Childrens author to visit Urbana

Popular children’s author and illustrator Henry Cole, will visit Urbana North, South, and East elementary schools and the sixth graders at Urbana Junior High May 10-12. As part of his visit, the Champaign County Library will host a community hospitality night, “Meet Henry Cole” night from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 10. The event is free of charge to families and the community. Children can have any of their Henry Cole books signed by the author/illustrator on that night.

Cole is a self-taught artist who grew up on a dairy farm in Purcellville, Va. He’s always been interested in art and science and studied forestry at Virginia Tech. Henry’s detailed drawings were inspired by the close observation of nature that is called for in the educational field. Cole was an elementary science teacher for 16 years and a magazine illustrator. He has since written and illustrated over 100 popular picture books.

Cole’s books are wonderful for teaching young readers lessons of language and life and always keep students engaged, entertained, laughing and endlessly rewarded, according to information provided by the school. As a former educator, Cole focuses on engaging children during his school visits through his character illustrations to teach them valuable lessons. To find out more information about Cole and his books, visit his website at www.henrycole.net.

This author/illustrator visit is being coordinated by the Family-Community-Engagement (FCE) team led by North Elementary Kindergarten Teacher Melanie Anders. The team, which consists of three North teachers and a paraeducator/family-community member, attended a series of workshops and completed several projects through the State Support Team Region 6 (SST6). Through this work, a grant was received to help fund a portion of Cole’s visit.

This event is also being funded by the North Climber Club (the school’s parent-teacher organization), Title I funding, and fundraisers conducted by the FCE team. Existing research has linked indicators of school success and student achievement, both academically and psychologically, to the school-family-community connection.

Submitted by Urbana North Elementary.

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