On Thursday April 14th, as part of our celebration of reading for the 11th Annual Read-A-Thon, the whole school enjoyed a virtual visit from author Leah Henderson, including interactive Q & A time. Leah shared where her inspirations come from, and in turn has inspired many of our students!
Students were particularly interested in where her ideas come from and why she became an author. Leah told us that her whole family is full of storytellers, and she’s always loved telling stories and making people smile and laugh. Growing up, she would act out books and make up plays with her friends and family. When she is curious and wants to understand something, she writes down the answers to her questions and turns them into stories.
Leah has written many, many books…most of which live in closets and drawers. She had published six books, and has another six on their way to us in the next couple of years. Her first book, One Shadow on the Wall, took 10 years to write, and is her longest book at 429 pages. Her most recent book, Daddy Speaks Love, only took her a month to write because she was writing about what she knew.
Her advice for students was to be kind to yourself when you are writing. It takes a lot of revision to make your writing look like the story and thoughts in your head. Ideas come from everywhere, so stay open to possibility! Most importantly, don’t give up. Keep writing and reading, orcas!
Help HTPTA continue to offer great enrichment opportunities like this one, as well as new books for the library, and events like Science Night coming in May, just to name a few! Give today to support every Highland Terrace Orca! Visit www.htpta.org/read-a-thon to find out how to set up donation and reading progress pages for your kiddos, or simply give directly to HTPTA – text HTREADS to 44321. Thank you for your support!