Katie Duncan
Her work will appear in “The A-Z Book of Fresh Foods from the Farm,” a children’s book written by a fifth-grader from Farley Elementary. Duncan, who graduated with a degree in art and art education, said Professor Mike Bechtel shared the opportunity with her this spring.
“I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it, but it sounded like something I should try,” Duncan said. “I figured if he had enough faith in me to forward the email, then maybe I should apply.”
Duncan submitted her application along with three art pieces in April and was informed that she was selected in May.
“They told me they really like the abstract style of one of the pieces I submitted, and they wanted me to design the book in the same style,” she said. The piece they referenced was one of several Duncan used in her multimedia senior exhibit in the Waldemar A. Schmidt Art Gallery of a chicken eating apples.
Though Duncan never met the young author, she tried to incorporate some of the drawings the girl submitted with her book in the final project.
“Each page has the ABCs across the bottom with the letter from that page highlighted. That was something she had done, only she wrote the letters out and then circled the one that she was on. I just took the main color from the page and highlighted letter,” Duncan said. “And some pages have little ‘did you know’ kind of facts. That was something she added, but she used thought bubbles, and I tried to find ways to incorporate them into the illustrations. So even though I didn’t get to meet her, I felt like it was very collaborative.”
In addition to being a published illustrator, Duncan will teach middle school art in the Oelwein Community School District in the 2022-23 school year.
The Bushel of Stories student writing competition is funded in part by a Fire-Up Grant from the National Agriculture in the Classroom organization. Copies of the books will be available to Iowa residents for free upon request once the books are printed later this summer. The Bushel of Stories program has free lesson plans available to teachers that will help them integrate the book into language arts lessons. The lesson plans are aligned with Iowa Core standards and fit into an approved course of study.