The Little Elliot Polka Dot Express Makes a Stop at Our School

Little Elliot's Polka Dot Express 

stopped by our library this week!

We became part of Little Elliot's BIG FAMILY!

Little Elliot arrived tucked into his bed.

Inside Little Elliot's box 

was a collection of trinkets.

The students decided that we should add a birthday pencil and a principal super star.

What should Little Elliot be recognized for?

 

Little Elliot's box also contained books from his other school visits.

My students made a book about family.

 All too soon, it was time to get 
Little Elliot back on the road.

We decorated his box, so he would have something nice to look at.

We added our book about family

 and Little Elliot's Principal Super Star.

Here's a closer look at our visit and the things the students made:

Safe travels, Little Elliot!

"The visit with Mike Curato was..."

I love these first graders'

 Little Elliot Big City fan art.

I expect to see many elephants and cupcakes in future first- and second-grade students' work. Our visit with Mike Curato was incredibly successful.  I heard such positive comments from parents, teachers, and students today. It feels great to get stopped in the hallways to be told by parents how much their child enjoyed an author and/or illustrator visit.

I visited each of the second grade classrooms today and asked each student to give me one adjective to describe the visit. Here's what they said:

If you are unfamiliar with Wordle, the more times a word is mentioned the bigger it gets.  I did not lead the students. I went quietly from table to table and collected words. There are many powerful adjectives here, such as: informative, constructive, inspiring and creative. Thanks again, Mike!

Making connections - big and small - with Little Elliot

We are very excited! 

Mike Curato, the author of Little Elliot Big City is coming to visit with our first and second graders.

Prior to Mike's visit the first graders drew pictures of the challenges they faced because of their size:

getting cereal from the cupboard

getting dresses from the closet

buying ice cream at the store

turning on the light in the closet

turning on the water at the sink

getting the candy from the counter

They also drew pictures of ways they helped someone else as did Elliot with his friend Mouse.

getting cereal for a younger brother

helping grandma carry groceries

picking apples for a grandmother

Want to know more about Little Elliot Big City? Here's the book trailer:

The day with a visit from Little Elliot's creator, Mike Curato

Today was the day! 

Mike Curato came a visiting.

Combine a wonderful picture book with students that have read it (and created projects for it) and add in the author/illustrator of that book and magic happens. Our first and second graders love Elliot and could not wait to meet his creator.

The first graders met with Mike first.

Mike showed them early art from his elementary years.

He showed how art for Little Elliot Big City went from sketch to full-color spread.

He wrote and illustrated a story with the students.

The finished product.

Mike finished up his time by answering questions. One that stood out, "Little Elliot did not feel that he was seen, did you ever feel like that when you were young?" resulted in a great conversation.

~~~

It was time for the second graders to meet Mike Curato!

Mike showed the students early sketches from the book - a great reminder that all art begins somewhere.

When talking about the art in Little Elliot, Mike showed the students how he goes to the library to do research by exploring old images. I love this as it reinforces my message to the students that good researchers not only read the articles and books, but also take in information from the images, charts, maps, and graphs.

"How many people like to draw?"

There were quite a few suggestions when it came time to write their story with Mike.

Watching the children watch Mike draw was a memorable experience. They have seen artists draw before, but Mike's ability to take their ideas and quickly put them into scale and perspective had them in awe. 

(The presentations were the same, but I focused on different aspects for each grade.)

Here are the stories the students created with Mike:

Second Grade Story

First Grade Story

I can't wait to see these students next week and reflect on the visit with them. 

Other fun happenings from the day...

Thank goodness there's more Little Elliot to come! I had the chance to read Little Elliot Big Family, due out in October. It's incredible. The story itself is quite moving and the illustrations needed much more time than I had to explore them. This book is gorgeous and longs to be poured over.   

I always buy a book when we have these visits. 

I am excited to add this to my bookshelves at home!

Thanks, Mike! It was a fabulous visit!

What a wonderful day it was!