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“Readers Make Writers!” by Deborah Hopkinson
When I speak with young students at author visits, I usually lead them in a sort of chant: “Readers Make Writers!”
And, for me at least, that’s true. I’m surrounded by books, and (probably to my family’s dismay), the prevalence of e-books hasn’t lessened my urge to bring real books into our home.
A quick calculation: we have two large bookshelves in our living room filled top to bottom, including a shelf labeled “Autographed Books” so that after my departure my kids won’t be inclined to toss my signed copy of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, which I’ve had since he was a visiting professor at the University of Massachusetts, where I did my undergraduate work.
I’ve filled a shelf in the family room, one in my husband’s office, and another in the guest bedroom. Our bedroom has one huge bookshelf, books two-deep lining a bay window (on subjects ranging from Dr. John Snow and the cholera epidemic of 1854 for my forthcoming middle grade novel, The Great Trouble, to biographies of Dickens and Helen Keller for my 2012 picture books, A Boy Called Dickens and Annie and Helen). I’ve taken over a cedar chest my daughter couldn’t carry off to grad school, and my son has schlepped a number of boxes of books to the attic.
There are advanced reading copies for the YA and middle grade book reviews I do each month for Bookpage. There are titles that might hold the germs of future books. And then there’s the occasional title I pick up at an airport when I just can’t do any work for my day job in philanthropy or my writing. (When reading for pleasure alone I prefer mysteries set in Victorian London, such as Fingersmith or The Yard.) And, of course, there are a reader’s comfort books: Austen, Bronte, Dickens.
These, of course, are just the books you can see. Hidden are the books I’m listening to, and anything I’ve downloaded to my Kindle.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the deep, pure pleasure reading gives me. My new picture book, Annie and Helen, illustrated by Raul Colon, is an account for young readers of that amazing spring of 1887, when Annie Sullivan first went to teach Helen Keller. Annie, who was only 21, had no rule book. Instead, she invented her teaching methods as she went along, She discovered that that what worked best was spelling whole sentences into Helen’s hands, the way we speak naturally to a baby. When she arrived in March, Helen had no understanding of language. By July, Helen was able to write a simple letter. Extraordinary.
Learning more about Helen Keller reminds me of how wonderful it is to be able to read, to hold a book in my hands and get lost, transported, transfixed by story. Of course, my collection of books has gotten a little out of hand, and it’s time to cull some. But I know that the week after I do so, I’ll have a sudden need to look something up, to read a familiar passage once again, to find a reference.
Maybe, after all, I’ll just have to find more space.
Deborah Hopkinson is the award-winning author of picture books, nonfiction and middle grade fiction for young people. Her 2012 titles are A Boy Called Dickens, Titanic: Voices from the Disaster, and Annie and Helen. She serves as vice president for advancement for Pacific Northwest college of Art. Deborah reads and writes books near Portland, Oregon. Visit her at www.deborahhopkinson.com
When I think of Annie’s tenacity for teaching combined with Helen’s hunger for learning, I am reminded that the conference approach laid out by Carl Anderson, Patrick A. Allen, and Penny Kittle (among others) may not have the same daily intensity that Annie and Helen shared, but it put lead learner and learner in proximity. So important.
When I watch the video with Helen putting her hands all over Annie’s face as she speaks, I see the power of connection. Thank you for today’s post! I’m looking forward to reading the book! It will make a nice read-aloud introduction to Helen’s work or excerpts from her work.
What I’d like my AP students to do is take a look at how an event is rendered in book, essay, and in picture book formats. Many of my juniors coming to me not knowing who Helen Keller is except for the cruel jokes they have heard on Family Guy.
When I work with you writers, I try to help them ‘read like a writer’. I show them how to notice a writer’s “special effects” and use them in their own writing.
I went to Huntsville, AL for school business once and took my children one in jr. high and one in upper elementary. We passed through Helen Keller’s home town and I totally freaked out. My girls thought I was crazy because they had never heard of her. GASP! How did I let them get that old without knowing her wonderful life story. Well we rectified that on our return trip we spent the day at her home. I can’t wait to add Annie and Helen to my two school libraries.
Like those above, I’m excited that a new book is coming out about Helen and Annie. Everyone should know that story, & now that I read some of the comments, I am questioning do they? I too have many shelves of books, just can’t do without them. I enjoyed hearing your description of the ‘wheres’ & the ‘whys’. Thanks, & again, looking forward to your book.
Hi there. I’m a children book writer and do school visits also. I tell the kid the same thing: readers make writers. I have 3 full bookshelves at home, and still have a few of the first books I read like, Black Beauty and The Gnome-mobile And I still prefer paper books over ebooks. Great article!
Reading and writing indeed go hand in hand. And, oh my gosh, this writer’s house is overflowing with books as well! LOVED your post and can’t wait to read ANNIE AND HELEN.
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