Thank you, Oge

Students had worked hard preparing for today's visit with author and illustrator Oge Mora.

 

First graders made their own collages to greet her.

 

Then, they hung their work next to their own self-portraits.

 

When Ms. Mora came to Gordon today, she brought her own collages.

 

Then, she drew her own self-portrait for the students.

 

One Kindergarten class had built a model of their neighborhoods to show her.

 

Today, she used her book, Thank You, Omu, to show them her own childhood neighborhood.

 

Another Kindergarten class had made a poster showing everything they'd bring to share with the story's Omu.

 

Today, Ms. Mora explained how she'd chosen what she'd put in Omu's stew.

 

The students had read her book before.

 

No one was bored.

 

As she read, students were connecting with her as readers.

 

But they were also connecting as artists and authors.

 

Ms. Mora responded in kind.

 

She'd even brought along a self-portrait she'd drawn when she was six.

 

She was able to reveal some hidden details in her work.

 

The students were able to find even more.

 

She passed around scraps left over from her work on her book.

 

The students found the houses, shirts and soup bowls that had been cut out for the illustrations.

 

There was silence.

 

There was laughter.

 

There were questions.

 

There were suggestions.

 

The students were lucky to have met this talented artist at the beginning of her career as an author.

 

(It was her first-ever school visit!)

 

Ms. Mora, for her part, was delighted to meet these young learners, just a few years into their reading careers.

 

more photos from today on Gordon's Flickr page