Author and illustrator Elisha Cooper visited Polk Elementary School. He read his book "Homer" to the children and explained the different parts of the book. He talked about how he writes and illustrates his stories. Then he gave the students a lesson in how to draw a person. After graduating from Yale, he worked for The New Yorker as a messenger. Cooper is the author of the memoir "Crawling: A Father's First Year," and the sketchbook "A Year in New York." His children's books include "Farm," "Homer," "Beaver Is Lost," "Ice Cream," "Ballpark," "Building," "Dance!," "Magic Thinks Big," "A Good Night Walk" and "Beach." "Dance!" was a New York Times Ten Best Illustrated winner in 2001. "Beach" was a Society of Illustrators Gold Medal best illustrated book of the year in 2006. A New York Times Book Review said of "Magic Thinks Big," "Elisha Cooper's watercolors, like his sentences, are simple and quiet and essentially perfect." He lives in New York Citywith his wife and two daughters.