Molly Idle will be visiting the William O. Schaefer kindergarten classes November 14, 2018. As I shared information about this amazing author/illustrator with the students here, I realized Molly Idle lives in the best of both worlds. I also realized her background in animation influenced her “Flora” series and the stunning lift-the-flap illustrations that allow the reader to create their own dance with the characters.

Reading this series reminded me how much I love flip books! Years ago, I purchased a cool Keith Haring flip book at a NYC.  As a kid, I loved drawing flip books….I am offering a taggie to any student who shares my love of flip books and dares to create their own!

What You Do:

1. Brainstorm about what to draw. Keep it simple! A bouncing ball, moving butterfly, or a stick figure waving or skipping rope are all fun and easy to do.
2. Open the notepad to the last page, and draw the first picture there. You may want to start with the object on the right edge, only partly showing like it’s peeking through or moving into the “frame.”
3. From there, work your way “up” by turning to the next sheet (the second from the bottom). Draw the next picture slightly different than the first, as if you were watching it move in slow motion.
4. Continue with a slightly different image moving slowly across each page until you’ve finished the flip book.
5. Now, flip the book from back-to-front and watch the action! When single drawings are flipped quickly, the eyes can’t keep up so even though you’re not looking at the drawing anymore, the eye projects the image onto the brain for a moment longer. This experience is called persistence of vision, and it’s why your flip book drawings look like they’re moving!

Watch the short video below to get an idea about how to get started and create your very own flip book!

Thank you @MollyIdle  for the inspiring this challenge.