Anna Alter visits Lawrence School!

On Monday, March 3 we hosted author/ illustrator Anna Alter in the Lawrence School library. Thanks to the generosity of the PTO, this local picture book author and illustrator visited with students in grades kindergarten, one and two.

Anna told us about her early life as a writer (she started making books when she was three years old and showed us a photo to prove it!). She talked about the difference between a published book and a non-published book and explained that it takes years for the process to be complete. She showed us each step of the publishing process from her idea notebook to the finished product that can be sold in stores or borrowed from libraries.

She told us a top secret piece of information: no writer ever gets it perfect on the first try! (I'm happy to report that most classes remembered this secret when I saw them later in the week!)

Anna then left time for students to ask questions -- and they had plenty of questions! Teachers had asked students to brainstorm some questions in advance, so they posed excellent questions about her books and the writer's process.

It was an informative and inspirational morning! Lots of good advice for our young writers! Here are some photos from the day:

Anna shows us her edited first draft. Lots of sticky notes with suggestions from her editor!

Anna asking for suggestions as to which of her characters students would like her to draw.