A coeducational day school serving students JK-12

One Book, One Lower School with Illustrator Christian Robinson

One Book, One Lower School with Illustrator Christian Robinson
Award-winning children's illustrator Christian Robinson spent the day with students in JK - Grade 4 for the One Book, One Lower School celebration of Last Stop on Market Street on March 15.
Written by Matt de la Peña and illustrated by Robinson, Last Stop on Market Street (recipient of the 2016 Newbery Medal) follows young C.J. and his grandmother as they ride a bus around town and appreciate the beauty in everyday things. Robinson's colorful illustrations, rendered in collage and acrylic paint, earned him a 2016 Caldecott honor and a Coretta Scott King Illustrator honor.

Illustrator Christian Robinson with students

In advance of Robinson's visit, every classroom in the lower school read Last Stop on Market Street and studied the illustrations. On Tuesday, Robinson spoke about his process and shared his art and inspirations with the students in different ways. He showed one group of students an image of a messy pile of crumpled and discarded Post-it notes on which he sketched ideas for a story board. "I make lots and lots of mistakes and I keep trying and trying until I get it right," explained Robinson, adding that he he takes inspiration from his surroundings and most likes to draw animals.

In addition to reading from some of his books, Robinson also created on-the-spot drawings based on the imaginations of his audiences (including a sketch of a tiger-scorpion), and worked on hands-on projects with them. For one project, the first grade students partnered with their second grade buddies from Uptown's McCutcheon School, to create Robinson-inspired community collages together out of recycle materials at the Chicago History Museum. At the conclusion of the day, the lower schoolers were asked to collaborate and share the beauty in every day things on their own Post-it notes.

Illustrator Christian Robinson's Post Its

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