BRAND NEW!  TEACHER WORKSHOPS!
This Summer I will be debuting a fun-filled Teacher Workshop that focuses on using "Hamster Sam" books in the classroom! Designed specifically for South Carolina 3rd and 8th grade teachers, this interactive 2 hour workshop goes beyond creating lesson plans, and empowers you with the tools used in creating comics and the oh-so-popular graphic novels!  Your students will marvel at your knowledge of cartooning when you show them your very own cartoon drawings of Hamster Sam, and surely their jaws will hit the floor when you proceed to incorporate comics into the social studies curriculum!  Learning can be fun!  Call or email me for more information!



 



NEW!
GRAPHIC NOVEL EXPLORES COTTON/TEXTILES
HISTORY

CAROLINA
CURRICULUM
CONNECTIONS!

He's hysterical.  He's historical.  He's...Hamster Sam!

(Spring 2008)  Media writer, producer and cartoonist Dave McDonald has just launched his exciting new educational graphic novel "The Secret Adventures of Hamster Sam: Attack of the Evil Boll Weevils!"  produced in association with The Gaston County Museum of Art & History in Dallas, North Carolina. 
 

Hamster Sam combines outrageous comic book humor with historical elements and images of the Southern Piedmont's cotton and textile industry. This 32-page, color, hardcover edition (DM Creative Publishing, $15.95) is a wonderful "just for fun" book for readers 8-12 and serves as a sure-fire way to kick off your studies of state history!  EDUCATION TRADE: 10% DISCOUNT!

Hamster Sam is not your ordinary classroom hamster.  In this time-traveling, unraveling adventure, Hamster Sam goes back in time to the year 1921 to answer a desperate call for help from "Eli" and "Whitney", two cotton bolls who are in great danger!  Can Hamster Sam stop the Evil Boll Weevils from stealing all the cotton?


Upcoming Schedule 

Southern PInes Elementary, NC  May 8th, (Cartooning with Dave)

Charlotte ComiCon  May 10th, 10AM - 4PM   charlottecomicon.com

Powdersville Elementary, SC  May 16th,  (Cartooning with Dave)

Anderson County Teacher Workshop, SC  June 9th (Hamster Sam Comics in the Classroom)

HeroesCon, Charlotte, NC  June 20th - 22nd  heroesonline.com
Exhibiting with Kids Love Comics!  kidslovecomics.com

Berkeley County, SC  June 24th - 25th  (Cartoons & Comics Mini-Camp)

Florence County Public Library, SC  July 10th  (Cartoons & Comics Mini-Camp)

Gaston County Museum of Art & History, Dallas, NC  July 29th & 31st, (Cartoons & Comics Mini-Camp) gastoncountymuseum.org


NOW BOOKING - "CARTOONING WITH DAVE MCDONALD"!

Bring cartoonist and author/illustrator Dave McDonald to your school or library to share his fun-filled program with your students.  This 45-minute interactive program includes a PowerPoint presentation, a look at comic book storytelling elements and the book-making process, PLUS an interactive cartooning lesson; students draw Hamster Sam & other characters step-by-step right along with Dave!  It's a bunch of fun for grades 3 and up.  Here's what one recent sponsor had to say:

"Dave was AWESOME!  The kids really loved learning to draw a real cartoon, especially with the cartoonist!  Thanks a bunch Dave!"
                                                                                     -Kelly Smith, Art teacher
                                                                                      Pontiac Elementary School, Elgin, SC.

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Dave McDonald is a member of The Society for Children's Book Writers & Illustrators, The Southeast Chapter of the National Cartoonists Society, and appears on the South Carolina Arts Commission's Roster of Approved Artists.

Want to learn more about cotton/textiles history?  Visit the Gaston County Museum of Art & History in Dallas, North Carolina.  See their one-of-a-kind "Carolinas Textile Exhibit: The Ties that Bind", a permanent exhibit that documents the historical significance of the County's cotton textile industry and the unique regional communities that it spawned.  Visit them on the web at www.gastoncountymuseum.org