Innosanto Nagara Visits The Shaw!

This past Friday we had our first author visit of the school year. Author, illustrator, and activist Innosanto Nagara came to speak to 2nd and 3rd grade students. Innosanto has written and illustrated five books for children. Prior to his visit, the students and I read his bestselling alphabet book A Is For Activist. We also looked at Counting on Community, The Wedding Portrait, and My Night In The Planetarium, which is on the Boston Public Library’s recommended reading list. ​

Innosanto spoke to students about activism, the importance of community, and why people sometimes break the rules to make things better. While listening to Innosanto speak, students made connections with the work they are already doing in their classrooms. Students have been acting out plays about freedom fighters and learning about people that fought for change. The students had some wonderful questions for Innosanto about what it takes to make a book, where Innosanto gets his ideas from, what inspires him to write, and what it’s like being an author and an illustrator at the same time. 

Our friends at Wondermore helped make this visit possible. They organized bringing Innosanto to the Shaw and even helped bring the incredible gift of books so that all of the students got their very own book to keep!