Road Trip Article

The Signal

'Road Trip' is Newest 'Nonsense'
By Rachel Stern
Signal Staff Writer

(Original source: http://www.the-signal.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=33932&format=html)

Valencia writer Roger Eschbacher has come up with another way to delight children with his newest offering, "Road Trip," a picture book designed for children ages 4 to 8. Eschbacher has written one other book, "Nonsense! He Yelled," and is working on a third.

"Nonsense" is an alphabet book, which helps children understand the idea and sequence of the alphabet by giving each letter a little story to illustrate it. In "Nonsense," a child whose name starts with each letter represents the ABC's, though purists might quibble with names such as "Moss," "Xerk" and "Yat."

The newer book, "Road Trip," is a homage to Eschbacher's family's excursions from St. Louis, Mo., where he grew up, to parts all over the country.

"Two-thirds of the book is based on my parents," said Eschbacher. "They were unstoppable roadtrippers."

The Eschbacher family went to Maine, Florida, Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan and other spots - all by car. Eschbacher said he drew on those experiences for many of the book's episodes.

"We did singing games, license plate bingo, all of what's in the book," he said.

Eschbacher is continuing the tradition with his own family. He and his wife, Margie, are planning an extensive trip for next summer; they and their three girls, Molly, 12, Erin, 10, and Claire, 7, will drive back to Eschbacher's hometown of St. Louis.

"(Road trips) are kind of in the genes," said Eschbacher. He also admitted that his first book was written for his own children, who were 8, 6 and 3, respectively, when it was published in 2002. The children, who go to Northpark Elementary School, continue to give Eschbacher fodder for his stories. He and his wife, an accountant, have lived in the Santa Clarita Valley for nine years, having moved here from Burbank.

The author makes his living as an animation writer whose credits include "My Gym Partner's a Monkey" for The Cartoon Network. He's also worked on shows for Nickelodeon, Warner Bros. and other studios. Cartoon writers provide dialogue and action for already created characters, and after they're done, the animators take over.

Eschbacher's books are funny and a little off-the-wall, which is not surprising given that he spent five years as a member of The Groundlings, the famous L.A.-based improvisation and comedy group. He's also worked on "Histeria," whose creator also hatched "Animaniacs" and "Pinky and the Brain" - all known by animation cognoscenti as shows that were not just fun for kids, but also "hip" for adults. "Histeria" was educational, too - it taught history by taking its characters on time-traveling trips.

"My books have humor that's specifically aimed at children, but I use situations that parents will recognize," said Eschbacher.

Some of the episodes in "Road Trip" hark back to stories that Eschbacher remembers from his childhood and that will resonate with many of today's parents (who will have to them read over and over if children's book-reading traditions are any indication). For instance, those who grew up with the legend of Paul Bunyan will note that the family in "Road Trip" stops at Bunyan's Hive, where everything is on a gigantic scale. Illustrator Thor Wickstrom's art incorporates little asides for the grown-ups too. Like Eschbacher's first book, "Road Trip" is written in verse.

Picture books, chapter books, and reading to your children are all vital components of helping your children learn to read, said Monica Mitchell, the head children's librarian at the Newhall branch of the county of Los Angeles Public Library. She thinks children will like "Nonsense," noting that alphabet books like it are a sub-genre of children's picture books.

"Children like rhymes," she said. "Though 'Nonsense' has less of a story than most. There's a lot going on in the pictures; it's almost like a cartoon."

Mitchell arranges and runs storytime at the Newhall Library and calls it the funest part of her job.

"We try to pick stories that will entertain and educate," she said. "And the children are doing emotional and social learning as well as academic."

Even motor skills are improved at story time, as when the children participate in movement-related activities (like the well-known "If You're Happy and You Know It," song, which involves auditory cues and clapping.) In addition, story time always includes a craft, like a colorsheet, at the end.

According to the American Federation of Teachers, children have different learning styles - visual, auditory, and kinesthetic - it is helpful to stimulate them when they are young in the all the learning modes, even though reading is a visual activity.

"All of its helps the children to learn," said Mitchell. "Our sessions improve children's vocabulary, listening, social skills, cognition, and language skills."

In addition to local sources, the Department of Education has resources that help parents teach their children to read, including activities and issues like beginning to write, special needs children and reading in languages other than English. The National Reading Styles Institute has teacher-oriented resources specifically for reading improvement.

Eschbacher's latest project is a book called "The Adventures of Bigelow Pig."

"He's a super-smart scientist/inventor pig," he said.

"Bigelow Pig" represents kind of a departure for Eschbacher as it is more of an illustrated chapter book than a picture book. Chapter books have more of a continuous story, rather than unrelated episodes like "Road Trip" or the totally non-narrative alphabet book, "Nonsense." Children's chapter books usually have 12 or so chapters, with each being only a few pages long.

Apparently road trips are not the only thing that is genetic - Eschbacher's eldest daughter Molly wants to be an author or illustrator like her father. Eschbacher noted that she is also a talented artist and storyteller. Erin is leaning toward the other end of her father's career - she wants to be a "movie star." Claire, the youngest, wants to be a doctor or an actress.

What does Eschbacher think of his daughters' plans?

"Well, there's not a lot of money in it," he said. "But it was always my dream to write children's picture books."

Copyright: The Signal