“Mrs. O’Leary, Cow Cleared by City Council Committee!” Chicago Tribune, October 6, 1997*
On March 28, local award-winning children’s author Kate Hannigan returned via a virtual visit to speak with Wescott School third graders. She writes fiction and non-fiction and is the author of the non-fiction graphic novel “The Great Chicago Fire: Rising from the Ashes," which ties in with the third-grade Chicago history unit. Her presentation was coordinated by Library Media Specialist, Margaret Janavicius, who welcomed her and thanked her for coming back this year to talk to Wescott students about reading, writing, history, and her many books!
“I love to hear people’s stories, and digging into research! Whether one wants to be a writer or not, I recommend reading everything that interests you, and you will learn things!” said Ms. Hannigan.
She spoke of how she became a “word collector” as a young girl, and began this habit after being inspired by a teacher. In fourth grade, another teacher had the kids create mysteries “in the spirit of Encyclopedia Brown," and read them aloud in class. Later, her early work on school newspapers from middle school through her early adult years helped hone her skills, and she then began dreaming about writing books. Today, after publishing many award-winning books, she spends much of her time researching and writing fiction and nonfiction.
"Being a writer is about word building and using one’s imagination to create worlds. It’s fun. Being curious has aided me in my research and writing!” she related.
The discussion also focused on the historical research she did during the process of writing “The Great Chicago Fire: Rising from the Ashes”, and how graphic novels are created. While working for newspapers she wrote many headlines and said that an important thing she learned was that even though bad things happen, there is an opportunity to change things for the positive. That mindset especially helped her create the second part of the title to “The Great Chicago Fire: Rising from the Ashes.”
*Ms. Hannigan reviewed the history of the Great Chicago Fire, citing that for many years Mrs. O’Leary and her cow were blamed for starting the fire in 1871. However, it wasn’t until 1997 that the “Chicago Tribune” reported that the two were “exonerated” from the blame.
Students heard that Chicago is where the birth of the skyscraper took place in 1884 after an architect was inspired by his wife placing a book on top of a birdcage! They also learned about the invention of the Ferris Wheel and its debut in Chicago at “The World’s Columbian Exhibition of 1893.”
There was a lively question-and-answer period with all classes, and Ms. Hannigan listed a dozen “recommended reads” for the children to review.
