Award-Winning Author Visits Sixth Grade

Sixth-grade students enjoyed an especially interesting afternoon on Tuesday as they were virtually joined by award-winning author and illustrator, Brian Selznick!  

Selznick is the author and illustrator of many children's books, including The Invention of Hugo Cabret, winner of the Caldecott medal and the basis for the Oscar-winning movie Hugo, directed by Martin Scorsese. He was also selected by Scholastic Corporation to redesign the covers of all seven of the Harry Potter books to commemorate its 20th anniversary. 

The sixth graders had the unique experience of listening to the author and illustrator speak about the process of writing, his career, his interest and passion for the arts, and his new book, Kaleidoscope.

The students were also presented the rare opportunity of being able to ask questions directly to Seznick during the “Q & A” portion of the presentation; typically, students would only be allowed to type in questions ahead of time. Additionally, IDS was the first school group to hear Seznick speak about his newest book.

“This was an amazing occasion to interact with a professional author while allowing students to reflect on essential writing skills emphasized in sixth grade,” reflected Middle School teacher Christine Masick. “His talk created an inspirational class, leaving us with an intriguing new book to read and an abundance of ideas for future writing assignments.”