Aspiring authors at Brewster Elementary School were told to "explore" the world and to develop their characters on Thursday.
In celebration of Young Authors' Day, students welcomed guest speaker Sanna Stanley, an award winning author and illustrator, who began her visit by reading her book "Monkey For Sale."
Afterwards, Stanley told students the ideas for her books came from the experiences she'd had in Africa, where she lived from age six until she was 14.
"I was writing about these stories in the Congo because I grew up in the Congo," said Stanley, who now lives in nearby Madison.
Check out the video of Stanley describing the process of illustrating one of her books to students
"In writing stories you can explore different things. You can take something you don't get, and turn it into a story," she told a group of second graders.
Students at the school recently wrote and published their own stories, sharing some of them with Stanley during her visit.
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