By Mallory Panuska
MANNINGTON — Martin and Delia Wach, a nationally acknowledged husband-and-wife team who have authored and illustrated five best-selling children’s books, have no trouble keeping the attention of elementary students.
“Kindergartners don’t want us to leave, even after 45 minutes,” said Delia of the book presentations she and her husband have made to pre-kindergartners through graduate students across the country.
Accomplishing quite a feat by keeping the attention of such young children, Delia and Martin make presentations across the entire country on their two-book series, one about their adventures in a South American rainforest and another dedicated to the state of West Virginia.
On Friday, the Wachs visited Blackshere Elementary, where they made their 330th presentation since they began touring three and half years ago.
Separating to present the different aspects of book creation, Delia taught students mainly about drawing and coloring, while Martin entertained them with stories of his adventures in the jungle. Delia said when she and her husband work on a book, they work on the story together, and she completes the illustrations.
At Blackshere, Delia read students one of her books, “Butterfly Dreams,” and taught them the steps to take to write children’s publications. She concluded her presentations with a lesson on how to use ordinary markers and a paint brush dipped in water to create a watercolor painting effect on an ordinary picture.
“I’m always trying to show them how to use materials available to them,” she said.
When Martin was telling students about the six years he spent in Suriname, South America, he compared it to an episode of National Geographic and talked about the wildlife, natives and the work he did as a teacher of microbusiness skills. These experiences all inspired the “Teddy Bear Guardians of the Rainforest” series he and his wife completed.
“We spend our time telling kids about the rainforest, but the most important thing we try to do is get them excited about life,” he said.
With writing and illustration excerpts from a fifth-grade class in Rainelle, the Wachs also completed “Veterans Reign in Their Own Parade,” a story coming out in May about how city residents opened their homes and hearts to give their veterans a proper homecoming.
The Wachs incorporated these young students as co-authors of this first student book and plan to complete several more, which will grant $8,000 to $10,000 to the chosen schools, said Delia.
“We’re always looking for amazing ideas for books and teachers that are willing to do a lot of work,” said Delia of the criteria the couple usually searches for when choosing a group of students to help them author stories.
During their day at Blackshere, the Wachs also ate lunch with the students and signed books that they purchased, which principal Richard Pellegrin said the school was very happy to have available for the students.
“We are very pleased to have Martin and Delia Wach here. Their presence will allow the boys and girls to meet an actual author of children’s books,” he said. “It will also help them understand the writing process and possibly give them a great interest in checking out books and reading.”
E-mail Mallory Panuska at mpanuska@timeswv.com.
