Times Bestseller Visits Oakdale

Principal Holli Armstrong and the students and teachers at the  this month hosted The New York Times Bestselling Author Brian Lies.

Thanks to a grant from the , the Oakdale PTO was able to secure the celebrated local author for two school assemblies.

It was sitting at an assembly in his fifth grade New Jersey elementary school,
listening to an author/illustrator, that the young Lies knew exactly what he
wanted to do when he grew up. Lies told the students that he always loved to draw and never gave up on his dream. After graduating from high school and attending Brown University, Lies moved to Boston to study at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts School.

After having some of his drawings published, Lies was chosen to illustrate
his first book in 1989. Known for the emotion he portrays on his character's faces, he has illustrated more than 25 books, along with contributing to many
children's magazines.

It was in 2006 that he began writing and illustrating his own best-selling
series of "bat" books. His career took off after his first book, Bats at the Beach, was read on the show "Weekend Edition." His series of books has not only made The New York Times Bestselling list, but he has been ranked No. 2 on Amazon.com and has been fortunate to receive many awards for his work.

Brian Lies currently lives in Massachusetts with his family and loves to go to
the library to read. It is there that he is able to relax and let his imagination roam, he told the students