Joseph Henry Elementary students met a photographer who goes around the world searching for stories to tell! Richard Sobol, the travelling photographer, is the author of several books about whales, elephants, mountain gorillas, and more. He spent two days at Joseph Henry Elementary School, reading to younger students and explaining to older students how he creates stories. 

Mr. Sobol’s visit was part of the Galway Central School District’s Arts-in-Education program. Research shows that arts education improves both literacy and critical thinking skills. This results in improved student performance in all subject areas.

One of the concepts Mr. Sobol wanted third graders to think about was how photo selection changes the tone of a book. He showed the children a book he is currently working on about monkeys. Some of the photos had darker colors and did not include humans, while other photos were more colorful and included people. The third graders were quiet while they watched slides of the “creepier” monkeys, but they howled with laughter at some of the brighter pictures of monkeys and their antics. 

The children asked Mr. Sobol all sorts of questions including: “What inspires you to create a book?” “How long do monkeys live?” “What happened to Sudan, the Northern White Rhinoceros?” “Did the elephants chase you?” “When are you coming back to our school?”

To see some of Mr. Sobol’s books, please go to www.richardsobol.com.