Posts filed under ‘Literacy’
Children’s Book Week 2008 – A Few Highlights
Between November 17 and November 21 I met with roughly 900 kids and the many adults (teachers, librarians, and parents) who accompanied them to a total of 17 readings. Here are just a few moments from that week that I carry with me still, now that I’m home again.
1. When the bell rang to end my session with a group of Grade Eight students in Port Coquitlam, several approached me with their hands out. “Can we please just see how it ends?” I’d been reading from a short story in 101 Ways to Dance. (I’d waited till near the end of the session to introduce this book so I’d have a feel for the group and the teachers, and I could tell this was a book they’d welcome hearing about.) Eager to read how the game in “Chicken” would end, the students huddled together around my copy of the book so they could finish reading the story for themselves. As faster readers drifted away, others stepped in to take their places. Eventually one dark-haired teenage girl remained. The image of her bent over my book in that school library as she lost (or perhaps found) herself in something I’d written will most certainly help sustain me as I undertake revisions to my current ya novel in progress.
2. To a group of Grade Three kids, I was reading, in Seven Clues, the scene in which Matt’s elderly neighbour is introduced. “… His jowly cheeks pulled his mouth down in a permanent frown.” At this point, I glanced up and spotted a boy near the back of the room, his face contorted in a jowly frown, as he internalized the description he was hearing.
3. During a reading of A Pocket Can Have A Treasure In It with Grade One students in Chilliwack, a lively discussion took place about all the things a tree can have in it. (Right after I read, “Can a tree have a cow in it? No. A tree can have a bird in it and a tree can have a swing in it.”) Those kids returned to their classrooms keen to get to work on writing their own books or making a big mural of all the clever things they thought of that a tree can have in it. (Or was that the group that got excited about all the things a muffin can have in it? It’s hard sometimes to keep all the groups straight!)
It’s a real treat to meet with readers as enthusiastic (and well mannered) as those I met during my BC (Vancouver & Lower Mainland) Book Week tour. Thanks Canadian Children’s Book Centre for sending me there!
Add comment November 25, 2008
TPL’s First and Best!
Hurray! Toronto Public Library has chosen A Pocket Can Have A Treasure In It for their 2008 “First and Best” list. That’s a list of the best Canadian children’s books for building reading readiness in children birth to five. To see the 2007 list, click here.
2 comments November 4, 2008
A Treasure for My Pocket
Two big surprises at the Literacy Conference in Burlington last weekend.
1. The onsite bookseller, Different Drummer, had on hand a big stack of Love Every Leaf: The Life of Cornelia Hahn Oberlander – and it wasn’t scheduled for release till several days later! (It looks gorgeous, and after I spoke about it briefly during my keynote address, they sold out quickly.)
2. The night before the conference, I learned that Janet Lee Stinson and Arnie Stewart (see I’ve Got Mail posting) were planning to attend. Not only did I get to meet these two remarkable people, Arnie helped make my keynote address a truly memorable event for everyone there. (more…)
6 comments April 11, 2008
I’ve Got Mail
Once in a while something lands in your inbox that just makes your day. Such was the case for me recently, when a literacy consultant in Simcoe County wrote to tell me about the impact of my book King of the Castle on her and some people she knows.
“I am writing a biography about a man named Arnie Stewart,” Janet-Lee Stinson wrote. “Arnie is 62 years old and he has struggled for his entire life without being able to read and write. Arnie bravely tells his secret to audiences full of students who have lost all hope.” She went on to say, “Today, I was working on compiling student letters for a new book to accompany Arnie’s biography. Inside one of the envelopes, was a copy of your King of the Castle. On the inside cover a grade 6 student wrote, “Dear Arnie, (more…)
Add comment April 4, 2008
A Day Can Have A Surprise In It
My granddaughter was tickled to see that the book she got from me and her grampa for her 6th birthday – A Pocket Can Have A Treasure In It – had her name in the thanks and dedication.
She also received, from both us and a great aunt, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, a wonderful new chapter book by Kate diCamillo. After a quick look through A Pocket… Claire poured over the pages of Edward Tulane, no doubt imagining the story that might be behind Bagram Ibatoulline’s beautiful illustrations. (She can read a little, but not enough to take on a chapter book.)
As soon as she set aside A Pocket…, her younger brother Charlie picked it up. Perched on the back of the sofa, he began to read. “A barn can have a horse in it. A house can have a me in it.” I knew he could read a few words in books he was familiar with, but this was a brand new book!
With just a little help from his proud gramma, Charlie went on to read the rest of the book, not only decoding the words, but getting their meaning perfectly. With great expression, he read, “Out of the basket, puppy! Out!” And when that puppy ended up in the pond, “Oh, no!”
So, Claire may have got some nice surprises on her birthday, but I think I got the best one – knowing that my young grandson – thanks in no small part, no doubt, to the many happy hours his parents have spent reading to him – is well on his way to being a reader! Happy reading, Charlie! And to you to, Claire!
Add comment March 24, 2008
A Pocket… unveiled
What fun it was to read my brand new, hot off the press, advance copy of A Pocket Can Have A Treasure In It to a huge roomful of enthusiastic parents and their preschoolers on Saturday. The crowd that had gathered for Port Colborne’s first family literacy event to celebrate the joys of reading together were a pretty restless bunch as I was introduced, but it was pure magic how they quieted as soon as I started reading Red is Best. Pretty gratifying! As was their response to A Pocket… coming soon to a bookstore near you!
Add comment February 11, 2008
