News

Newburyport: Authors bring stories to life at city schools

By Katie Curley
Staff Writer
Published: April 18, 2008

NEWBURYPORT — Students across the district illustrated, discussed and even karate-chopped their way to bringing popular books to life as the 2008 Newburyport Literary Festival kicked off yesterday in city schools.

"This went wonderfully," said Bill McGowan, vice principal of the Bresnahan School. "It gave the students a set of tools to be creative and bring images to mind."

The event comes a week before the main festivities kick off for the second annual event. Each year, the festival has entered the schools first with the aim of engaging students in literature studied in the classroom and encouraging reading. The 2008 Newburyport Literary Festival runs from Friday, April 25, through Sunday, April 27.

"With talk about the balanced literacy program in the schools, these events help children comprehend and learn how to make their own stories," McGowan said.

Yesterday popular children's book authors visited two schools in the district and spoke about their works and engaged in a number of activities that brought their stories to life.

At the Bresnahan School, award-winning children's book author and illustrator Ed Emberley of Ipswich gave first- through third-grade students lessons in how to draw by following simple steps. Emberley is best known for his 2007 story, "Bye-Bye Big Bad Bullybug," and is known for his creative illustrations and die-cut books.

The elementary school children laughed and squealed as Emberley showed them a series of six shapes that can be used to create anything from a frog to a lion in just the time it takes for "two television commercials to air."

"You don't have to be born knowing how to draw or take an art class, you just need to know shapes," Emberley said in the animated style for which he is known.

"I learned how to draw," said Becca Kench, 8, after the event.

"I like to draw owls and lions," her friend Celeste Howard, 8, added.

Ben Wiehe, 7, and Eli Gobbi, 8, both said they were going to go home and draw.

At the Nock Middle School, Yoko Kawashima delighted more 300 eighth-grade students from Newburyport, Amesbury and Triton middle schools in a series of discussion groups about her novel, "So Far From The Bamboo Grove."

The festivities started on Wednesday when area eighth-graders gathered in the Nock Library to write haikus and create "bamboo sticks" out of paper.

Yesterday, Kawashima, who was dressed in a traditional Japanese kimono and sandals, spoke about her novel, which chronicles her struggle as the daughter of a Japanese government official stationed in North Korea at the end of World War II.

The family escapes the communism of North Korea and makes a harrowing journey, narrowly escaping death, to war-ravaged Japan.

Kawashima spoke to students about the difficulty of writing her story and of the lessons she has learned throughout her life that she would like to pass on.

"My parents passed on three important elements," Kawashima told the audience in the Nock auditorium. "Don't get mad, throw away pride and forgive."

After a short presentation about her book and a question and answer session on stage, Kawashima led small discussion groups in the library and answered questions.

"Did you have any lasting health problems from your journey from North Korea to Japan?" one student asked, to which Kawashima answered her only trouble has been a loss of hearing that she has dealt with by learning to read lips.

After the discussion, students participated in a yoga class in the gymnasium with trainer Stephanie Suprin of Latitude Fitness in Salisbury. Other students took a karate class outside with an Amesbury instructor and participated in answering a series of discussion questions.

"It's good to introduce students to what they don't normally do," volunteer Kim Spinney said as she watched students hold the yoga tree pose and engage in sun salutations. "We want to incorporate mind, body and spirit with the yoga, karate, presentation and discussion."

Over the last few weeks student have been reading Kawashima's story and participating in seminars about the book.

Nock librarian Ellen Menesale organized yesterday's event, the first in which area schools were invited, and said she believed it went well.

"The story is about Yoko Kawashima's journey and we wanted students to go on a journey as well; some had a journey to come here," Menesale said. "I think it's great to have all three schools involved and mix the students up as a way to have the literacy festival encompass the area, not just Newburyport."

Today, the other half of each school's eighth-grade class will travel to the Nock Middle School for the same presentation.

On Saturday, Emberley will be at the Child At Heart Gallery on Inn Street from 10 a.m. to noon for a book signing.