[AFCC 2013] Children, Speak Up Panel

One of the definite highlights for me during the Asian Festival of Children’s Content this year was moderating the Children, Speak Up! Panel. I have blogged about this here where I shared a Video Teaser of the children and what the audience should look out for during the session.

Here are some of the photographs during the Festival.

My husband was only able to take pictures before the event actually started – so do not be fooled by the number of people that you see in this photo. It was actually Standing Room Only – the room was packed!! There were several people standing up just to listen to the kids share their thoughts about reading.

The kids are very excited about their presentations. They were so looking forward to meeting one of their favorite authors Wendy Orr, writer of Nim’s Island, who unfortunately was not able to make it during their session.

Jitters and excitement galore!

The kids practiced their ‘presentations’ for more than a month, and I am glad that it showed in their presentation. While there were a few expected glitches – most of them were technical difficulties. The kids definitely knew their stuff. Here, Caleb and Oscar talked about their favorite books and authors and what are some of the elements of a novel that captivate them.

We were also very fortunate to have Erik from This Kid Reviews Books with us for a few minutes on SKYPE! How awesome is that. Erik also blogged about the AFCC here and here.

Erik woke up very early his time as we have a 12-hour difference – just to join us in Singapore (he woke up at 5:00 am – or possibly, even earlier! Thank you so much Erik). Sadly, we ran into a few technical problems and we were unable to really see him on video during the latter part of our conversation. But we were so glad to hear him talk about his vibrant blog which you should all check out, and how he schedules his school work and his many varied activities. We are also in awe of his humility, his groundedness, his quick wit, his easy humor, and his passion for books.

Malavika, Akarsh, and Vaishnavi talked about e-books versus physical books and classics versus contemporary novels.

Sophie, Älvi, and Madilyn talked about books that have been turned into movies – the successful and the less successful ones from their vantage point. They also discussed, with a measure of excitement, books that they think should be made into films and who the possible cast could be.

I definitely had fun spending time with these amazing children, and I do hope that our audience also felt inspired by these kids’ wondrous thoughts about reading and books. I am glad to spend more time with them as they are part of my book club of young readers in Singapore, GatheringReaders at the Jurong West Public Library.

Here is the video clip of our avid young readers here in Singapore after I have secured their parents’ permission to post this in my website and the AFCC Facebook Page. Enjoy!