Dan Santat Loves Telling Stories
Caldecott Award-Winning, New York Times best-selling author and illustrator Dan Santat visited with a variety of groups from the Gilman community over a few days in mid-November 2025. From a lunch-and-learn and assembly in Middle School to multiple Lower School gatherings (some of which included girls from RPCS and Bryn Mawr); from an Upper School art class discussion to an evening that brought parents and families together to speak the universal language of art, there wasn’t a single participant who wasn’t wowed by Santat. “I love telling stories more than I love drawing,” he said, “so I use drawing as a means to tell stories.”
His unexpected story of becoming an author and illustrator after getting a degree in microbiology and being accepted into dental school left audiences inspired and encouraged to stay true to themselves and follow their passions. When Santat was in third grade, his parents wouldn’t enroll him in art classes but his school librarian pointed him towards a book called “How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way.” He borrowed it from the library week after week for three years, at which point the librarian let him keep it. Santat still has the well-loved copy on his book shelf, a testament to how educators make a real difference in the lives of their students.
Dan Santat presents at Middle School Lunch-and-Learn on November 14, 2025.
At the Middle School assembly on Friday, November 14, Santat shared his middle grades graphic memoir, “A First Time for Everything,” which won the National Book Award. The coming-of-age story goes through Santat’s awkward years of feeling invisible, culminating in a class trip to Europe where a series of first experiences turns things around for the young teen.
In the Lower School Stevens Room with first and second grade Gilman boys on Monday morning, November 17, Santat read aloud a story that he illustrated (“Don’t Trust Fish” authored by Neil Sharpson) with such gusto, he may have convinced a room full of students that fish living in the depths of the sea are plotting the doom of humanity. “Don’t trust fish!” they all shouted in unison throughout the silly story. Later that afternoon, a similar assembly was held for third and fourth graders. “He has an amazing ability to fit his presentation to his audience, and it was fun to see him relate to Middle Schoolers one day and pre-k the next,” said Senior Library Assistant Alice Garten.
Santat shared with audiences about his interests (baking bread, roasting coffee beans, running), how he gets ideas (listening to conversations, reading books, experiences in life), and his illustration process (it includes Photoshop, a Wacom tablet, and his imagination, while wearing Lululemon pants). He also told many laughable anecdotes like how his favorite award was not the Caldecott but one he received from a Trader Joe’s coloring contest meant for children. “There was nothing in the rules that said a 40-year-old award-winning illustrator can’t enter,” he said, pleased to win the prize of free groceries.
At the session that same day for pre-kindergarten through prep-one held in the Lower School Library, Santat showed boys how to draw faces with a variety of emotions using only letters of the alphabet. He also read a colorful book he illustrated about surfers — a platypus and a bear — who come across a shark in the water. The only word in the whole story is also the title of the piece — “Dude” — cleverly written by Aaron Reynolds (sometimes with spelling variations like “Duuuude” or with punctuation like “Dude?” and “Dude!” to convey despair, confusion, or excitement). Santat explained how the pictures he drew provided foreshadowing for the reader.
Santat’s visit in the Lumen Center on Monday evening, in partnership with the CIE Office, included a hands-on drawing activity and exploration of how art can bring people together and help create common ground. Fellow author Laurel Snyder (who visited Gilman in 2024) made a special appearance to assist.
Finally, on Tuesday morning, November 18, students in Karl Connolly’s and Rya Inman’s Upper School art classes heard details about the ups and downs of Santat’s career working in a creative field and the importance of following a path that brings one joy. He also signed complimentary copies of “First Time for Everything” for each student. “He served as a nice example for our students,” said Connolly, “as some of them consider continuing with their arts interests after Gilman.”
The events were coordinated by Lower School Librarian Melissa Da, with much support from her team (Lower School Assistant Librarian Blair Exter, Senior Library Assistant Alice Garten, and Lower School Library Assistant Chanali Sweeper), as well as Middle School Librarian Mark Welch, Upper School Librarian Sherry Schmidt, Assistant Head of School for Community, Inclusion, and Equity Mike Molina, and CIE Program and Engagement Coordinator Aliya Reveley. Da says it’s always been her dream to bring Santat to Gilman.
In her remarks on Monday evening, she shared an exchange with Molina. “Recently, Mike and I reflected on a poem written by Polish Jewish doctor and author Janusz Korczak.” Korczak first gained fame in the early 1900s writing storybooks for children and advocating for their human rights. She went on to say, “At Gilman, we advocate for boys, we help them reach their full potential, and we nurture their mind, body, and spirit. As educators and mentors, we stress the boys’ commonalities and celebrate their differences. And, most importantly, we listen. We listen because we understand, just like Korczak, that what children and teenagers say matters, and we value their perspective.”
We are grateful to the Class of 2005 Visiting Artist Fund, which made Mr. Santat’s multi-day, cross-divisional visits possible.