CSLF highlights David Shannon’s support for California School Libraries

The California School Library Foundation is happy to highlight the work of author/illustrator, David Shannon. He was born in Washington, D.C, in 1959, and grew up in Spokane, WA

David liked to draw as soon as he could hold a crayon. He went to Hutton Elementary school where his teachers soon realized that if they let David draw murals it would keep him from disrupting class and their classroom would have some pretty good art on the walls, too! David eventually graduated from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, majoring in Illustration. He sold his pickup truck and moved to New York City in 1983 to start a career in editorial illustration.

New First Day Read Alouds

I’m a huge picture book fan—for all ages—so years ago when I stopped at the picture book section during a district library tour, I pulled out a copy of Tadpole's Promise by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross. In case you don’t know the story, here’s the short version. (Spoiler Alert)

A tadpole and a caterpillar fall in love. “Promise you’ll never change,” begs the caterpillar. When he breaks his promise by growing legs, then arms, and then loses his tail, the caterpillar refuses to forgive him. Exhausted from crying, she falls asleep on a branch. Upon waking she decides to forgive him and flies (now she’s a butterfly) to the pond where they used to meet. A frog sits on a lily pad. Before she can finish asking if he’s seen her “shiny black pearl,” he flicks his tongue out and eats her. “And there he sits, thinking of his beautiful rainbow and wondering where she went.” The End. (Insert wild laughter or tears, depending on your own reaction)