Latin School of Chicago

Julian Lee-Zacheis'19 Sitting at a table in the lower school library, author Julian Lee-Zacheis, age 8, proudly displays his recent work How the Kitten Got its Whiskers, a legend he wrote for Lower School Authors Day in second grade. How the Kitten got its Whiskers, which totals about 12 pages of text and illustrations, is not Julian's first book – not by a long shot – nor is it his longest. Julian has written books about Machu Picchu, ABC Poetry and the United States of America – which was 50 pages long, one page for each state. "It's fun to write books. I like thinking about the story, writing and then illustrating," explains Julian, who often works on a book at home, in his free time. He admits that this project was the most enjoyable so far: "I liked that I could just let my imagination fly," he says. "I also liked writing this story so much because I included things that are true about me and blended them into the fiction." The book is set in Korea, where Julian's mother's family is from, before the time cats had whiskers. It tells the story of how a naughty kitten that always got stuck in tight places was cured when the emperor hit it on the cheeks with a stick and the bumps that produce whiskers magically appeared. From then on, the kitten never got stuck in tight spaces again because it could use its whiskers to sense its surroundings. "Julian is one of those kids who was able to take the Authors Day assignment and run with it," explains second grade teacher Megan Baltruzak, who helped Julian through the writing process. "He was a role model for kids on how to feel proud of writing and helped get his classmates excited about sharing their stories." According to Julian, the experience has contributed greatly to his interest in creating his own books. In Julian's class, the second graders started off by reading legends. They then discussed ideas for their own legends, wrote multiple drafts of their story, went through revisions working closely with their teacher and later "buddies" from the fourth grade, and finally began work on the actual pages. Once the authors felt satisfied, the pages were laminated and each book received an official Lower School Authors Day sticker. On Authors Day itself, as they do every year, students shared their stories with other classrooms and grades. "It's fun to publish books," says Julian. "That's one of the reasons I like Latin so much. I know that I am going to have this book forever." A great beginning to a long and certainly illustrious career as a Latin lower school author. "I liked that I could just let my imagination fly." • "Long, long ago in southern Korea there lived a kitten. Back then kittens didn't have whiskers. The kitten was mischievous, never did what anyone said, and kept getting stuck in tight places." The start of Julian Lee-Zacheis' fable How the Kitten Got its Whiskers. Latin School of Chicago 23

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