Author and Illustrator Neil Waldman

HUTCHINSON SCHOOL– Just a couple of days back, we had a visit from a famous author, Neil Waldman. Obviously we cannot interview him, but now we do know more than we used to.

Neil Waldman is the author and illustrator of The Starry Night and Al and Teddy. Al and Teddy is about the joke he told his brother Brucie when he was little. The joke grew big and continued for about 2 more years.  He told us much about his life as a youngster in the Bronx, right across the street from the Bronx zoo! The last thing he heard every night was a lion roaring.

When he moved to the Bronx, his dad went out to buy supplies to build a bookshelf. On the very top, high shelf, his parents placed a very, very special book where nobody could reach it.  He knew he was not supposed to touch it, but one day he spotted the book on the kitchen table. He hesitated, but eventually he opened it.  Inside were the most beautiful paintings he had ever come across.

He went to his mom and told her that he had opened her book. His mom told him that the that the paintings were painted by Vincent Van Gogh. He was inspired and became an author and illustrator.