{"id":32432,"date":"2017-01-22T20:57:40","date_gmt":"2017-01-23T00:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=32432"},"modified":"2017-01-22T21:00:39","modified_gmt":"2017-01-23T01:00:39","slug":"kwame-alexander-at-alamw17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=32432","title":{"rendered":"Kwame Alexander at #alamw17"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I always love hearing Kwame Alexander talk.\u00a0 His speeches are also poetry.<\/p>\n

He began by saying that we need to feel that we aren\u2019t going backwards.\u00a0 As Langston Hughes said, \u201cBut I don\u2019t care, I\u2019m still here!\u201d<\/p>\n

What should we do?<\/p>\n

Remember:\u00a0 We are the army!<\/p>\n

He read a poem using book titles.\u00a0 Librarians, fire your cannons!\u00a0 Books have a job to do and words plant seeds.<\/p>\n

He told about his work with kids in Ghana.\u00a0 Books connect us to each other.\u00a0 Books don\u2019t segregate.\u00a0 We do.
\nWhat should we do?<\/p>\n

Remember.\u00a0 Recognize.\u00a0 Resist.<\/p>\n

You have to sing somewhere.\u00a0 Words connect us all.\u00a0 You\u2019ll feel empowered if you lift your voice, wheher people listen or not.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been here before.\u00a0 This is just one more river to cross.\u00a0 Wrap yourself in a mountain of prayer.\u00a0 Rise into the wonder of daybreak.<\/p>\n

The alternative is unimaginable.\u00a0 Fortunately, in this room, we are nothing if not imaginative.<\/p>\n

The rest of these notes are from answers to audience questions, so the topics flit around:<\/p>\n

He tells kids, If you can\u2019t travel, read a book.<\/p>\n

Poetry helps people deal with things.\u00a0 It calms us, soothes us.<\/p>\n

Kids from all over the world, all over the country, want to be engaged, want power, and want you to sign their forehead.<\/p>\n

Poetry isn\u2019t the only answer, but it\u2019s an answer.<\/p>\n

He writes for everybody.\u00a0 He writes for all of us.\u00a0 His characters are universal.\u00a0 We all laugh, cry, smile, and love the same.<\/p>\n

Novels in verse work with kids because in 15 lines you get a beginning, a middle, and an end.\u00a0 Poetry is the opposite of intimidating, and it\u2019s a bridge to other literature.<\/p>\n

\u201cBooks are like amusement parks.\u00a0 Sometimes you have to let kids choose the rides.\u201d<\/p>\n

To get kids excited about poetry, model that excitement.\u00a0 We\u2019ve all been a little afraid of poetry.\u00a0 We send them from Silverstein to Shakespeare.\u00a0 Give them a bridge.\u00a0 Teach accessible poetry.\u00a0 Show them how much fun it is.\u00a0 Let it energize and excite you.<\/p>\n

Poetry is the answer to draw people to reading.\u00a0 It works everywhere.<\/p>\n

And when Kwame recites it, it certainly does!<\/p>\n

Then he signed copies of his new book with National Geographic Kids, Animal Ark<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I always love hearing Kwame Alexander talk.\u00a0 His speeches are also poetry. He began by saying that we need to feel that we aren\u2019t going backwards.\u00a0 As Langston Hughes said, \u201cBut I don\u2019t care, I\u2019m still here!\u201d What should we do? Remember:\u00a0 We are the army! He read a poem using book titles.\u00a0 Librarians, fire […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[207],"tags":[384,387],"class_list":["post-32432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conference-corner","tag-alamw17","tag-kwame-alexander"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32432\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}