CATHERINE W GICHUKI

DOHA RENOWNED cartoon illustrator Chris White from England visited Qatar Academy on Sunday to share his work and talent with the students. He held workshops for grade 4 and 5 students and signed copies of his books for them. He will continue the workshops for the students who could not hide their excitement as White read some of his poems to them.

During the workshop for Grade 5, he showed the students how to draw a picture composed of different parts of different animals. The drawing consisted of ears of a rabbit, elephant’s trunk, tail of a gorilla, body of a turtle, among other animal parts. He also helped the students to compose a poem about this weird pet.

White will be in Qatar for four weeks during which he will visit other schools like Cambridge International School for Girls, Park House English School and Doha English Speaking School. Speaking to Qatar Tribune, he said this was his first of visit to Qatar and he was happy to share his knowledge with students. “The students are brilliant.

I want to get kids excited about reading, writing, drawing and poetry. I didn’t know what to expect but I am really enjoying it,” he said. White has seven books consisting of his poems. He grabbed the attention of poetry world in 2000 after the publication of his first book Bitey the Veggie Vampire. His other books include Wang Foo the Kung Fu Shrew, Armadillo Under My Pillow, Shark in the Toilet, Don’t Put Dave in the Microwave, The Beast From The East and Stumpy’s Big Adventure, which are two stories in one book. Never Give a Duck a Pen, was released last year to celebrate a decade since the publication of his first book. His latest book is Space Rocks. White said that he was hoping to write a book based on his Qatar visit. “I hope to get ideas while I am in Qatar.

Hopefully, I will write another book,” he said. Asked about his inspiration, he said, “I have always been able to draw. I used to get into trouble with my teachers because I would be drawing even when I was not supposed to. I used to write poems to go with the pictures, since my childhood. My first book was published when I had started going to schools.” Since then, White has visited schools in Kuwait, Egypt, Malaysia, France, Germany, Hungary and other countries, to enlighten students more his passion. Andrew Harnett, Grade 5 teacher at Qatar Academy, said the author would unlock the creativity of the students and get them excited.

“In a month or two we will be doing a unit in poetry. This is kind of a preparation for the unit. Now we are doing descriptive languages. This workshop is really helpful,” he said. Delighted about the workshop, Ziad Khattab, a 10- year-old student said, “I learnt new things about poetry. Poetry is not boring. When you draw a picture, it is very easy to write a poem about it. White is really funny and he has a nice way of teaching.” Hissa al Mawlawi, another student said, “I learnt how to draw step by step and also write a poem about the drawing. I also enjoyed listening to his poems.”