This year, the 15th annual Baltimore Book Festival takes place in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of downtown Baltimore Sept. 24-26. The reason that I'm bringing this up is that I received an interesting e-mail from Fulton resident and children's book author/illustrator K. Michael Crawford.

He will be exhibiting and selling his books at the festival Sept. 25 and came up with a great idea. In front of his booth, he will have a large piece of paper set up on an easel and he would like to get as many visitors as possible to contribute to the art. They can draw one line or color something in. Then, he plans to donate the art to the festival to help them raise money.

Isn't that a cool idea? On top of that, he has contacted Guinness World Records and submitted an application to see if it could qualify for a shot at a world record. I'll try to let you know what he finds out.

Crawford has deep roots in the community. His mother's family is from these parts (the Shaws) and he graduated from Atholton High School and the University of Maryland with a degree in advertising design.

After college, he attended classes at the American Animation Institute, the Otis Parson School of Design, the Art Center of Design and Associates in Art.

Crawford loves to draw. When he finishes drawing, he draws some more. He gets his inspiration from all kinds of things. It's not uncommon for him to jump in the car and go on a road trip because, as he puts it, "the more things I see and do, the more things I can put in my art, ..., so why not see and do as much as you can?" His art is so much a part of him that he now has trouble separating himself from the art.

He was born in Pennsylvania and, except for almost 10 years in a couple other places, his home is right here in Fulton, "with the cows, corn and crows." And, of course, the turkeys, just down the road.

I asked him what led him down the path of illustrator and author of children's books. He had an interesting response.

"More so, I think that children's books chose me, instead of other way around. At a young age I had a strong sense of humor and saw things differently from others, which wasn't appreciated until I could put it in my art. My childhood, as well as my life, has been very quirky to say the least. You might even say enchanted. I have had the most magical things happen to me over the years and been surrounded by the most waggish people all my life.

"I discovered at a young age that I could put some of those quirky adventures and people down on paper and call it art. With my imagination, illustrating and writing children's books, this job is the prefect job for me. I get to be a kid every day of the week," he said.

He has illustrated more than 30 books and has won a number of awards for his art and books. His new books, "The Mystery of Journeys Crowne," "Batty Malgoony's Mystic Carnivale" and "The Island off Zadu," are first-of-their-kind adventure-drawing books where the reader/artist draw the art in the book to complete each page. The reader learns to use their imagination and have fun at the same time.

Now you know a little about Crawford and I think his idea is great. I'm hoping that we, as the communities of Highland and Fulton, can come out and support one of our own and maybe even wind up in the next edition of the "Guinness Book of World Records."

And since we are on the topic of art, Kate Tufts, state director of the Howard County Bird Club, wants to let the kids know about the Youth Bird Art Contest. It's open to Howard County residents aged 9 to 19 and it's a chance for them to really look at birds. Then, draw, paint or sculpt your favorite bird. Realism and attention to detail are important factors in judging your entry.

Prizes will be awarded and the deadline for submissions is Sept. 1. Go to www.howardbirds.org.

Well, that's all for this week. Look after your neighbors. Commit a random act of kindness. Treat people the way you want to be treated. Say a prayer for our troops who are serving in harm's way. And remember their families.

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