Childhood Dream Factory | Creative Enlightenment Course by Children’s Author Jonathan

On Thursday, November 9 and Friday November 10, the THIS libraries welcomed author Jonathan Meres. Jonathan, the writer of the popular World of Norm series for middle school readers and the Noodle the Doodle books for Primary, joined us from Scotland where he lives with his family and his Labradoodle, Pablo. 

Head Librarian of THIS Ms. Hardy

Hosted the Event

Jonathan, an actor, a comedian, and a musician, shared his experiences with students in two assemblies. He kept students laughing and engaged in song and chants. Much to their delight, he read and sang parts of his books, as they sang the chorus.

Grades 7, 3, 4, and 5 met with Jonathan in small writing groups. Students listened respectfully as Jonathan shared with them the key things to think about when trying to grab a reader’s attention. He also encouraged their creativity.

MC of the workshop：

Librarian Ms. Rausch

In the grade 7 workshop, he shared his favorite first line from a book, ” I knew it was going to be one of those days when grandma blew up.” Students in grade 7 were intrigued by this opening sentence. Students in all grades were given the opportunity to begin a story using this sentence starter, ” I knew it was going to be one one those days when. . .”.

Jonathan said ” I was genuinely impressed not only by the enthusiasm of the students, but also by the quality of the work they produced. They were a total delight to speak to.” Jonathan encouraged them to read as much as possible and to take these workshop ideas and create stories from them. He told them that great writing comes from your own experiences.

Jonathan is signing autographs 

for the young readers as a memento

Grade 7 teacher Mrs. St. John shared, The kids loved seeing a real life author. As one of them told me, ‘He was right. I did think that authors were probably old school, but he was humorous.’ It was great for the students to realize they could have fun, be zany, and go wild in the stories they write for class.”  

Primary ESL teacher, Rick said, “Jonathan was a blast to have at the school! From his funny storytelling to his captivating way of getting students attention, it was great seeing him here.His songs were great and the students learned so much with him.”

Jonathan expressed sincere gratitude to the international department, especially to the library staff, for the opportunity to interact warmly with his classmates. He was very satisfied with the fruitful trip to China and expressed his willingness to further study Chinese and Chinese calligraphy in the future, as well as to learn about Chinese cuisine and culture, in order to continue his connection with China and prepare for the next trip.