Author Patricia Polacco Visits Sts. John & Paul School

by Grace Pineda, photo from Marcella Smith

(October 16, 2008) Last week, world-renowned children’s author, Patricia Polacco, addressed an enthusiastic audience of almost 250 at Saints John and Paul School in Larchmont. Her presentation was part of an ongoing Author Visit Series coordinated by the school to enhance a love of reading among its students.

An accomplished writer and illustrator of more than 76 children’s books, Ms. Polacco shared the inspiration for her stories and her struggles with dyslexia, dysnumeria and dysgraphia. In fact, Ms. Polacco did not learn to read until she was 14 years old.

Author Patricia Polacco discussed her books with Sts. John and Paul students, including (l-r) Amanda Vasilakis, Lilly Millette, , Jacqueline Pace, Bridget Smith, Sophie Millette, Molly Byrnes.

Hailing from a family of story tellers, Ms. Polacco emphasized the autobiographical details of three of her most famous books.

Her first book, Meteor!, was inspired by a comet that landed in the yard of her mother’s farm many years ago. Ms. Polacco described the appearance and crash landing of the shooting star, and then showed the children a piece of the actual meteor and allowed each of them to make a wish on the Wishing Rock, as she called it.

While explaining the context of The Keeping Quilt, she held up the actual quilt that has been in her family for almost 100 years, made of clothing worn by her Russian ancestors. The quilt has been used in family weddings, for swaddling babies, as a bed spread, and, most importantly, for back yard play when she was a child.

Most poignantly, Ms. Polacco pulled from her personal experiences to explain Thank you, Mr. Falker, which is part of Sts. John and Paul's third-grade reading list. Mr. Falker was based on the real-life teacher who not only discovered her learning disabilities, but paid for the special education classes that liberated her from years of low self-esteem, teasing and thoughts of self-destruction.
She encouraged the children to be kind to others, to treat others the same way they’d like to be treated, to choose their wishes wisely and to be grateful for the dedication of their teachers.

Located in Larchmont, New York, Saints John and Paul School is a co-educational, Roman Catholic school for grades K-8 that is committed to providing quality, affordable education. The school offers full-day kindergarten, a state-of-the-art media center, an extensive library, a science lab and SMART boards in every classroom. Its mission is to build a school family that encourages academic excellence, emphasizes respect for human values, elevates concern for community needs and seamlessly incorporates the Catholic faith into its students’ everyday lives. For school information, contact 914-834-6332.

Grace Pineda is one of many parents who volunteer for Saints John and Paul's Parent School Parish Association (PSPA).

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