Contact Information
Phone: 612-782-0283
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://stephenshaskan.com
Book Category: Children’s Fiction, Picture Books
Age Group: 2-7
Books
Pizza and Taco: Who’s the Best? (2020).
Big Choo (2018)
Toad on the Road: Mama and Me (2018)
Q & Ray: Case #3 Foul Play at Elm Tree Park written by Trisha Speed Shaskan (2018)
Q & Ray: Case #2 The Meteorite or Meteorwrong written by Trisha Speed Shaskan (2018)
Q & Ray: Case #1 The Missing Mola Lisa written by Trisha Speed Shaskan (2017)
Toad on the Road: A Cautionary Tale (2017)
Max Speed (2016)
Punk Skunks written by Trisha Speed Shaskan (2016)
The Three Triceratops Tuff. Beach Lane Books, 2014.
A Dog is a Dog. Chronicle Books, 2011.
Highlights
Stephen Shaskan is the author and illustrator of several picture books including: Big Choo, Toad on the Road, Max Speed, The Three Triceratops Tuff, A Dog Is a Dog, and the graphic novel series Pizza and Taco. He is also the illustrator of the picture book Punk Skunks and the graphic novel series Q and Ray, both written by his wife Trisha Speed Shaskan. Stephen and Trisha live in Minneapolis, Minnesota and love traveling around to schools and libraries reading their stories and inspiring young authors/illustrators.
Awards
A Dog is a Dog.
CCBC Choice
New York Public Library’s Top 100 Books to Read and Share 2011
LAPL Top 100 Books 2012
Presentations
School Visits
K-1: Where Do You Get Your Ideas? This is a fun interactive musical storytime focusing on the back-story of many of Stephen picture books.
2-3: Stephen creates a character with students and uses that character to show the process of writing and illustrating graphic novels.
4-5: Stephen creates a character with students and uses that character to show the process of writing and illustrating graphic novels with lots of time for students to ask questions.
Stephen Shaskan and his wife/author Trisha Speed Shaskan also visit schools together where they discuss the writing and illustration process of creating their picture book Punk Skunks and their graphic novel series, Q & Ray. As the grade levels increase, the presentations contain a greater level of detail about the process of creating the book. For each presentation, Trisha and Stephen do an interactive group activity.
Illustration: Who? What? Where? And When? Stephen talks about how he approaches visual story telling and how students can use that in their own illustrations.
Musical Storytime: My wife/author Trisha Speed Shaskan and I discuss and read our picture book Punk Skunks plus a couple more of our picture books, sing songs, and do a group activity.
Storytime featuring Folktales & Fairytales: My wife/author Trisha Speed Shaskan Stephen Shaskan and I discuss and read (Stephen’s) picture book The Three Triceratops Tuff, my picture book Honestly Red Riding Hood was Rotten!: The Story of Little Red Riding Hood as told by The Wolf, sing songs, and do a group activity.
Library Tours:
My wife/author Trisha Speed Shaskan and I have done two library tours. For one library tour, we did musical storytimes. For another library tour, we taught comic/graphic novel workshops. We’re open to teaching workshops or doing storytimes for your library system.
Writing and Illustration Workshop for Children & Teens (along with Trisha Speed Shaskan):
Creating a Graphic Novel Character —
Do you like to read Smile? Calvin and Hobbes? Do you like to draw? Write? Have you ever drawn a character from different angles? In this class, you’ll learn different tools that will help you create a graphic novel character and start your own story.
Library Workshop for Adults:
Picture Books 101: Writing and Illustrating Picture Books (with author Trisha Speed Shaskan) —
Have you ever wanted to learn the basics of writing and illustrating picture books? In this workshop, we’ll explore the types of picture books, learn the elements, and do a quick writing exercise!
Fees
Fees vary. Stephen is always willing to work with librarians, educators, and event organizers to help meet their budgets. Please contact Stephen with any questions concerning fees.