BUCYRUS — Jeanette and Christopher Canyon didn’t have to travel far from their home to visit Bucyrus Elementary School on Oct. 20. The Canyons live and work from their historic home studio in Columbus, Ohio, bringing words to life for children’s books through their artistic gifts.

While the husband-and-wife duo are both children’s book illustrators, each has their own set of unique abilities. The Canyons showed students their different works utilizing a slideshow and music.

“As creators of children’s books we are dedicated to providing engaging, educational and entertaining programming to promote literacy and the arts,” said Jeanette Canyon. “Our presentations take students on an informative and imaginative journey as we share our creative processes of illustrating stories and picture books.”

Elementary school students prepared for the Canyons visit by decorating classroom doors throughout the building.

And students led the Canyons on a tour of the building to showcase their work.

“We were very impressed by how the students were familiar with our books and songs,” Christopher Canyon said. “The door decorations were wonderful, and the overall kindness the staff and students showed us was incredible.”

The Canyons visit was made possible by support from the Bucyrus Elementary Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO). Each year, the PTO works diligently throughout the school year to raise funds to support these kinds of student-centered activities.

“Our teachers do a fabulous job preparing our students for author visits every year,” said Diane Kaple, librarian at the school. “Our students were very attentive and really enjoyed the Canyons presentation.”