http://www.heritage.com/articles/2010/04/12/life/doc4bc3bdf955120640320120.txt

Heritage.com Serving Southeast Michigan

Author encourages children's creativity at Ann Arbor library event

Published: Monday, April 12, 2010

By Art Aisner, Special Writer

Ruth McNally Barshaw hates to limit children's creativity in any way. So in every appearance
at schools and libraries across the state, the author of the popular "Ellie McDoodle" series
abandons the rules.

Kids are encouraged to sit on the floor, bark out ideas, and even scribble down their thoughts
while she's talking.

In fact, the only rule her audiences must abide by is to pick up a pencil and sheet of paper at
the door and keep it nearby during her hourlong presentation.

After a brief introduction, her first task at a special appearance in Pittsfield Township last week
was to have participants create their own artificially bound sketch book out of a single sheet of paper.

"Always have a sketch pad with you and keep it nearby," she implored the captivated audience
of roughly 40 children at the Ann Arbor District Library's Pittsfield Township Branch. "There are a lot
of people that have great ideas and never write them down. Don't be one of those people."

It's a philosophy that has served her well over the years. Starting at age 6, McNally Barshaw
started carrying a sketch pad and documented events in her life as they happened. Before long,
the sketchpad became the key to channeling her imagination, and no page was wasted. She filled
dozens over the years and takes a thick stack of them to her presentations to show children that
inspiration can come anywhere at any time.

Though it started as a hobby, sketching quickly became somewhat an obsession and led to what
she believes is her true calling in life, penning children's books. But that only came after toiling for
years in the advertising field, illustrating for newspapers and participating in national essay-writing
contests, six of which she won.

"Sometimes you grow up thinking you'll be something, and you'll end up being something else, and
that's cool because it's all about the discovery and learning new things," McNally Barshaw said.

"I'm still trying very hard to learn something else."

One task she has mastered is getting her message out to kids with an affinity for writing drawing.
Combining her easygoing demeanor and infectious enthusiasm, McNally Barshaw engages audiences
ranging from toddler age to pre-teens and gets them to feel comfortable expressing themselves.

With a black marker and easel, McNally Barshaw showed her creative process by drawing some of
her favorite characters. By having the children sketch along, she gave audience members a blueprint
to follow in order to be creative with confidence.

It's part of how she promotes art literacy, a notion that drawing ideas first enhances a person's
creativity and writing ability.

The process helped her create two books: "Ellie McDoodle: Have Pen, Will Travel" and "Ellie McDoodle:
New Kid in School." The stories capture the adventures of Ellie McDoodle, a sketch-obsessed school
girl and her family.

"I was reading books to my kids and thought that Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss had done all the
books I'd wanted to do, and did them much better," said McNally Barshaw, who grew up in the
Detroit area and now lives in Lansing.

"But I thought there could be room for me if I really worked hard enough."

McNally Barshaw had both hard and soft cover editions of her books on display and offered a
preview of her next book in the series "Ellie McDoodle: Best Friend Fur-ever" which is due out in August.

The new book features the usual fun-filled characters, plus a few of their new animal friends.

She said she's also working on a novel.

"It's very exciting for us to have her here," said Ieva Bates, the youth services librarian at the
Pittsfield Township branch. "She's an accomplished writer and we knew that the Ann Arbor Schools
students would be on break and would get a chance to enjoy something like this."

The enthusiasm and inspiration that McNally Barshaw stirred was obvious, said Laura Stubbs,
who brought her 8- and 6-year-old sons to see a professional illustrator and writer for the first time.

"They are all about this kind of thing and really loved it," she said.

For more information about the series or McNally Barshaw's other works and
presentation schedule visit www.ruthexpress.com.