*Jill Dana

Thanks to a generous donor (and author who's visited Denver Academy in person), Laura Roettiger, our Elementary West side met with author Jill Dana and explored her books Butternut and Butternut & Buttercup.

Jill talked with students about her inspiration for Butternut when she was grocery shopping and started thinking about the word "Butternut" and how fun wordplay and character design could be around that topic. She encouraged students to journal and use their imagination to explore characters and other stories. Jill also shared that it took 9 years from her initial idea to the actual publication of her first Butternut book! Mrs. Gutiérrez had already read Butternut to classes and Jill read her second book, Butternut & Buttercup during her visit. Students also learned about lots of fruits and vegetables through a fun Bingo game that Jill provided. We had such a great visit!