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May 23, 2003
Richard Ungar shoots for moon
Children's book writer/illustrator speaks at the Isaac Waldman
Library.
CYNTHIA RAMSAY SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
When lawyer, author and illustrator Richard Ungar comes to Vancouver
next month, there are two main things that he hopes the kids (and
parents) will take away from his visit: the belief that anything
is possible and an appreciation of the power of the imagination.
A lawyer by day and an artist/writer by night, it took a full year
of evenings and Sunday mornings for Ungar to write and illustrate
the children's book Rachel Captures the Moon and about six
months for Rachel's Gift. The stories focus on Rachel, who
lives in Chelm.
"The people of Chelm have their own brand of wisdom,"
said Ungar about why he places his tales in this traditional fictional
town. "I also enjoy writing humorous stories and what better
subject could there be for a comic twist than the antics of the
people of Chelm?"
Ungar said he has always loved to draw. His mother started taking
him to an art school in Montreal, where he was born, when he was
three years old.
"But drawing and painting were always on the side," said
Ungar, who now lives in Toronto with his wife and two sons. "I
worked as a lawyer for about eight years before the idea of illustrating
a picture book came to me.
"When my first-born son was about three years old, I made up
stories while we were in the car to keep him from getting fidgety
on long trips," he continued. "After a while, the stories
and the characters in them seemed to take on a life of their own.
But I didn't make the connection between telling stories to my son
and doing a picture book until later.
"Around the corner from my office in downtown Toronto, there
was a great children's book store.... I remember going in there
one day looking for a book as a present for my son. I left with
a present and an idea. The idea was to illustrate (not write) a
children's book. That evening, I boldly announced to my wife that
within five years, I will have illustrated a published children's
book."
Ungar said that he went through the writing process fairly systematically,
starting with an evening course in children's book illustration
with Mark Thurman, a veteran children's book illustrator.
"I had always loved the Chelm stories and I thought it would
be neat to try and illustrate one of them," said Ungar. "So
I found a story – it was one paragraph long – written
by Samuel Tenenbaum, called Chelm Captures the Moon. I did
an illustration of everyone gathered around the rain barrel, gazing
at the reflection of the moon in the barrel (oops, I just gave the
ending away). I was encouraged by Mark's positive reaction to the
piece and thought, hey, why not build on the story a bit and do
more illustrations. That story eventually became Rachel Captures
the Moon, my first published book. Oh, and I did make my own
'five-year' deadline!"
Ungar reads from his works Monday, June 2, at 9 and 10 a.m., at
the Isaac Waldman Jewish Public Library on the second floor of the
Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. In addition to storytelling
one of his books and sketching a bit for the kids, Ungar said he
will field any questions the kids may have about writing a Jewish
folktale.
"I will also give the kids a 'behind the scenes' look at the
process of making the art for a picture book," he said. "If
there is one thing that I would hope [for] the kids to come away
with from my visit, it is that anything is possible if you put your
mind to it and that the imagination is a wonderful and powerful
thing."
Ungar is working on the pictures for his next Rachel story and,
if all goes well, he said it will come out in the fall of 2004.
Ungar encouraged people to visit his recently completed Web site
at www.geocities.com/ungart2001.
Everyone is welcome to come and listen to Ungar at the Waldman library.
The event is sponsored by the Canada Council and there is no charge
for admission. For more information, call 604-257-5111 or visit
www.jccgv.com.
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