SNL’s Molly Shannon visits Naperville students to read from her first book

It’s become somewhat of a tradition for famous authors to drop into Naperville’s Brookdale Elementary School.

But on Wednesday, students were visited by a real-life “Superstar.”

“Saturday Night Live” alum and actress Molly Shannon stopped by before an evening speaking engagement at North Central College’s Wentz Concert Hall and a Thursday morning taping of “The Rosie Show” to read students her first children’s book “Tilly the Trickster.”

The book, about a mischievous young girl who pulls pranks such as stuffing cookies with toothpaste and has the tables turned on her, was inspired by bedtime stories Shannon has made up for her own children, ages 6 and 7.

“It’s amazing how there are certain books that children never get sick of and they just keep going back to over and over again,” she said. “So I would make up stories for them and they really got into that.”

They particularly loved a story about five brothers and sisters who played tricks on each other, but that was a lot of characters to cram into a children’s book.

“So I took a crowded family and made it less crowded by focusing on one of the brothers and one of the sisters,” Shannon said. “But it was still part of the story I told my own kids, so that’s really fun.”

The students seemed to enjoy it, too, and were excited to learn Brookdale was Shannon’s first book reading and signing appearance at a school.

“We always have authors here and once a year we get a really big name,” said fifth-grader Julia Lankisch. “Molly Shannon is a really big name and her book is really funny. I hope she writes more.”

Shannon also hopes to write several more despite the yearlong process “Tilly” consumed from concept to printing.

“It’s definitely not easy. It was a challenge,” Shannon said. “I’d love to (write more books) but I’m not even thinking about that right now. This one is so exciting for me right now so I’m focusing on ‘Tilly.’”

For the parents out there dying to know, Shannon’s favorite movie role was 1999’s “Superstar,” based on her most famous character, Mary Katherine Gallagher, the awkward Catholic school student who aspires to be a musical superstar. Her favorite SNL character to play was fitness instructor Sally O’Malley.