When I decided to make a winter-themed display, I knew I wanted to have a hibernating bear on it. (I might be slightly obsessed with the number of bears in children’s literature, from Little Bear to Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep.) And I also decided that I wanted it to be a snowy scene, to give some contrast. I ended up doing quite a bit more than I had planned to (this sums up all of my displays ever), but I’m really happy with the end result.
Here’s the left side of the display. I started with two large sheets of white butcher paper. I colored one with the side of a grey crayon, on a slightly bumpy surface, which gave me a slightly mottled effect. The other I cut into a hill with level ground on either side. Next, I cut out the cave for the bear and drew the bear on a piece of brown construction paper, tracing the lines with a thin sharpie and shading lightly with a brown colored pencil. I also drew a yew bush, using colored pencil for the trunk and leaves, red sharpie for the berries, and white cardstock for a layer of snow on top. There’s also a little rabbit hiding under the bush.
Next, I drew a bunch of birch trees on white cardstock, tracing the lines with sharpie again and using grey colored pencil to make the darker strips of bark. I also wanted to do a little cardinal sitting in one of the birch trees, so I drew him separately and stuck him on.
On the far right, I did a few more birch trees, a flying cardinal, and a red fox. I really wanted to do a fox, because I think they’re cool (and also my mom’s maiden name was Reynard), and because they’re a wintery animal that would show up nicely against the grey and white background. I’m happy with how he turned out, especially the slightly smug little smile.
Bonus display: science fiction-themed! I used a stock wallpaper to make the background and found an SF-looking font for the text. I put it all together in Publisher and printed it off. (Publisher is awesome!)
Both of these displays have circulated really well, and I think they work visually too.
All of my library display posts
