Fly Sweet Birdy

This week we bid a bittersweet farewell to a very pregnant Lauren who, after 9 years as my "work wife", is venturing off into a blissful world of her own in anticipation of the birth of her son.

Everyone is asking me, "How are you doing?" And I reply that I feel as though I have gone through a break-up that I saw coming and therefore have prepared myself.

The sadness and drama have passed and I have met the reality of the situation with a clear head.  Of course, there is a bit of avoidance in really thinking too deeply about what this means.  I am sure that on Monday morning I will feel the lack of her presence immensely and my heart will ache a bit.

But knowing that she is embarking on a brilliant stage in her life trumps the sadness and brings me joy.

Tell your baby hello.

Our first graders made her cards to say goodbye and wish her family well. Their drawings of a pregnant Lauren with the "baby inside" are too precious.

I will finish the school year alone.  I am sure I will be fine but I will certainly miss being part of a fabulous team.  And with that, I will end this post.  Emotions are springing up to the surface and I'd prefer to heed the advice of Scarlett O'Hara and think about it tomorrow.

Lauren, I love you!  You will be missed.  xo

The Art of Todd Parr

Children's book author Todd Parr is an incredible artist. He is also incredibly humble.

Todd often tells children that they too can create art that is just as good as his, all they have to do is try.

So, when it came time to collaborate with our artist in residence (Margaret Phelan from The Children's Museum of the Arts) on an upcoming art project, I suggested we do something based on the art of Todd Parr.

I shared a few of Todd's children's books with Margaret, who was immediately smitten, and before our meeting was over she had decided that it would be fun to make masks with the children based on Todd's book It's Okay to be Different.

How cool is that?

Margaret began by having the students examine his art with a focus on color, shape and detail.  Todd uses bright, happy colors and he uses a thick black outline in his work.  Children asked, "Where are the noses?" and commented on the "funny hair".

And then as Todd suggests, they gave it a try!

Some children created a mask to represent themselves or a family member, while others wanted to design an alien or a cat like Todd's Cool Kitty.  I even gave it a go and created a baby version of myself (not what I intended but I went with it - art is not my forte).

After several weeks we completed our project and mounted a bright, happy and gorgeous display.

Thanks Todd for being an inspiration to our students!

Below is a brief slide show of our process.  Enjoy...

"Be imaginative! Be kind! Feel good about yourself!" - Todd Parr

Happy Halloween!

A Visit From Dan Yaccarino

Our school is becoming quite the mecca for talented children's book authors and illustrators willing to share their stories with an eager young audience.

The most recent visit occurred last week when we gleefully welcomed inspired artist and writer Dan Yaccario to our school. Over the years Dan's books have been student favorites when selecting their Top Ten books of the school year. And I have a feeling that The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau, Every Friday, Lawn to Lawn and All the Way to America will be represented in the Top Ten this year.

In anticipation for his visit we created a Dan Yaccarino book bin loaded with his books and studied in-depth the life of Jacques Costeau. Lauren (my co-teacher) and I were thrilled to note that Dan has written kid-friendly nonfiction books as the current push in education (with the Common Core State Standards or CCSS) is a focus on nonfiction texts.  One student commented that The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau is a nonfiction book that looks like fiction.  This insightful comment springs from the fact that we originally categorized nonfiction texts as containing photographs and fiction, illustrations.  This comment represented her growing understanding of the nuances to be found across genres.  I mentioned her comment to Dan and he replied that this was his intention.  He is well aware of the CCSS.

Dan's visit carried the overall message of deconstructing the journey of going from a child who enjoys drawing to an adult with a plethora of published books.  Dan instilled in the children the notion that they can do anything they want to do in life, the choices are endless but underneath it all is the passion for doing what you love.  This is a message that connects with the theme of this blog and Joseph Campbell's offering - Follow Your Bliss.

At the end of his presentation Dan answered questions from our first and second grade students.  Here are some of their questions and his answers (which are not exact quotes - I can't write that fast!).

Why do you write books? 

It makes me happy.  There are stories I have inside me that I want to tell and things that interest me, like Jacques Costeau and I get to share them through my books.

How do you make books?

It starts with an idea.  First I create small drawings then expand on them with bigger drawings and paintings and then the text.  It takes almost one year to do one book sometimes.

Where do your ideas come from?

Where do you get your ideas?  From up here (pointing to his head) same as you.

Dan shared that he has drawn everyday since when he was even younger than them and encouraged the children to create their own superheros (because they wanted to know how to draw Superman and Spiderman).  Overall, this was a super-duper experience for all of us.

Below one student shares her opinion about why people should read Dan Yaccarino's books.  Notice in her drawing she shows him thinking about pictures and that the Jacques Costeau book rests on the table.

Should people read Dan Y. books? Yes! Because 1. he had beautiful colors. 2. Writes good books. 3. He thinks of pictures. 

Thank you Dan Yaccarino for taking the time to visit us!

A Visit With Molly Shannon

Deliciously kooky actress, comedienne and writer Molly Shannon has added another designation to her already impressive list of credentials, that of children's book author.

Like Molly, her first children's book entitled Tilly the Trickster has a wee bit of mischief running through it.

Tilly is a young girl who enjoys making others laugh. The problem is, the target(s) of her pranks don't always share Tilly's jolly sense of amusement.

It's a slippery slope young Tilly finds herself on when she tricks her music teacher Mrs. Mooney ( I love that name. Could it be Mr. Mooney's wife from Here's Lucy?) and tastes the bitter fruit of her shenanigans.

Of course, it all works out in the end.  Well, at least...until tomorrow.

I am an unabashed fan of children's books so it comes as no surprise that I would be singing the praises of one on this blog, but I also am an old classmate of Molly's from our college days at New York University. Therefore, my endorsement comes with an added level of pride and support.

It has been over 20 years since I last saw Molly but when I spotted her at a book reading/signing at Barnes & Noble it truly felt like I was stepping easily back into the past.

It was nice to reconnect and I took the opportunity to invite her to visit my class to do a reading for my first grade students.  What children's book author doesn't enjoy getting feedback on their efforts in the form of laughter, giggles, questions and applause?

The visit hasn't happened (yet) but I remain confident that when time allows Molly will WOW the kids with Tilly the Trickster!

Click here and here to learn more about Molly and Tilly.