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LARCHMONT, N.Y. -- Tyler Chimento was one of only a few children in Monday afternoon's cartooning program at the Larchmont Library who knew the Looney Tunes characters Tweety and Sylvester, which instructor Mike Teator had them draw.
"Some of them didn't know them, but I think they'll find out now," said Teator, a professional cartoonist who appeared on NBC's "Today Show" in 2005 and 2009. "They're curious"
Chimento, 9, was also one of just a few who has attended each of the five Cartooning with Mike Teator programs this summer, with plans to attend the sixth and final program Aug. 22.
"We signed up for two initially, but then he liked it so much we wound up going to all of them," said Chimento's mother Stacey.
Monday, the Larchmont resident not only left the hour-long program with the newest addition to his art portfolio, but won a raffle for Teator's drawing of Sylvester and Tweety.
"It's fun, I really like drawing cartoons," said Chimento, who has also drawn Mario and Luigi and Garfield this summer.
The program, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. every other Monday, began last summer when Children's Librarian Rebecca Eller requested Teator bring his talents to the library.
"I do a lot of libraries in Westchester teaching drawing and cartooning," Teator said. "I always couple the two because you need to teach the kids how to draw first before you teach them how to cartoon."
Teator, an Eastchester resident, teaches a class for each of Scarsdale's six day camps, which vary in age. At the Larchmont Library, 13 kids, ages 8 to 12, filled three tables in the activity room Monday.
"A lot of the kids, even the younger kids, get it and the older kids aren't bored, and vice versa," Teator said. "It's so important to learn how to draw when you're young because it's like learning a new language that you carry through your life."
One of the youngest kids in Monday's class, Andrew Schomber, 7, may have had the most experience with art. "I'm an art teacher, so we do arts and crafts all the time at home," said Schomber's mother Joanna. "He likes to make animals out of clay."
Joanna, a New Rochelle resident, teaches studio design and sculpture at New Rochelle High School. "The kids all look like they were having a good time," she said.
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