FAMILY HUMOR: Sibling rivalry

Brother-sister relationship inspires author's new book

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By ERIKA BAYER-POLAK

VIEW STAFF WRITER

Local children's book author and illustrator Lisa Kopelke feels she has found the ideal place to dive into her work.

"Las Vegas is a great place for me," she said. "There are no real distractions. And the summers are a great time to work because I don't want to go outside," she said with a laugh.

Kopelke's books include "Excuse Me!," "Tissue, Please!" and her newest book, "The Younger Brother's Survival Guide: By Matt."

"My first book, 'Excuse Me!,' is about burping," she said. "Picture books are meant to be read to kids, so they should be interesting for the kid and parent. I don't want to be didactic but you have to keep it simple. You have to keep kids in mind when writing, but you should also use some words that open up some doors."

Kopelke's new book is about how younger siblings are sometimes treated by older brothers or sisters.

"If I was eating something my younger brother always wanted the same thing," she said. "So I would make something weird and give it to him. He'd say, 'ew, gross.' And I'd say, 'Yeah, but that's what I'm eating.' "

Besides writing and illustrating her own books, Kopelke also has done illustration work for several other books, including "Thanks & Giving: All Year Long," for which she illustrated actor and comedian Ray Romano's story about one of his schoolteachers, and "Super Oscar," which is a story boxer Oscar De La Hoya wrote "about being a kid," Kopelke said.

As for the children of children's book authors appreciating their parent's work, "it's too biased," Kopelke said. "If you sit down and read to your child they'll like it no matter what because you're spending time with them."

As for her own daughter, "she's sick of them by now," Kopelke said.

Kopelke, who studied creative writing and sculpting at the California College of Arts and Crafts, recently completed a book signing and reading tour with the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District. She visited seven libraries and talked to children about how she writes and illustrates her books.

"It can take me three to six months to have a manuscript ready," she said. "And the writing and illustrations overlap, but the sketches could take six months. From beginning to end with a published book it takes about two years to actually come out."

Kopelke also had a representative from the Dairy Council of Utah/Nevada travel with her and make mystery shakes and explain the benefits of dairy products.

Mary Nelson Brown, youth services coordinator for the library district, said the libraries are always eager to have authors visit with children.

"We try to bring in authors for the kids especially during the summer months," Brown said. "It allows them to get an idea about what it takes to write a book and how it all comes together."

Kopelke will be at the Neverending Story Children's Bookshoppe, 9440 W. Sahara Ave., Suite 120, at 2 p.m. on Thursday. For more information, visit www.lisakopelke.com.