童心梦工厂|儿童作家Jonathan的创意启蒙课

11 月 9 日周四和 10 日周五，国际部图书馆迎来了深受喜爱的英国儿童作家Jonathan Meres。Jonathan的中小学生系列作品World of Norm和Noodle the Doodle都在世界范围内广受欢迎。他从苏格兰远道而来，在国际部与同学们汇聚一堂，讲述着他的家人与拉布拉多犬Pablo一起生活的故事。

国际部图书馆负责人

Ms. Hardy担任活动主持

除去作家身份，Jonathan还是一名演员、喜剧人和音乐家，他在中小学分享会上向学生们讲述了自己精彩的人生经历，他的分享不仅让同学们笑声不止，他还感染和带动着大家一起歌唱和朗诵书目中的段落，同学们也随着歌声，沉醉在书中的故事世界里。

分享会后，同学们被分成小组，分别参加了Jonathan的写作工作坊。Jonathan与同学们分享了如何在写作中吸引读者注意力的关键技巧，教授了他们发挥丰富的联想和创造力，同学们听得津津有味。

工作坊活动主持人：图书管理员Ms.Rausch

在七年级的工作坊中，Jonathan分享了他最满意的书中第一句话：”我就知道会有那么一天，奶奶会爆发的”。七年级的学生被这句悬念重重的开场白所深深吸引，Jonathan趁热打铁，给所有年级的同学们都布置了小任务：以”我就知道会是这样的一天…… “为开头，编排一个小故事。

看到同学们别出心裁、各有千秋的小故事，Jonathan说：”我不仅对同学们的热情印象深刻，他们的作品质量也超出了我的期待。我们的交流非常愉快。”Jonathan鼓励同学们尽可能多地阅读，并将这些工作中的灵感转化为故事。他告诉同学们，优秀的作品来源于丰富的生活经历。

Jonathan在给小读者们签名留念

七年级教师Mrs. St. John说道：”孩子们很喜欢与作家面对面畅谈。有位同学告诉我：’我以为作家可能很老派，但Jonathan很幽默也很有趣。’这让学生们意识到，他们可以在课堂上写故事，也可以写得很有趣、很天马行空”。

小学英语语言文学教师Richard说：”Jonathan在学校里非常受欢迎！他的歌曲很棒! 学生们从他身上学到了很多东西。”

对于此次与同学们亲切互动的见面机会，Jonathan表达了对国际部尤其是对图书馆工作人员们的真诚感谢。他对这次收获颇丰的中国之行非常满意，愿意在将来进一步学习中文和中国书法，了解中国的饮食和文化，从而延续与中国的缘分，并期待着下次的中国之旅。

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.