Thursday, April 15, 2010 • HERITAGE NEWSPAPERS/WESTERN REGION � Page 17-A

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Author inspires kids’ creativity at local event

By Art AisnerHeritage Newspapers

Ruth McNally Barshaw hates to limit children’s creativity in any way. So in every appear-ance 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 chil-dren at the Ann Arbor District Library’s Pittsfield Township Branch. “There are a lot of peo-ple 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 chil-dren 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, illus-trating 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 tod-dler 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 favor-ite 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 cre-ate two books: “Ellie McDoodle: Have Pen, Will Travel” and “Ellie McDoodle: New Kid

in School.” The stories cap-ture 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 edi-tions 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 inspira-tion that McNally Barshaw stirred was obvious, said Laura Stubbs, who brought her 8- and 6-year-old sons to see a profes-sional 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 pre-sentation schedule visit www.ruthexpress.com.

Ruth McNally Barshaw visits local library

Allegra Print & Imaging, employees earn awards

Allegra Print & Imaging of Saline recently received the International Gold, Silver and Top Ten International Sales Performer awards from the Allegra Network franchise system.

The awards are presented annually and are based on sales volume and providing an out-standing level of client service.

“Our commitment to pro-viding printing solutions and outstanding service has earned the respect of our clients,” said Joe DiMauro, general manager of Allegra Print & Imaging of Saline, in a news release. “Our sales staff exemplifies the true service professional.”

Kelly Parkinson received the International Gold Milestone and Top Ten International Sales Performer awards. Parkinson, a resident of Pinckney, joined Allegra 18 years ago and has completed several training programs that address topics ranging from mastering customer service and new marketing and digital printing techniques to better understanding the needs of today’s print buyers.

Many of the programs focus on determining each client’s printing needs and formulat-ing a solution to enhance the client’s print communications and reduce overall printing

costs, the release states. Jane Dillard, Michael

LaBeau and Wes Siegrist received the International Silver Milestone awards. Dillard, a resident of Ann Arbor, has been with Allegra for 20 years. LaBeau, a resi-dent of Manchester, joined Allegra 15 years ago. Siegrist, a resident of Jackson, has been connected with Allegra for five years.

Allegra Print & Imaging of Saline provides a range of marketing services for area businesses including printing, mailing services, fulfillment, promotional products and graphic design.

Photo by Art Aisner

Ruth McNally Barshaw always keeps a sketch pad handy to keep track of new ideas.