Literature Festival

First of all, to be perfectly honest I was dreading going to the Literature Festival. However, after attending I realized how amazing this opportunity was! It was really great to hear such wonderful speakers, especially Janet Wong, and to hear their stories. I have only read a few of Janet Wong’s books, but I like how she has kept them themed. My favorite book so far is Twist: Yoga Poems. I think my favorite part about what Janet Wong had to say as the fact that anyone can, and should, write! Janet Wong mentioned that out of her twenty-something books that have been published, she has written over 200 that were rejected. I think that it is important for children to realize that even famous authors have had discouraging times. This should help children to learn not to give up when they feel that they have failed.
The poems that the children got to read at the opening presentation were also really cute to hear. I think that it is great that children are being encouraged to write poetry in a way that reflects their own personal story. That was another strong point that Janet Wong made. She even mentioned that when she first started taking poetry classes that the teacher never said anything to Wong until the day Wong finally wrote a poem that meant something to her. I think with any kind of literacy and writing, that finding a way to make it mean something to you in a personal way, is the best way to appreciate literature.
I also really enjoyed the break out sessions. I attended the class that talked about how to present books to your class by Karen Humphreys. She gave us some really great ideas about getting kids excited to read, such as using the right body language and questions to get kids to figure out what might happen in the story next. Also, she mentioned getting kids excited by asking them questions. I thought that Janet Wong also did a really great job of this, like when she asked the audience how many of us had grumpy moms or dads. She used this to introduce her poem about a grump, and it got kids excited to hear what she had to say. The biggest key that I learned at this Literature Festival was to find out outlets for each child. Do they like to read, write, or draw? Find ways to incorporate these things into the poems or literature they might be reading. When a child truly enjoys and understands what they are reading, it can help them to be excited about future poems and literature.