Today was the big day – our visit with Raina Telgemeier! Grade 4s and 5s were prepped with questions, they had their pre-ordered books, and the excitement was palpable.
Raina is a wonderful speaker. She took us through her childhood memories – especially the orthodontic trauma that inspired Smile – and discussed in detail the process of writing and illustrating her graphic novels. The boys were fascinated with her education: she has a college degree in illustration! A lot of them had no idea that you could even do that! It was also interesting to learn how she got her start by self-publishing her own mini comics, which got the notice of Scholastic. She also drew some characters from Smile and Drama for us to keep.
Check out the photos below. Thank you Raina – you made our day!
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