OCTOBER
MAGIC
Issue 841
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Take your pick on the apple
trail, Pages 4 and 5.
Meet a new Potter artist,
Pages 2 and 3.
Supported by readers of the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News
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Thursday, October 10, 2013
MICHIGAN K.I.D.S. | WWW.DNIE.COM
Meet The New Harry Potter
Cover Wizard
yak Chat
What is your classroom up to?
We want to share more school
news on Your Page, where
readers regularly share art. Ask
your teacher to email a photo of
your class to cathyyaknews@
gmail.com. We’ll choose a class
photo for a Yak Class Act to
share each month. Teachers:
be sure to include the grade of
the classroom featured and a
phone number where you can
be reached!
Are you hooked on Harry
Potter books? Meet the
illustrator for new covers of the
best-selling series on Pages 2
and 3.
Head out on a field trip to
local cider mills, Pages 4 and 5.
Lastly, the Yak bids a fond
farewell to Newspapers in
Education Manager Sharon
Martin, who has yakked with us
over the years and is off to new
adventures.
Also Inside:
• Yakking About the News,
Page 6.
• Your Page, Page 7.
• My Kid Scoop, Page 8.
On the cover:
The Yak buys his favorite fall treats at
the Dexter Cider Mill.
Free Pree File Photo
Printed by: The Detroit Media Partnership
Sterling Heights, Michigan, Fall 2013.
H
arry Potter books are getting a cover
makeover to celebrate the 15th
anniversary of these much-loved stories.
Did you know the first Harry Potter book was
published in the U.S in the fall of 1998? Awardwinning artist Kazu Kibuishi, the wizard behind
the new magical covers, took time to answer a
few questions and share that he is a huge Harry
fan, too!
Q: You’re already a top book cover artist.
Now, you’ll be reaching millions of new fans
with your cover illustrations for the Harry
Potter books. How did that opportunity come
about?
A: “David Saylor, creative director at
Scholastic, is someone I’ve been working with
for years on the ‘Amulet’ series. He was the
original designer of the Scholastic edition of
the Harry Potter books, with artwork by Mary
Grandpre. He reached out to me and asked if I
would be interested in doing this project… I sent
in samples, they were approved, and we began
the process of creating the new set of covers and
box art.”
Q: Were you already a fan of the series?
Had you read the books or seen the movies maybe with your own children?
A: “YES! Yes and yes. I’m a big fan of all the
books and the movies. My son has watched
some of the movies, though he thinks they’re
scary, and my daughter still has a ways to go
before she’s reading or watching movies!”
Q: How did you approach the assignment?
A: “I decided to approach the project as a
doorman greeting the young readers into the
world of Harry Potter. My readers are the perfect
age to transition into reading books like Harry
Potter, so I just tried to paint covers that my
readers would enjoy… Harry Potter is going to be
with us for a long time, and I wanted the artwork
to look a bit like the artwork on the covers of
perennial (long-lasting) literary classics, like
‘Treasure Island’ or ‘A Christmas Carol.’
Artist Kazu
Kibuishi created
new covers and a
special 15th anniversary
boxed set of J.K.
Rowling’s Harry Potter
series.
Photo by Gordon Luk/
courtesy of Scholastic
Thursday, October 10, 2013
MICHIGAN K.I.D.S. | WWW.DNIE.COM
Photos courtesy Scholastic
Take a look at all seven of the new Harry Potter book covers by artist Kazu Kibuishi.
Q: Growing up, were you always
drawing?
A: “I actually didn’t draw all that much when
I was really young, and opted to spend most of
my time playing sports. I loved being outside.
I began getting really serious about my art just
as I was entering high school. For a few years,
I really focused on creating art and becoming
a better writer. It wasn’t until a couple of years
of drawing for the college newspaper that I
realized I could really be a professional at this.”
Q: Did you take art classes or lessons
when you were growing up?
A: “I took very few art classes. My mom
would sign me up for classes at after school
programs, and I would, of course, take art class
at school. What people didn’t realize is that at
the time, I was drawing as a sort of escape from
everything, so I didn’t want to make it a formal
thing. I loved drawing enough that I didn’t need
a structured program to make me do it. And I
wanted my education to be focused on things
I DIDN’T know about, but wanted to learn, so
I went to UCSB (University of California-Santa
Barbara) as a film studies major.”
Q: What are you working on now?
A: “ ‘Amulet 6’ and more ‘Explorer’ books!”
Q: Any advice for kids who would like to
pursue careers as artists?
A: “Just enjoy the process of creating art
when you’re young. Let your imagination run
around and remember there really are no rules.
Then one day, you may find yourself in a place
where you can use that ability to help others,
and that’s probably the greatest feeling in the
world.”
By Janis Campbell
Fast Facts:
Growing up: Kazu was born in Tokyo,
Japan, and moved to the United States
with his family, settling in California,
when he was 3. “We lived in Gardena and
Rancho Palos Verdes during my early
years. My parents eventually moved to
Irvine, where I went to school from the 3rd
grade through high school.”
Favorite thing to draw: “I love all my
characters! When I was in elementary
school, I would say that machines were
my favorite things to draw – vehicles and
robots.’’
Career: Kazu is an artist, writer, editor
and graphic novelist. He works from his
California studio, Bolt City, with his creative
team, including his wife, Amy. He is the
creator of the “Amulet” series of graphic
novels, and the “Explorer” and “Flight”
comic series. For teen readers, he is the
creator of “Daisy Kutter: The Last Train,” an
award-winning graphic novel.
Family: Kazu and his wife, Amy Kim
Kibuishi, have two children, Juni, 3, and
Sophie, 1.
Award-winning artist Kazu Kibuishi, left, and
Arthur A. Levine, VP and publisher, Arthur
A. Levine Books, are pictured together
after the unveiling of the cover of the new
paperback edition of J.K. Rowling’s second
book, “Harry Potter and the Chamber of
Secrets.”
Photo courtesy Scholastic
Artist Kazu Kibuishi created new covers and
a special 15th anniversary boxed set of J.K.
Rowling’s Harry Potter series.
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4 Thursday, October 10, 2013
FIELD TRIP
MICHIGAN K.I.D.S. | WWW.DNIE.COM
A Four-Mill Bunch of Apple-Crunching,
Doughnut-Munching Fun
Photo courtesy of Spicer Orchards
This photo shows a few of Spicer Orchards’ handsome red farm buildings and one corner of its lush orchards.
W
hat could be more fun than visiting a cider mill on a
gorgeous fall day? Answer: Visiting four cider mills in a
single day!
The Yak likes to visit a different cider mill each year, but this year
we got a little carried away. We stumbled on a really cool website,
and hit the mother lode, or best source, for a cider mill adventure.
The site, www.michiganappletours.com, is bursting with
information about Michigan cider mills. It also features driving tours
through five cider-rich regions of the Lower Peninsula, complete with
photos, maps and directions.
Click on the yellow circle over southeast Michigan. What comes
up is a 225-mile tour through prime apple country, with fun jogs off
the highway onto country back roads. We decided to explore it, or
at least part of it. The tour begins in Washtenaw County. But you
can start the trip anywhere – in Macomb County, for example. Or
Oakland. Or Livingston. There are no bad legs on this tour!
favorite. We hadn’t visited since 2007, but found Richard Koziski, the
former owner, and his daughter, Nancy Steinhauer, the current owner,
right where we left them: arranging bags of fresh-picked apples and
baked goods in the mill’s fragrant store. “Has anything changed?”
we asked Richard.
Destination Dexter
The tour officially begins at the historic Cobblestone Farm
Museum, in Ann Arbor. But it’s open only from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Tuesdays through November 19. So we started our country tour at
the next stop, the Dexter Cider Mill, in Dexter. (From Detroit, a driver
heads west on I-94, following the website directions.)
Located at a quiet bend of the Huron River, the Dexter mill is a Yak
Detroit Free Press photo
The Dexter Cider Mill is one of the Yak’s favorites. He’s been there several times to
sip the cider, after watching it pressed in the old-fashioned way.
MICHIGAN K.I.D.S. | WWW.DNIE.COM
“Of course not,” he said, laughing. “No. And
it never will.”
That’s a good thing. Dexter is one of the
few mills where you can still watch cider being
made the old-fashioned way – in a wooden
rack-and-cloth press. Opened the year after the
Civil War ended, in 1866, Dexter is “Michigan’s
oldest continuously operating cider mill,”
says Richard, adding: “Come and taste the
heritage.” We did, enjoying our first glass of
cider and cinnamon sugar doughnut of the day.
For more, go to www.dextercidermill.com.
Pretty Parshallville
Thursday, October 10, 2013
apples. The Spicer family has been growing apples
since 1903. When owner Alan Spicer built the cider
mill in 1980, he started with a rack-and-cloth press,
like Dexter’s and Parshallville’s. But he switched to a
more modern method, called a continuous belt press,
because it’s “more efficient, easier to run and I think
it makes a better cider,” he said. That’s debatable, as
even Alan admits. Both methods produce excellent
cider, depending on the quality of the blend, or mix of
apple varieties.
And no, we will not tell you which cider we liked
best on our tour. You taste and decide. They were
all very good. We downed a third glass of cider, but
passed on a third doughnut. For more, go to
www.spicerorchards.com.
Then it was on to Parshallville Cider Mill in
Livingston County. From Dexter, we followed
the website directions past a pop-up show of
Diehl’s Deals
farms, barns, silos, and pumpkin patches to
Our last stop was Diehl’s Cider Mill in Holly, in
Photo Courtesy of Parshallville Cider Mill
U.S.- 23, then headed north to Exit 70.
Oakland
County. The website’s directions are iffy
The Parshallville Cider Mill is a magnet for
The Parshallville Cider Mill was built in 1869 cider lovers.
in one spot, so tell your family to use ours: Do not
as a gristmill, or flour mill. Its location on North
turn right when you get to the first Milford Road, off
Orr Creek is so scenic we felt as if we were on the set of a movie
Clyde Road. Stay straight to the second sign for Milford and turn left
about a 19th Century village – or what’s left of it, anyway. Tiny
toward Holly. Do not continue straight ahead – the Milford sign is
Parshallville’s school, three churches, post office, and grocery store
facing the wrong direction. And be prepared for several miles of dirt
are long gone. But the five-story mill presses on, looming above
roads.
the creek, which tumbles over a dam into a pleasant – sounding
Diehl’s opened in 1954 and still is run by the Diehl family. Tucked
waterfall. Don’t miss the mill’s working water wheel, one of the last
away on a narrow dirt side road, it makes Detroit seem a world away.
in Michigan. The store is an old-fashioned delight, with more than
Diehl’s also uses a continuous belt press. There are hayrides and a
two dozen kinds of heirloom apples, some of which originated in the
corn maze. Mike
1700s. For more, go to www.parshallvillecidergristmill.com.
Diehl wasn’t
surprised that
we had visited
Spicy Spicer
four cider mills
A second glass of cider and a second donut fueled our trip
in a day. “Tons
to cider mill No. 3: Spicer Orchards, just a few miles away in
of people do a
Fenton. Spicer reminded us of Westview Orchards and Cider Mill
tour,” he said.
in Washington
“They don’t
Township, which
go to just one
we wrote about
cider mill. One
in 2010. Like
woman told
Westview, Spicer is
me that she’s
a major destination
been to seven
for fall family fun,
ciders mills this
with hayrides,
Photo by Patricia Chargot
season and last, Diehl’s Cider Mill feels a world away from metro Detroit. It
a corn maize,
dates to 1954.
including ours
pony rides, train
(though not all in
rides, a goat walk,
one day). She likes our doughnuts the best.” Sorry, Mike – no more
live music, pig
doughnuts! But we did buy a caramel apple for the drive home. For
roasts, and 20,000
more, go to www.diehlsorchard.com.
U-pick apple
trees
groaning
Photo courtesy of Spicer Orchards
Spicer Orchards is a family destination, with cider,
By Patricia Chargot
with luscious
doughnuts and all kinds of fun activities for kids.
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6 Thursday, October 10, 2013
MICHIGAN K.I.D.S. | WWW.DNIE.COM
Yakking about the news
A weekly wrap-up for young readers
Get Ready, Olympians
With the Winter Games coming in
February, that means the Olympic torch
relay is set to begin. On September 29,
the torch was lit in Ancient Olympia,
Greece, birthplace of the Olympics. The
Winter Games begin on February 3 in
Sochi, Russia. The torch first is taken to
Athens, Greece, a seven-day journey,
then is flown to Russia, where it will then
travel across the country. About 14,000
torchbearers will walk or run with the
flame. The Yak still remembers when his
friends carried the torch through Royal
Oak, Michigan, before the Salt Lake City
Winter Games. Stay tuned to follow the
route in Russia with the Yak.
You can watch the torch lighting at
www.olympic.org.
researchers said that soil gathered by the
Curiosity rover show particles that contain
water. Laurie Leshin, dean of science at
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the
study’s lead author said the findings are
conclusive: “If you took about a cubic
foot of the dirt and heated it up, you’d get
a couple of pints of water out of that – a
couple of water bottles’ worth that you
would take to the gym.”
Free Press File Photo
Water On Mars
Scientists have found more fresh
evidence that the planet Mars has water.
In a recent report in the journal, Science,
Malala Yousafzai,
the 16-year-old who
was shot for fighting
for education rights,
was honored for her
efforts.
AP Photo
The Ugliest Critter?
Although the Yak would hate to call any
critter ugly, the Ugly Animal Preservation
Society has named a sea creature this
year’s ugliest. It’s the blobfish. The Week
magazine reported that the blobfish is
actually endangered, something this
group of scientists points out, recognizing
some of the world’s more unique species.
Simon Watt, of the society, told the
magazine, “We’ve needed an ugly face
for endangered animals for a long time
and I’ve been amazed by the public’s
reaction. For too long the cute and fluffy
animals have taken the limelight but
now the blobfish will be a voice for the
mingers who always get forgotten.”
No Youth Beauty
Contests?
The Yak watched the torch for the Salt
Lake City Winter Games come through
Michigan.
KIDS MAKING NEWS
Beautiful looks are part of beauty
pageants. In France, the government
is planning to ban beauty pageants for
anyone under 16 years old. The French
Senate has already approved the ban,
which has to be passed by the French
National Assembly in November to
become a national law. What do you
think? Should the United States ban
children’s pageants?
Compiled by Cathy Collison
Malala Wins Award
You may remember our stories last year about
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakastani teenager who
campaigned for girls’ rights to education and
was shot by the Taliban for her activism. She
recovered from the shooting and is staying true
to her work. She just turned 16 in July, and spent
her 16th birthday in New York City, speaking to
a United Nations youth group. This September,
she returned to address the United Nations on
education. She also was honored by the Clinton
Global Initiative, earning the “Clinton Global
Citizen Award” for her fight, and for her new
efforts, the Malala Fund. The non-profit group
aims to focus on Malala’s mission to give all girls
around the world the right to education. Check
out www.malalafund.org for more on her efforts.
This month, look for her book “I Am Malala”
to arrive in your library and local bookstores. Her
words are powerful. During her United States
fall visit Malala spoke at Harvard University.
The Boston Globe reported on Malala’s stirring
speech. She told her audience, “Some people
only ask others to do something. I believe that,
why should I wait for someone else? Why don’t
I take a step and move forward,” Malala said.
“When the whole world is silent, even one voice
becomes powerful.” Read the full speech at
www.bostonglobe.com.
MICHIGAN K.I.D.S. | WWW.DNIE.COM
Thursday, October 10, 2013
THINK ABOUT
ART:
What patterns and shapes can you see
in today’s art? Try some fall art using the
shapes you see in leaves.
By Julian Jameel, 7, Troy
By Hadeel Resul, 11, Dearborn Heights
By Maryam Fatmah, 11, Canton
YAKTIVITY!
Halloween isn’t just one day to celebrate. Already, metro Detroit is
celebrating with some weekend events. Today, we’re sharing a Yak favorite,
Zoo Boo! Come back next week for more.
Zoo Boo: Trick-or-treat along the Detroit Zoo paths aglow with decorations
and pumpkins. You can also try some ghoulish games. Tickets are sold in
advance, so families should check with the zoo ahead of time for what times
are open. The boo-tiful celebration kicks off Friday night, October 11, and runs
each weekend through October 27. See www.detroitzoo.org and check on
the events calendar for details.
By Cathy Collison
The Zoo Boo features some amazing animals created from gourds and pumpkins, like
this polar bear. Maybe you’ll want to make one of these for your family’s front yard!
Photo by Cathy Collison
Send us
your art
Draw on only white 8 -by-11 paper and use bright colors. Be sure to print your name, age, city and phone
number clearly on the back of your drawing. Send your art to Yak’s Corner Art, c/o DNIE, 615 W. Lafayette Blvd.,
Detroit, MI 48226
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







   
  
    
   
   
  

   
   
    
    
   
  

      
 
  


  
  
    
   
     
   
   
    
    
   

    
 
  
    
    
   
     
  
  
  

  
    
  
     
     
    
    
    
   
   

    
    
    
   
    
    
    
    
    
  

     
    
    
     
      
   
     
    
    
      



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