Strollercoaster by Matt Ringler with art by Raul the Third and Elaine Bay is an exuberant celebration of urban street life (as well as the exuberance of a toddler on a rollicking ride right before she falls asleep for a much needed nap). Raul the Third is known (in his Vamos series and the Lowriders in Space graphic novels) for packing his drawings with details-silly scribbles, sly references, and delightful oddities. Strollercoaster is no different: there are many treasures tucked in each streetscape. Then there’s this: a cover beneath the cover! Young readers will be fascinated to find Raul’s earlier pencil drawing under the rainbow riot of the dust jacket (thanks to Elaine Bay’s coloring instincts).

I love this fast-paced, “speedy” scene as Papa corre/runs down the sidewalk! I was inspired when the stroller duo ducks into a dark tunnel (with the word “oscuro” graffitied on its wall). Those rainbow outlines popping through the black reminded me of one of my fave childhood art projects! So I set to work . . .

PROJECT: Make Rainbow Scratch Paper to create your own magic drawings!

MATERIALS:

• Card stock paper
• crayons in fun colors
• tempera or acrylic black paint
• paintbrush
• wooden skewer (something to scratch with)

DIRECTIONS:

Using crayon in bright, rainbow hues, your paper *entirely* with patches of color. (I tried both crayon and oil pastels or cray-pas and ended up liking the crayon much better. The paint stuck to the cray-pas, making it harder to scratch).

Next, cover your paper entirely with black paint (I used acrylic. It covered well and scratched off well).

Once dry, start scratching–drawing or writing words, whatever. It’s all magic as your lines reveal bits of bright teal, emerald, fuchsia, goldenrod–all the more gem-like in contrast with the black.