The Greatest Story

Story by Benjamin Pomerance

Don’t call Steven Kellogg an author. That’s far too limiting. Don’t call him an illustrator, either. That’s hardly the designation by which he wants to be known. You can produce all the evidence you want — the 110 books bearing his name, the numerous awards he’s won, the constant demand for his literary presentations — but Kellogg won’t give any ground. The man who has spent his entire adult life as an author/illustrator does not want to be identified by either of these terms. Instead, Kellogg has a far more appropriate name for himself, a title more wide-reaching and long-ranging than any other label. It’s the name of one who shares his gift with others, who knows his craft and knows how to bestow it on the world, who loves his work and loves sharing it with others even more, and those who know Kellogg know this personifies him, right down to his very core. Steven Kellogg is a storyteller.    

Always has been, really. As a boy, he’d entertain a captive audience of two — his sisters — with homespun fables that could last for hours, even days, and hastily-drawn pictures to go with them."We called this ‘telling stories on paper,’" Kellogg remembers."I’d take a big stack of paper and sit between my sisters with the paper on my lap, and come up with some convoluted tale while scribbling the illustrations to accompany it. As soon as I finished one drawing, I’d pass it off to the sister on my right, then the next to the sister on my left, and so on." He laughs, a raconteur’s glint in his eye."And as the story went on — and some of them could get pretty long — my poor sisters would sitting there drowning beneath these huge mountains of paper from my drawings."

The methods were still a bit raw. The artisan’s technique still left much to be desired. Yet the concept — telling stories on paper — appealed to the young boy. Drawing had become part of his life, part of the invisible machinery that made him run, but the art, as Kellogg recalls today, was only part of the package."It came down to the stories," Kellogg says."I want my pictures to leap off the page and tell you something, to make you feel a certain emotion or take you to a particular place. I always want them to have that kind of impact." With a pencil and paper, the storyteller had found his voice.

"When I returned to the States after my year in Italy, I felt more strongly than ever that I needed to find a career that would be in harmony with what I loved to do"

Still, there was much to be discovered. Ideas flowed to Kellogg from many springs — from the Rhode Island School of Design (where he went on scholarship), and from the artistic wonders of Florence, Italy, where Kellogg spent his senior year of college on a fellowship, and from the New York City publishers, even the ones who rejected Kellogg’s early attempts at creating works of children’s literature but gave encouragement. "When I returned to the States after my year in Italy, I felt more strongly than ever that I needed to find a career that would be in harmony with what I loved to do," Kellogg says. "I loved creating stories and illustrations that told good stories, and I felt strongly about the importance of reading being a key part to anyone’s education. So I decided to mesh all those passions together, and I came away with this idea that I would try and make my living writing books for children."  

So Steven Kellogg kept on telling stories. And the more stories he told, the greater his audience became. His first published book — Gwot! Horribly Funny Hair Ticklers — hit the shelves in 1967, the same year the burgeoning teller of tales married Helen Hill, who brought with her an instant family of six children."That," Kellogg chuckles,"was quite a year." It was only the beginning. Other ideas began making it into print, tales of young Jimmy and his hyperactive pet boa constrictor, Louis and his mysteriously un-froglike tadpole, Oliver the bear and his grouchy Uncle Otto, and Pinkerton the Great Dane and his feline sidekick Rose, perhaps Kellogg’s most famous four-legged characters and based on his own personal pets."I love animals," Kellogg says of his frequent preference for non-human subjects."My grandmother used spend many hours teaching me about the wonder and the beauty of the plants and animals that lived near our home, and that love and respect for nature has never left me. Many of the things she taught me show up in my books. And adventures with animals make such enjoyable stories."

Kellogg found inspiration in other sources as well, even re-telling classic American folk tales and fables (like his just released version of the Pied Piper)…in a distinctly Steven Kellogg manner.  Johnny Appleseed, Paul Bunyan, Mike Fink, Huckleberry Finn, and a host of other fictitious icons also found a unique home in the pages of Kellogg’s books, their stories told to the world in a style just different enough for the storyteller to leave his mark.

As Kellogg’s story count grew, so did his responsibilities. Before long, the invitations began pouring in, offers for the published author/illustrator to speak at libraries, schools, luncheons, various groups and organizations celebrating his work. At first, Kellogg viewed these requests with caution, accepting only a few of them and tabling the rest. After making a couple of these guest appearances, though, Kellogg discovered the unexpected: speaking to people about his creative output actually was fun. It wasn’t so unusual, really, walking into a room and talking about his books. There was something natural about the whole process…something that brought Kellogg back to his youth, to sitting on the floor with a sister on either side, a pile of paper on his lap, and endless ideas flooding his mind. The storyteller was right in his element. Once Kellogg realized this, he knew he would never leave.

"To put across that passion for reading — that was the key to the whole thing"

“Very early on, I discovered how important this was," Kellogg remembers."Art is about communication with an audience. So by doing these programs, I had a constant exposure to my audience, which was as rewarding to me as it was to them." Of course, when a high percentage of your audience is still in elementary school, the storytelling can become a bit of a challenge. For Kellogg, though, it was an opportunity, a golden chance to instill a love of reading in children at a very young age. He remembered more precious moments from his childhood — times when his grandmother would read aloud to him, telling stories to the boy who would become a storyteller."That was so special," Kellogg says."And I began trying to think of ways I could share those special times with other children. To put across that passion for reading — that was the key to the whole thing."

With this mission in mind, Kellogg began telling stories on paper all over again. He’d arrive at a library or school, the place simply crawling with children shouting and laughing and running all over the room, and make the crowd his own. With a palette of oversized paper and a marker, he’d begin telling one of his familiar tales, illustrating the action as he went along. As soon as one scene was finished, he’d tear off the paper and jump right into the next drawing, never breaking his ongoing stream of dialogue. By the time the story was over, every child would be staring at the storyteller with rapt attention, and Kellogg would have won another day."Reading is fun," Kellogg explains,"but it’s an activity where you have to convince people that it’s fun. Too often, it’s just a drug parents use to stun the child before they go to bed. But reading needs to be more than that in a child’s life. It needs to be something they really look forward to. And that all begins with the thrill of reading aloud."

"My programs are for people of all ages"

Which is why Kellogg refuses to limit his presentations to children of an elementary school age. Instead, he’ll speak wherever and whenever his schedule allows, regardless of the group in attendance. Grade-schoolers, middle-schoolers, high-schoolers, college kids, teachers, librarians, businessmen, prison inmates — you name the category, Kellogg probably has spoken in front of an audience that fits it."My programs are for people of all ages," Kellogg says in a voice that makes you wonder how you could believe differently."You don’t outgrow reading. Some people come in skeptical, and they say disparaging things like ‘Baby books’, but they come around" — he snaps his fingers —"just like that."

Carol Hochreiter knows first-hand how Kellogg’s presentations translate to a variety of audiences. As president of the Friends of the Plattsburgh (NY) Public Library, Hochreiter organized a visit from Kellogg in October 2006, a one-day whirlwind tour that saw Kellogg tell stories to adults and children with equal panache."He was the first children’s author to speak at a luncheon for us," Hochreiter says,"and every adult in the room was at the edge of their seats when he was talking. When he comes to do a presentation for you, it’s really like a performance on the stage. It really is."

When Kellogg spoke to a group of young children at the library that night, the reaction was the same. As head of the children’s section at the Plattsburgh library, Karen Rickertson wasn’t so sure what to expect when the guest of honor first arrived for the presentation. An avid Kellogg fan, Rickertson remembers hoping that the kids would behave long enough for the storyteller to finish his story."He went on for an hour," Rickertson recalls,"and there were some very little kids there." She laughs."But I needn’t have worried. Those kids were enthralled. He just pulled them right into his story and away they went."

From a personal standpoint, Rickertson says she loves Kellogg’s illustrations."I can pick him out right away, even if I don’t know it’s his book," she says."I like the shape of the faces, the expressions in the eyes. You can look at the picture and you can get an idea of what’s happening right away, even before you read the words on the page." Yet from a librarian's vantage point, Rickertson appreciates Kellogg’s message about the importance of reading in a child’s life."It’s never too young," Rickertson says of beginning to read. "It becomes part of the child’s life to pick up something and read it, not a special event. Reading should be always something you do for enjoyment, not an ordeal."

Leading a reading program at the Peru (NY) Free Library on Thursday mornings has shown Chazy resident Diane Sabourin just how influential reading can be. And after seeing Kellogg give a presentation to a group of early childhood educators several years ago, Sabourin says she gained a new appreciation for the power of telling a good story."He just has that knack as a storyteller," Sabourin says of Kellogg. "And that is a knack — telling a story and keeping your audience involved. We were fascinated as adults at the ease at which he could draw those pictures and still tell the story at the same time."

"The book is like a small theatre in your lap, and each time you turn the page, you’re raising the curtain on a new scene"

Still, Kellogg insists telling stories isn’t as difficult or daunting as it seems. The first step, he often reminds adults, is to give it a try. "People don’t forget the first person to read to them," the storyteller says. "The book is like a small theatre in your lap, and each time you turn the page, you’re raising the curtain on a new scene. That’s it, really. It’s like acting a play. And children will always remember you sharing that time with them."

Not that children are the only people for whom reading aloud can be special. Kellogg says he will never forget the reading program he did at a women’s prison, a day that began with being hassled by aggressive guards but ended with a touching memory."When I did the program, which was geared toward inmates who were mothers, they were so grateful," Kellogg says, smiling at the memory. "I brought an autographed book for each mother and each kid. And the mothers were there reading aloud to their children who were visiting them at the prison, and everyone looked so happy. That’s the power of reading."

It’s a power Kellogg still is happy to share. Today, with 110 books to his name and thousands of presentations across all 50 states under his belt, the storyteller still hungers for more. His Essex, NY, farmhouse is the very picture of pastoral delight, but Kellogg seems to be spending fewer and fewer days among familiar surroundings. There are tales to tell and eager ears waiting to hear them, sending Kellogg scurrying across the country to tell stories on paper once again. His collection of awards has grown considerably, and devoted fans now wait in line with their grandchildren to meet him, but Kellogg insists little has changed since this all began. "Telling stories is telling stories," he grins."It’s always been fun."     

And it’s always been something Kellogg has wanted to pass on to the next generation, to the budding storytellers waiting in the wings. "I try to convey the message that everyone has a story to tell, which should be told in their own way," Kellogg says. "Everyone is a storyteller. And I always tell anyone at any of my presentations that after they hear me tell a story, they should go out and share their story with somebody else, to pass the gift of storytelling along to the rest of the world." A world of people reading aloud, sharing stories with others, telling their own special tales in their own special way. For many, it sounds like a picture book, a fantasy, a fairy tale. For a storyteller like Steven Kellogg, it just might be the happy ending to the greatest story of them all.

What is your favorite Steven Kellogg story?