Henry Cole Visits HES!!

On February 28^th author/illustrator Henry Cole visited Hollywood Elementary.  He spoke to Kindergarten through Fifth Grade students throughout the day.  Each session he spoke to the students about his younger years when he was going to school and his path to becoming an author and an illustrator.  Henry Cole shared a lot of advice to with the students.  One of my favorite pieces of advice was that he always brought his clipboard with paper and pencil case with him wherever he went.  Henry Cole told the students that this is because it didn't need any wires or batteries.  So he could always be working on developing characters or working on illustrations.  The other piece of advice was to come up with many ideas and to keep revising until it is correct.  



Another really cool thing that Henry Cole showed the students was how the book first comes in a huge sheet all attached!  He described the process that that sheet had to go through, to be come the book that everyone reads.  The kids found this very interesting.  I don't think many of them thought about how a book, comes to be the book that we can hold in our hands.




At the end of each session Henry Cole showed the students how he liked to draw his illustrations with music playing.  He allowed to music to inspire his illustrations.  The first piece he played was a very upbeat piece of music.  The illustration that he drew was a whimsical piece with two animals playing instruments.  The second music piece was more mellow and calming.  Using this music, he drew Celeste (from his book A Nest for Celeste).  This activity inspired Mrs. Colao's First Grade class to give this a try at the end of the day.  She used a few different types of music to inspire her students and the illustrations were incredible!  This might be a great activity for all students at home! 

In each of his sessions spoke about many of the books that had become favorites of most students.  Some of the books that he has written and/or illustrated that were discussed are:  Some Smug Slug, A Nest for Celeste, On Meadowview Street, and his newest Unspoken.  You can find all of these and many more at the Public Library.  Click here to visit the Public Library website.

Everyone, students and staff, enjoyed and was inspired by Henry Cole’s visit.  Those students who purchased books were able to meet Henry Cole when he autographed their books. 

He got the highest compliment from one Second Grade class, they said that his visit was worth missing PE!

Thank you to the HES PTA for helping to pay for his visit.  It was truly a wonderful experience!

Happy Reading!!

Miss Hazuda