Another Visit from George O'Connor

Charming children's book author & illustrator George O'Connor trekked out from 'the vast, dense forests of Brooklyn' to once again visit the energetic children of our elementary school.

His work first caught my attention (or rather the attention of my students) with the American Eagle superhero books Kapow! and Ker-Splash! But it seems that George has been busy since we last saw him as he now has quite a few titles under his belt.

For younger audiences there is the delightful Sally and the Some-Thing and mysterious Uncle Bigfoot. For older readers he has penned (and inked) the graphic novel inspired Journey Into Mohawk Country.

This visit consisted of two sessions. One with the our 3rd and 4th graders and another for the 1st and 2nd grade students. George read us two of his books (Sally and Bigfoot) and in between good-naturedly answered questions that sometimes pertained to his books and at others seemed way off track. Such is the mind of a child (and some adults I know).

George even gave art lessons, instructing the little ones in how to draw his characters Sally, the Some-Thing and Uncle "Bigfoot" Bernie. He is a fabulous teacher because the illustrations created by the children were terrific. Below you can find one student's renderings of...

Uncle Bigfoot

Sally

and the Some-Thing

They are pretty good, no?

As wonderful as all this is I must admit that I am beyond excited about his latest project which is in the works and will be published next spring. It is a book series entitled "The Olympians" about the Greek gods and goddesses.

If you are a frequent reader of this blog you already know of my passion for this topic. When George was visiting with the older students he even created an illustration of a young Zeus (much to my disappointment my request to display it in my classroom was shot down by our school librarian who thought it would be best to house it in the library. Am I bitter? Absolutely! - no not really Sara, you know I love ya!).

Thanks George for visiting us once again and I HOPE you will return when the first Olympian book is published. And when you do I want first dibs on the Zeus or Athena artwork you create on your visit.