Students at Seneca Street Elementary recently had an exciting and educational opportunity to meet children’s author Doreen Cronin, best known for beloved books like Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type and Diary of a Worm.

During her visit, Ms. Cronin shared the story of how her writing journey began at just seven years old. She explained to students that writing a book can be as simple as starting with a crayon and a piece of paper—just as she once did. She even showed a photo of her very first book, which featured hand-drawn illustrations of her family, her hometown, and one of her favorite places: the local library.

A key theme of her presentation was the power of storytelling through illustrations. Ms. Cronin emphasized that not all stories require words—sometimes pictures alone can tell a complete and meaningful story. She demonstrated this idea while reading Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, inviting students to enthusiastically join in on the well-known refrain, “Click, clack, moo, clickety clack moo.”

She also highlighted an important detail from the book: the final page contains no words, only an illustration. She credited illustrator Betsy Lewin with “finishing” the story visually. Students were then encouraged to use their imaginations to create their own endings, resulting in a variety of creative and thoughtful interpretations.

Ms. Cronin guided students through a close examination of the book’s illustrations, prompting them to observe facial expressions, body language, and emotions. This activity reinforced the idea that images can communicate just as much as text.

To support young writers, she shared a simple and effective storytelling framework:

Choose your characters

Give the characters a problem

Make the problem bigger

Fix the problem

Students then had the opportunity to apply this formula by collaboratively creating their own story about the tooth fairy.

Overall, the visit provided students with valuable insight into the writing process, encouraged creativity, and reinforced the importance of both words and illustrations in storytelling.