On February 29, Mr. Rodriguez visited Clinton School. At school-wide assemblies, he talked about his childhood, coming to America, how he became an artist, and how he works through the processes of designing posters, postage stamps, Broadway graphics, magazine covers, and, of course, his books!  He also visited a third grade classroom, where students had designed small Cuban flags with their questions for Mr. Rodriguez written in Spanish, and delighted the author by asking questions in his native language.

During the month of February, students learned about Mr. Rodriguez’s work through readings and library activities at school. Mr. Rodriguez was born in 1971 in Havana, Cuba and immigrated to the United States, where he studied illustration, painting, and graphic design and worked at Spy magazine,and MTV. He has worked for many book publishers as well as for The New Yorker, The New York Times, MTV, New York Magazine, The Nation, The Village Voice, Rolling Stone, Newsweek, and Time. He is the recipient of a Gold and three Silver Medals from the Society of Illustrators, created a US postage stamp and illustrated numerous Broadway posters. His book art includes Mama Does the Mambo, Float Like a Butterfly, and Oye, Celia. In spring 2008, with the publication of Sergio Makes a Splash! Edel made his debut as author and artist. Sergio Saves the Game! was published in 2009 and his most recent illustration work is for Sonia Sotomayor: A judge grows in the Bronx / la juez que crecio en el Bronx.

The support of Clinton parents and the Clinton PTA made this author visit possible.

Written by Elizabeth Aaron