I'm so pleased to announce yet another chock full, happening day, today.
First, we return to the Through the Looking Glass blog for a... giveaway.
Then, Anamaria gives us a review at Books Together , a blog "For kids and Their Grownups."
Haiti was recently hit by four terrible hurricanes, and the beginning of the school year had to be postponed until the beginning of October. But as soon as she heard about our project, Mrs. Jean Graham, the third-grade teacher, sent me an enthusiastic email saying she would love for her students to participate, and how could she get her hands on the book? The only copy available in Haiti, at that time, was at my mother-in-law's house, and Mrs. Graham drove up to Fermathe, in the mountains above the capital, to borrow it. A week later, she sent me all the material, pictures, scans of the drawings, etc. Now, that's what I call being efficient.
I asked Mrs. Graham about the children's reactions to the book, and here is what she wrote:
"The class really liked the part of the story when Mrs. Chikodili bought the book. They were predicting that he would not get to see the book again... some thought that she would read it to him... They were pleased to see that she gave the book to Amadi. They related very well to the merchants and the market scene... very common here, too. Many smacked their lips as the mango part was being read... the season for them is just now beginning again, so they sound really good to eat. We looked at the globe to see where India and Nigeria are, and discussed traveling there and how long it would take to get there by plane. We also discussed the types of foods that are the same here and there."
And, so, Amadi and his story continue to build bridges across the world, this time from Haiti to Nigeria, and from Haiti to India. And look how cosy and happy Amadi's Snowman looks among all these beautiful children.
Below is a small selection of the material I received. I could not publish everything because the drawings and letters did not all come through as clearly as I would have liked. But we still have a lovely sample of the work done by the third grade class at Quisqueya. 
"The first book I read was Batman. The book I can read over and over is X Man. My favorite book is Green Eggs and Ham. I like it because it's funny. When I first learned to read I was happy."
"The first book I read was "Cuga, Cugu, Cooko." I love reading fairy tales. My favorite book is Amadi's Snowman. I felt like I was grown-up. Being able to read is fun. I feel sad about people who can't read."
The children also asked questions in their letters, and I will compile them and publish them later in the tour. Find below a picture of the classroom, and another of the lunch area, in the shade of a gorgeous tree.
Thank you so much to all the third graders at Quisqueya. Thank you for your great work and enthusiasm, and thank you for your kind words about Amadi's Snowman. And finally, a million heartfelt thanks to their teacher, Mrs. Jean Graham, for involving her students in our global virtual tour, in spite of all sorts of logistical difficulties (like scanning and emailing all the material to me ; and by the way, thank you also to Ralph Pereira, at Comp'Haiti, for offering the use of his scanner and his time to make sure I received everything, and to my mother in law, for lending her copy of the book).
"Everything in the world exists to end up in a book." Stephane Mallarmé.
_______________________
Tomorrow, we will visit two of incredibly energetic author Anastasia Suen's blogs and we'll see our first video clip. See you then...
No comments:
Post a Comment