“Perhaps most important to my becoming a writer was my teaching young children for many years at Mount Holyoke College’s laboratory school. Immersed in good children’s books, I learned what appealed to children – the rhythm of the language, the illustrations, the story itself. I began to create my own stories, poems, and songs. For me, teaching was a long and happy apprenticeship for writing children’s books!”

Marguerite W. Davol

Mrs. Burns, Librarian and Mrs. Gott, 6th grade teacher received a No Child Left Behind grant and used the money to hire an author to work with 6th grade students this year. Marguerite Davol spent the day on March 2 sharing her work and stories and helping 6th graders create their own pourquoi tales. Pourquoi tales are stories that usually involve an answer to why something came about or how something happened. Mrs. Davol’s book, Why Butterflies go by on Silent Wings, is an original pourquoi tale with beautiful illustrations by Rob Roth.

Students are in the process of using the writing process to write these tales and will work with Art Teacher, Ms. Rosenblum, to create a vivid illustration to go with their work. Students will share their pourquoi tales with families and friends during a young author’s night in April.