Sampler Saturday: Where It All Began

When Elizabeth was six years old she discovered candy corn. And oh sweet mystery of life, how she loved those little nuggets of corn syrup and food coloring.

Not to eat, mind you. No, they became action figures: new characters in the rich tapestry of her inner world. She wasn’t writing books yet, but for months her drawings were populated with sentient candy corn kernals going about the business of collecting food. This is a Walking Candy Corn:

In her world they were industrious creatures much like ants, who spent all their time stashing food away for the winter, usually to the consternation of whoever they were stealing the food away from.

One day she decided to sit down and create her very first Actual Book. She began with the title: Spots And The Walking Candy Corn. (Spots was one of her Fisher Price toys, a little giraffe.)

Then she got so wrapped up in Spots’ tale of woe that she forgot to actually include any Walking Candy Corns in the story.

This one is by special request: the first complete book Elizabeth ever made, at age six.

It’s an I Can Read Book!

Spots is the tiny creature at the bottom of the page. Parental figures are always towering giants in Elizabeth’s drawings.

Love the wiggly reflection in the water. Click on any image for a larger view.

Yeah, I’m thinking Spots could maybe use some Prozak.

Pull it together, man!

But what’s this…

A carnival! Now we’re talking!

Not sure why there are vicious dinosaurs at the carnival…

This is an erupting volcano. Spots is just having the crappiest day ever.

I love this image. Spots and his enormous mother sleeping snugly in a giant bird nest. It’s so cozy. :^)

And there you have it — Elizabeth’s first book, fresh out of the Wayback Machine. Seems like forever ago that she started writing them, but I guess it’s only been four years.

It’s been a fun journey. I can’t wait to see what she’s writing in another four.