12/Jan/2008
Meet Your Neighbor:
Northwestern Elementary Teacher Doubles As Children’s Book Author and Illustrator
By Christiana Johns
Holly Barker has been a writer and illustrator since she was in third grade. On April 12, 1979 she wrote and sketched “The Remedy” for a contest at her school, and won the opportunity to meet one of her favorite writers – Peggy Parish, the author of the popular Amelia Bedelia children’s books.
Ever since then the Northwestern Elementary art teacher continues to pursue a career that incorporates her love of books and art by writing and illustrating children’s books in her spare room at her home in Zachary.
Think outside the box
Barker is originally from Indiana. She lived in Saudi Arabia for six years before moving to North Carolina and then Baton Rouge. After living in Baton Rouge for 15 years, her family moved to Zachary just over a year ago to be a part of the school system.
Barker attended the Print Institute in New York where she received a degree in graphic design. She still works with local graphic design companies who use her art, but her real love is teaching. “I love when kids come up with clever ideas,” she said. “Art allows them to think outside the box and become problem-solvers.”
For mo re than 13 years, Barker has been teaching art to elementary students. She teaches kindergarten at Northwestern, and works through the Arts Council on a Pre-K school readiness
program that incorporates art. She also strives to keep funding for art classes to ensure they do not get cut at the end of the year.
The Invisible Bag
Barker travels to publishing conventions to shop her books around to different publishing companies. This year she went to two seminars; one was in Birmingham, Ala., and the other was in Texas. “I would love someone to pick up and publish one of my books,” she said. “Right now I have four in the works.”
One of those books is “The Invisible Bag” by Melanie B. Solar, which Barker did the illustrations for. The book is about helping children making life choices, and Solar is working on a sequel.
Stephen Giggles
In one of the upstairs rooms of Barker’s house is her personal studio with a computer and large white table.
There is also a shelf that extends from one wall to the other with art books and bins of organized tools and materials sitting on top.
She makes the illustrations for her books by taking a photo and then using a transparency to give the image a 3-D effect. She collects scraps of paper and paints from scrapbook stores. The pictures are made up of different colors and textures of paper, such as fuzzy yellow paper to resemble hair or rough green paper to mimic grass.
Barker said she gets some of her story ideas from books at the library and lets ideas snowball, but many of the stories stem from her own life experiences. “A lot of my stories are about my kids,” Barker said. Her Stephen Giggles character is based off of her son Stephen, 6. Another story is about when her daughter, Ella, 2, grew her first tooth.
Her kids’ rooms reflect the illustrations in her books with lively colors and some of Barker’s framed art. Barker said her son is starting to show an interest in art and enjoys working next to his mom cutting paper and making illustrations too.
Northwestern Elementary Teacher Doubles As Children’s Book Author and Illustrator
By Christiana Johns
Holly Barker has been a writer and illustrator since she was in third grade. On April 12, 1979 she wrote and sketched “The Remedy” for a contest at her school, and won the opportunity to meet one of her favorite writers – Peggy Parish, the author of the popular Amelia Bedelia children’s books.
Ever since then the Northwestern Elementary art teacher continues to pursue a career that incorporates her love of books and art by writing and illustrating children’s books in her spare room at her home in Zachary.
Think outside the box
Barker is originally from Indiana. She lived in Saudi Arabia for six years before moving to North Carolina and then Baton Rouge. After living in Baton Rouge for 15 years, her family moved to Zachary just over a year ago to be a part of the school system.
Barker attended the Print Institute in New York where she received a degree in graphic design. She still works with local graphic design companies who use her art, but her real love is teaching. “I love when kids come up with clever ideas,” she said. “Art allows them to think outside the box and become problem-solvers.”
For mo re than 13 years, Barker has been teaching art to elementary students. She teaches kindergarten at Northwestern, and works through the Arts Council on a Pre-K school readiness
program that incorporates art. She also strives to keep funding for art classes to ensure they do not get cut at the end of the year.The Invisible Bag
Barker travels to publishing conventions to shop her books around to different publishing companies. This year she went to two seminars; one was in Birmingham, Ala., and the other was in Texas. “I would love someone to pick up and publish one of my books,” she said. “Right now I have four in the works.”
One of those books is “The Invisible Bag” by Melanie B. Solar, which Barker did the illustrations for. The book is about helping children making life choices, and Solar is working on a sequel.
Stephen Giggles
In one of the upstairs rooms of Barker’s house is her personal studio with a computer and large white table.
There is also a shelf that extends from one wall to the other with art books and bins of organized tools and materials sitting on top.She makes the illustrations for her books by taking a photo and then using a transparency to give the image a 3-D effect. She collects scraps of paper and paints from scrapbook stores. The pictures are made up of different colors and textures of paper, such as fuzzy yellow paper to resemble hair or rough green paper to mimic grass.
Barker said she gets some of her story ideas from books at the library and lets ideas snowball, but many of the stories stem from her own life experiences. “A lot of my stories are about my kids,” Barker said. Her Stephen Giggles character is based off of her son Stephen, 6. Another story is about when her daughter, Ella, 2, grew her first tooth.
Her kids’ rooms reflect the illustrations in her books with lively colors and some of Barker’s framed art. Barker said her son is starting to show an interest in art and enjoys working next to his mom cutting paper and making illustrations too.
