Comics & Narrative Practice student nabs children’s book gig with “Scout”

The children’s book Scout Goes to School follows the misadventures of Scout, a mischief-prone therapy dog. For Columbus College of Art & Design student Haley Anne Thompson (Comics & Narrative Practice, 2022), creating illustrations for Scout(available for purchase on Amazon and elsewhere) meant coming full circle.

Thompson was in the eighth grade when she met Scout, who then was spending her first year as a therapy dog in Barbara Jo Almendinger’s junior high classroom.

Thompson was in her final weeks of high school in May 2018  when her art teacher approached her on Almendinger's behalf about illustrating a children’s book about the beloved Labrador retriever’s misadventures.

In short order—very short order— Thompson went to work, using pen and watercolor to create more than 25 illustrations in less than 15 hours’ time. It was, Thompson recalled, “a test of endurance,” and of her determination.

“Passing that test was an amazing bolster to my confidence as an artist. I learned, then and there, that I could be an illustrator,” she said.

And that’s why Thompson decided to major in Comics & Narrative Practice at CCAD. Comics, she said, has a way of “breathing life into stories.”

“I chose Comics because I felt most capable there, in a major focused on time, motion, life, layout, and written story. Everything has a story, in my opinion, and the best part of life is writing yours,” she said.

And Thompson is eager to master the art of making comics at CCAD and to begin to tell her own stories.

“There's so much to see, to learn, to write and dream and draw. It's an adventure in the making, and I can't wait to see where it takes me,” she said.

Learn more about the Comics & Narrative Practice major at Columbus College of Art & Design or apply here.