If you love books you would have loved the 2009 National Book Festival held in Washington, DC on September 26th. There were more authors and their books in one spot than you could possibly visit in a day. It is true that we have many book fairs in the mid-Hudson region, like the Millbrook Book Festival in late spring, but there is an excitement in the Mall in DC that can’t be beat.
Although I am the publisher of Hudson Valley Parent and Hudson Valley Life magazines, I really went as someone who loves reading books. And I also had the privilege of having a media badge which allowed me to meet and greet nationally recognized authors from John Grisham to Judy Blume and 75 authors in between.
Kids…kids…and more kids. They were the best!!!
But the most exciting experience was meeting the kids and their parents. I know that many say that reading and books is a lost art. But you had to be the Book Festival to see the 1000s of parents and their kids anxiously waiting to speak to a specific author whom they love. With books clutched in their hands, kids were excited at the thought that they would personally meet the author who wrote their favorite book.
I was lucky that several parents permitted me to video tape an interview with their kids. Kids quickly told me what book they were reading and who their favorite author is. Of the four families I interviewed two of moms shared a similar story. Each night they sit down as a family and read, one for a half hour, the other for 20 minutes. Sometimes they read aloud, and sometimes they each read their own book. One mom mentioned an author, sorry his name escapes me, who wrote about the civil war and now the same author is coming out with a version for teens. Both parents and their kids will read about that time in history and then share their ideas. All great stuff for getting kids excited about reading.
Does that mean that we have to read with our kids in order to get our kids to read? Maybe not, but it helps. My dad did not read books although my mom read some. Yet, since I was young, I have always loved reading. But I do think it helps when kids and their parents share the reading experience. I know my husband Clay and I read together on the couch at night. We enjoy sharing passages and the details of the characters. I think it adds to the pleasure of reading. I guess that’s why people join book clubs. There is a pleasure in sharing the experience.
Kids interviewing authors…what a switch
I also met two groups of kids who came to interview the authors and share the experience with the students in their school. I think one group had a school radio program. Not sure about the second. I have some pictures of these enthusiastic kids’ groups. I was more delighted to be in the midst of these kids who were interviewing authors than meeting with the authors. These kids are the ones who will lead us into the future.
The speaker’s presentations were all taped and are available for viewing. You can see some videos on our Facebook page too! Make a point visit next year’s National Book Festival. You need to be there to grab the excitement.
In fact when someone doesn’t be aware of then its up to other visitors that they will help, so here it occurs.
Superb, what a webpage it is! This webpage presents helpful facts to
us, keep it up.
Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as
though you relied on the video to make your point. You obviously know what youre
talking about, why waste your intelligence on just posting videos
to your blog when you could be giving us something informative to read?
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