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On Friday, May 17, the SBS gymnasium was filled to capacity with screaming fans, colorful banners, and one tall, rangy gentleman with a Powerpoint presentation. Lincoln Peirce, creator of the Big Nate comic strip and over 14 Big Nate books, spoke to the third, fourth, and fifth graders - many of whom are aspiring cartoonists. The New York Times bestselling author spoke as much about persistence and self-discipline as he did about creating the next answer to "Peanuts". The kids were truly in awe of everything Lincoln Peirce can do. He showed them images of cartooning he did when he was their age and let them see the progression that developed by challenging himself to do it well. The comic strip writer demonstrated through a drawing exercise (with special guest star, Mike Veroneau) that cartooning is as much about telling a good story or joke as it is about drawing well. The students and teachers were totally engaged and asked many interesting questions, including one from Emily Broome about what Peirce would want to be, if he hadn't been a cartoonist. His answer? A professional athlete.
All week students had engaged in different activities tied to the Lincoln Peirce author visit, including drawing their own comic strips in art class. We presented Lincoln with a beautiful "thank you" book assembled by Mrs. Winchester and consisting of original comic strips from many students from grades 3-5. A fortunate half-dozen students who wrote winning essays (or had their name pulled out of a hat) were invited to an author lunch of pizza, interesting conversation, and Add-On, a fun drawing game that kept everyone entertained. During the author lunch, Lincoln's sense of humor and ability to keep the moment totally and completely fun and memorable for the students who attended. The kids were beside themselves - some couldn't stop talking, some couldn't talk at all - but Lincoln included everybody in the conversation.
Lincoln's generosity and good nature was evident as students clamored to be near him; he was relaxed and gracious and genuinely interested in what they had to say. Lincoln Peirce has set a really high standard for future author visits.
P.S. This author visit sparked the imagination of many of our students.I would like to build upon the success of this program and do an author visit every year. I am encouraging students to ask themselves if they know any other Maine authors of children's or young adult books that might consider speaking at St. Brigid School.
- Deanna Contrino, Librarian
