Children's book author Matt Novak showed Reynolds Elementary School students on Thursday what he thought was "really scary."

Novak made the kids guess what was lurking behind a big red and white beware sign next to him. But it wasn't the boogey monster, as some kids guessed.

It was a blank sheet of paper, "one of the scariest things in the world," the writer and illustrator told the students.

"I look at a blank sheet of paper and think, what am I going to write on it?" Novak said. "It's kind of scary!"

During his visit, Novak helped the kids tap into their creativity, which helped them to fill up that page.

"I'm just talking to the kids about writing and art and being creative," Novak said before presenting his second program of the day to the third- and fourth-graders. "I'm trying to get them excited about that kind of stuff."

Throughout the presentation, Novak kept the kids laughing with his unique sense of humor as they learned how to create a story.

A native of Sheppton, Pa., Novak is the author of the children's books "Mouse TV," "Rolling," "Newt," and his latest, "No Zombies Allowed," which will be released in the fall. In 16 years, Novak has written and illustrated 16 children's books and has done illustrations for other authors.

He discovered the fun of writing and illustrating books for children while attending the School of Visual Arts in New York. Novak has also worked as a puppeteer, a teacher and an artist for Disney.

While speaking to the Reynolds students, Novak did not talk much about his books. Instead, he encouraged them to create their own stories.

First, with help from the audience, Novak made a list of things the kids liked to read about. That list included monkeys, skateboards, dogs, reptiles and zebras.

With colored markers, Novak created a story about a space monkey named Milford who got into a little trouble with his skateboard. Milford hit a dog and a snake before crashing his skateboard. He was then treated by Dr. Zebra.

Milford learned an important lesson: always be careful.

Novak then called on volunteers to draw a face on a new blank sheet of paper. He then asked several students what their favorite letter was. The result: a man named Adjzbekdhm.

The students then came up with possible homes for their character -- including Florida, the ocean and Pluto -- and possible occupations for him -- including alien hunter, artist and music store clerk.

Novak said he uses similar techniques to come up with story ideas.

"The next time you're faced with a big, scary blank sheet of paper, these are some things you can think about," Novak said.