Grade 2 Visit to the Writer’s Festival

Grade 2 recently spent a wonderful afternoon at the annual Vancouver Writers Festival, where they were inspired by authors Jon Klassen (The Skull, I Want my Hat Back) and Ben Klanton (Narwhal and Jelly series). 

Jon Klassen read from his new book, The Skull, and explained how he used Lego figures, tiny capes, and branches he collected with his son to create a 3D model that inspired the illustrations in his book. The Skull chronicles a girl who runs away from home and finds herself in a castle with a skull. It's a perfect macabre, spooky read for fall.  

Ben Klanton then wowed us with his sketchbooks, which demonstrated his years-long commitment to getting to know the characters in his books, fine-tuning and perfecting each one. He read from his new book, A Super Scary Narwhalloween, to the delight of the whole audience. The session ended with a collaborative drawing of a Waffle Dragon Monster from the two author/illustrators as well as a Q&A. From the conversations afterward with our grade 2 students, I can guarantee they are already planning the characters for their future novels!

We thank our school community for their contributions to the Shaping Lives Annual Fund for making this opportunity a reality.