PHOTO: MIKE ARTELL, an award-winning children’s book author, illustrator and television cartoonist, will present a special children’s art workshop at St. John Parish Library branches during National Library Week, April 2-6. St. John the Baptist Parish Library will present special art workshops during National Library Week, April 2-6. Funded by grants from the River Region Arts and Humanities Council, the programs will feature Mike Artell demonstrating art skills necessary to draw cartoons. Artell will hold his first program in Garyville on April 2 at 4 p.m. and will follow it up with an appearance at the main library in LaPlace at 6 p.m. He will return April 5 for an appearance at the Edgard library at 4 p.m. and end with a session at the Reserve library at 6 p.m. All programs should last for approximately 45 minutes. Each child that attends will leave with at least two cartoons that he has done during the workshop. Contact the individual library branch to reserve a space. Artell is an award-winning children’s book author, illustrator and television cartoonist. His books include nationally recognized board books for small children and non-fiction books for older children. He has also written and illustrated teacher and parent resource books on subjects as diverse as ecology, parties, drawing and young authorship. Artell also has extensive experience as a musician, storyteller and as a greeting card writer and editorial cartoonist. Every year, Artell shares his books and drawing skills with more than 12,000 students at dozens of schools across the country. He also conducts teacher workshops, serves as guest speaker at educational conferences and visits public libraries. His astronomy book for children, Starry Skies, was named a 1998 Best Science Book for Children by Science Books and Films magazine. Some of his other books have been named Pick of the Lists by Publisher’s Weekly Top 100 by Curriculum Administrator Magazine and Teacher’s Choice by Learning Magazine. His latest book, Petite Rouge, is a Cajun version of Little Red Riding Hood.