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Award-winning author Matt de la Peña Visits NSCD

Matt de la Peña didn’t begin with a lecture. Instead, he pulled up a chair and sat down on stage in front of the North Shore Country Day community — from first graders to seniors — and asked a question.

“What do you guys think a writer does?”

It was a fitting entry point for a campus spending the year exploring “The Joy of Reading.” And throughout the morning, the Newbery Medal–winning author made the case that reading — and writing — are less about performance and more about paying attention.

“Did you guys know that writers are the biggest thieves in the world?” he asked, pausing just long enough for the line to land. “They do not steal your money… They steal the way you move through the world.”

He also challenged students to think about reading not just as reflection, but as expansion. Books, he said later in the day, can act as “a window as opposed to just as a mirror” — an invitation to step into lives and experiences beyond their own.
He showed students how to “read” an image from his picture book “Love,” guiding them to notice small details: a girl on the stairs, the art on the wall, a family gathered around a television, the clues that hint at a larger story. What mattered most wasn’t getting the “right” answer — it was learning to see.

“The more specific you are, sometimes the more universal the story becomes,” he said.

That idea carried into the stories he shared about his own life — growing up in a multi-generational household, the influence of his parents and the journey his grandparents made to the United States.

“Their story is part of my story,” he told students. “And I encourage you all to think about what journey has been made by someone in your family in order for you to be here today.”

After the assembly, the conversations continued across campus.

With junior and senior kindergartners, Matt shifted gears, sitting with the school’s youngest readers to talk about picture books, imagination and how he became an author.

With fifth graders, middle schoolers and freshmen, he dug deeper into the writing process — where ideas come from, how characters take shape and why the real world remains his greatest source of inspiration.

Toward the end of the day, he joined senior Lexie Smith on an episode of The Raider Ramble podcast. Lexie is in the process of publishing her first children’s book. Two writers, at very different stages, talking about the same thing: stories and the people behind them.

Matt reflected on how reading reshaped his own life. Growing up without books at home, stories first came through the voices of family members. It wasn’t until college that reading clicked. “Books became my secret place to feel,” he said — an especially powerful shift for someone raised in a culture where emotions were often kept guarded.

Again and again, Matt returned to a simple but powerful idea — that stories belong to everyone.

“Did you guys know that average ordinary kids can go on to do incredibly cool things with their lives?” he said. “I think that’s a beautiful place to begin from.”

By the end of the day, students had not only met an author — they had been invited to see themselves as storytellers, observers and listeners.

“Read, read, read,” Matt urged. And just as importantly: pay attention. Because stories, as he showed them, are everywhere.

The Franke Family Fund was established in 2008 by Barbara, Richard, Katherine ’77 and Jane Franke ’80 to support programs that enhance students’ experiences during the academic year. It encourages faculty to develop creative and unique ideas that are school-wide in scope, broad in interpretation and application, and significantly and positively impact the school community.