A popular children’s book author spent an entire day with the students and staff of Woodfin Elementary.
Brian Lies has written and illustrated more than 30 books so far in his career. His dream of becoming an author started as a young child around third or fourth grade when he realized he had a passion for creating stories. One of the highlights of his job is going around the country to various schools and meeting various readers, including those at Woodfin Elementary.
“I’ve had a wonderful day here answering great questions along with funny comments,” Mr. Lies said. “As an author and illustrator you work alone majority of the time, so opportunities like this make it all worthwhile. This is the moment when I can see the students react to the words and pictures I created.”
Mr. Lies read one of his popular books to students, “Little Bat Up All Day,” and showed the students how he creates each picture. Many students bounced ideas around for a new drawing that Mr. Lies created in front of each group. Although the ideas were great, Mr. Lies said he never wants to steal a child’s thoughts for his next book.
“I very purposely do not take student ideas when thinking of my next book,” he said. “If the idea is good enough for me to turn into a book, it’s good enough for them to turn into a book.”
Media Coordinator Amy Lunsford said she especially appreciated his message to students that practice makes better, not perfect.
“I also appreciated that he asked for class lists to individually sign each donated book for our students,” she said. “This visit will be a memory that lasts a lifetime.”
This visit was made possible by help and support of the Western Region Education Service Alliance (WRESA). A special thanks also goes to a generous group of community members who bought each child in the school one of Mr. Lies’ books.