DNA Event
On April 6 of this year I attended
the Directions New Strategies and Applications literary festival sponsored by a
Kansas City children’s bookshop, The reading reptile and supported by the
Department of Education at Rockhurst University. This year’s illustrators and authors, Peter Brown. Jack
Gatos, Daniel Handler AKA Lemony Snicket, Jon Klassen, Laura Amy Schlitz and
Herve Tullet, spoke drew, showed slides and otherwise entertained an attentive
adult audience for four hours.
The day before was kid’s day with
field trips for 1st through 6th grade student to Rockhurst
University for a 50-minute talk with two authors and special events at the
Reading Reptile bookstore including a play, a reading and a book signing.
Since I already graduated from the
sixth grade, I attended the yearly event for adults, which I have attended for the
past five or six years. Each has been a celebration of children’s literature
offering a rare chance to hear the voices behind the books. The writers and illustrators have been multiple
award winners with international reputations.
Attending is fun. Although I rarely write for children, I
enjoy the energy and positive vibes of both the presenters and the audience,
mostly librarians and teachers.
Each writer and illustrator shared the story of how he or she got
published. The presenters come from a wide range of backgrounds including
engineering, computer science technology, library science and teaching. Their adventures and misadventures of
trying to get started in the world of books would make fascination
reading.
The writers and illustrators are
comfortable performing in front of an audience. The audience is warm and
supportive. The combination makes
the event a pleasure to attend for the audience and for the presenters.
This year Jon Klassen and Lemony
Snicket AKA Daniel Handler made a presentation on their co-written book, The Dark, which t could have been a comedy sketch on late night television. Laura Amy Schlitz danced to illustrate
her talk. She said it took her six and one-half years to write a book that came
to her conscious mind as a series of images rather than an idea.
What writing events do you
recommend?
I love children's literature and miss reading to children. Some of my more advanced students loved the Lemony Snicket books. I read the first one and liked it. I still have shelves and shelves of children's books - picture and chapter - that I can't bear to part with.
ReplyDeleteI love illustrated children's books. I have a small collection that I refuse to part with. Writing children's books must be like performing magic; lots of practice and hard work, the results look simple and effortless.
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