Last Friday illustrator Harinani Orme and I had the coolest school visit! Mahalo to Pearl Ridge Elementary school librarian Lori Tonaki for inviting us to share the book with the school’s four classes of fourth graders. The students were the perfect audience — attentive and curious. Librarians have always been my heroes, and Ms. Tonaki is the kind of creative and supportive school librarian every child deserves.
What a bunch of akamai kids! They asked the best, most thoughtful questions — like why I like to write non-fiction and what the hardest thing about being a writer is. They asked Harinani when she knew she wanted to be an artist and what inspires her to create her illustrations. It was so fun for us to interact with these bright, thoughtful students.
We handed out coloring pages (mahalo, Hari!) and bookmarks to thank the kids for being with us that day.
Please enjoy these photos of the event. We took so many more photos with the kids, but I’m just including just a couple for you here (to protect the their privacy.) Aloha!
Photo credit: Lori Tonaki
Kamalani reading the book to the fourth graders during the Read Aloud event
