementary School on March 9 and March 10.
   To learn more about the work of Ms. Hosta, visit www.darhosta.com.