Author takes youngsters on a magical mystery tour

KENT — Author Ann Downer made a special visit to Kent Center School on Monday, June 2. Downer is the author of magical books for young adults including “The Spellkey Trilogy,� “The Glass Salamander,� “The Dragon That Never Was� and other books in the fantasy genre. Her visit was geared toward grades four through six and focused on maps and atlases of imaginary lands in well-known fantasy stories.

As a young person, Downer said she was fascinated by the maps featured in the fantasy stories that she read over and over again, and was inspired to write stories of her own in lands of her own creation.

“The maps give us advanced advertising as to what is in the book,� said Downer. “It’s like a travel brochure for the reader.�

Downer gave a very detailed PowerPoint presentation featuring maps from tales such as “The Land of Oz,� “Lord of the Rings,� the Narnia series and Downer’s favorite childhood series, “The Earthsea Trilogy.�

All of these maps gave the students an idea of what the author of these stories had in mind for what the landscape, waterways and political borders would look like.

Along with these fantasy maps, Downer also explained how little map makers knew about what different “real� countries looked like, especially during the 1500s. She showed examples of how wrong they were then. The students laughed when Downer showed a map maker’s idea of Canada and Virginia during that time period; they featured sea monsters and, often, the head of King Neptune.

After Downer’s presentation, the students all received their own blank maps and were asked to imagine a fantasy place and draw it out.

Downer explained how authors go about drawing maps and what order they usually go in. Downer began with the shoreline, mountain ranges, political borders, rivers and lakes and eventually the names in the make-believe world.

Some of the students drew maps completely from imagination while others chose to improve their own state of Connecticut.

Throughout Downer’s presentation, she encouraged the students to read books that involved intricate maps and not to just see the movies that are made from them. She stressed what a large part of a story a map can be.

“We can imagine a story happening from that landscape,� said Downer. “Maps in the story don’t just show us the hero’s journey but also the journey we will take as readers.�

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