The National Book Festival (USA) Celebrates Reading For Everyone

The National Book Festival (USA) Celebrates Reading for Everyone.
The National Book Festival (USA)

Celebrates Reading for Everyone.
More than one hundred thousand visitors attended the festival on the National Mall.
VOICE ONE:
Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Barbara Klein. Today we tell about the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. which
was held on September twenty-sixth.
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For nine years this outdoor event organized by the Library of Congress has brought readers,
writers and illustrators to the nation's capital. Its aim is to celebrate a love of learning through
books.
This year, more than one hundred thirty thousand people gathered on the National Mall to hear
top writers and poets talk about their work.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
This year's National Book Festival included more than seventy novelists, historians, poets and
mystery writers. But some of the most excited visitors of all were the children who came to see
their favorite writers.
VOICE TWO:
Judy Blume signing books

One favorite writer who attended the festival was Judy Blume. She has sold more than eighty
million copies of her popular books for young people. These include "Are You There God? It's Me,
Margaret", "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" and "Blubber." Her books deal with difficult subjects
such as religion, divorce, death, love and sex in a way that young readers can understand. Mizz
Blume has also written books for adults.
At the festival, Judy Blume read to a group of children from her own favorite book as a child,
"Madeline" by Ludwig Bemelmans. She explained why she chose this book.
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JUDY BLUME: "I was afraid of everything. My mother said I was afraid of my own shadow. But I
really wanted to be strong and brave like Madeline. So she was my hero, so here is my favorite
book from when I was growing up."
VOICE ONE:
Judy Blume is one of the most popular children's book writers. But she is also one of the most
banned writers. Since the nineteen eighties, several libraries and parents' groups have tried to
ban her books. She has since become a fierce supporter of literary freedom and is part of several
organizations that fight censorship.
Her most recent children's book is called "Friend or Fiend? with the Pain and the Great One." It
tells about the adventures of a brother and sister, Jake and Abigail.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
Rick Riordan was another popular writer who spoke at the festival.
RICK RIORDAN: "My name is Rick Riordan, I write for children and young adults. I write a series
about a character named Percy Jackson who is a modern day kid living in New York City, but finds
out that like the old Greek heroes Hercules, Perseus, Theseus, all of those guys, Percy's dad is
actually a Greek god. And, the Greek gods are still alive and well and living in New York."
We asked Mister Riordan what influenced him to write this series. He said reading to his two sons
about ancient Greece was one reason. But his professional background was another influence.
RICK RIORDAN: "My background is a teacher. I taught young adults from, say, age eleven through
thirteen for about fifteen years. And I taught them history, I taught them literature. And,
mythology was always one of my favorite subjects and one of my students' favorite subjects as
well."
Mister Riordan says there was only one subject that amazed his students more than ancient
Greece--- and that was ancient Egypt. This gave him an idea for his next book.
RICK RIORDAN: "Next spring, I'm going to release a book set in the modern day world -- but a
fantasy based on Egyptian mythology, bringing all those old Egyptian gods back to life."
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VOICE ONE:
Nikki Grimes is a children's writer and poet whose works include "Jazmin's Notebook" and "The
Road to Paris." Here she talks about her deep love of poetry.
NIKKI GRIMES: "I'm all about words. And when it comes to words, poetry is at the top of my list.
Whenever I have a smidgen of time to indulge myself, which is rare these days, I love to curl up
with a volume of poetry. Poetry feeds my soul. Poetry is comforting and soothing, and it's aweinspiring as a glimpse of rainbow, which should come as no surprise since poems and rainbows
have something in common. They both offer a kaleidoscope of color."
VOICE TWO:
Other children's book writers at the festival included Kate DiCamillo. She is best known for her
novel "The Tale of Despereaux" about a little mouse who has some big adventures.
Jeff Kinney was another popular writer who attended this event. His series, called "Diary of a
Wimpy Kid," is about a young boy named Greg Heffley. The book takes the form of a personal
journal and includes funny drawings of Greg's school adventures.
(MUSIC)
JAMES PATTERSON: "Outline, outline, outline, outline."
VOICE ONE:
That was the adult and children's book writer James Patterson answering a question about how
he writes books. He says this advice is for professional writers as well as school children writing
papers. He says creating a plan for the structure of the book listing the main ideas makes writing
much easier.
JAMES PATTERSON: "It will go faster, you will write a better piece, you will get a better grade.
Outline. So the first step in terms of my writing is outline."
James Patterson's "Maximum Ride" and "Daniel X" series have become best sellers in the United
States.
VOICE TWO:
We asked festival visitor Tonya from Beltsville, Maryland what brought her to the event. She said
her son Aiden is five, and she wants him to be interested in books. She said she decided the
festival would be a good place to start.
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(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
The National Book Festival was also filled with writers of books for adults. Jodi Picoult writes
books about families and individuals facing very difficult situations. Her latest book, "Handle With
Care," is about a family struggling to survive with a severely sick child. The parents find a way to
pay for their endless medical expenses that requires them to make a very difficult moral decision.
Mizz Picoult talked to visitors at the festival about studying creative writing in college. She said
she knew there was not much to write about from her personal experiences. So she looked
around her to find subjects for her books.
JODI PICOULT: "I realized that if I was going to write, what I was going to have to do instead was
to write what I was willing to learn instead of what I knew. And that sort of geared me up for a
whole series of novels where I do tons of research, even though I write fiction, which is supposed
to be made up, right?"
VOICE TWO:
Many writers at the festival specialize in historical and political events. American presidents were
a popular subject. For example, Douglas Brinkley is a history professor at Rice University in
Houston, Texas. His latest book is called "The Wilderness Warrior" about President Theodore
Roosevelt. It tells about his efforts to protect America's wilderness by securing huge amounts of
land for national parks in the early nineteen hundreds.
VOICE ONE:
James L. Swanson has written a book about the hunt to find the killer of President Abraham
Lincoln. His book is called "Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer." He also wrote a
version of his story for children. It is called "Chasing Lincoln's Killer."
Mister Swanson says his interest in Abraham Lincoln began the day he was born, February twelfth.
This was also President Lincoln's birthday. But the writer says it was his grandmother who really
got him interested in this subject.
JAMES L. SWANSON: "When I was ten, my grandmother gave me as a gift, not a bicycle, not a
baseball mitt or a bat, she gave me a framed engraving of the derringer pistol that John Wilkes
Booth used to assassinate the president. And you might find that to be an odd gift for a child, but
I didn't."
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VOICE TWO:
And, reporter Gwen Ifill has written about a more recent president. Her latest book is called "The
Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama." She examines race, racism and identity
during last year's presidential campaign.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
The Library of Congress used this year's National Book Festival to launch its new Web site aimed
at supporting reading for all age groups. There are many different reading activities on this site,
Read.gov. For example, one program is called "Letters for Literature." School children are urged
to write letters to writers whose books have changed their lives. Winners who write the best
letters receive an award. The writers that the students choose do not have to be alive.
For example, one student wrote to the American writer Jack London to thank him for writing the
book "White Fang." The student wrote this about the book: "Before I read your book, I was alive
and breathing. But after I read your book, I felt it was important to be living and have fun."
VOICE TWO:
Read.gov also includes a children's book that is in the process of being written. It is called "The
Exquisite Corpse Adventure" and so far only has two chapters. Every two weeks, a new writer and
illustrator will build onto the story that earlier writers and illustrators have created.
The title of the book may seem a bit unusual for a children's story. But the term "exquisite corpse"
comes from a game in which a group of people collectively write a story.
Readers will have to wait a year to know the ending of the story. And by then, it will be time for
another National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.
(THEME)
VOICE ONE: This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. I'm Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO: And I'm Barbara Klein. You can see pictures of some of these writers on our Web
site. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.
You can take the audio (mp3) from the next url, or, Request it the teacher, or, go to my Personal Page.
http://www.unsv.com/voanews/specialenglish/scripts/2009/10/12/0045/
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Spend time with Nature. Natural settings have a powerful effect on your senses
which in turn will lead to a sense of renewal, refreshment and peacefulness. Peak
performers through the ages have understood the importance of getting back to Nature.
Start camping or simply taking quiet walks in the forest. Rest by a sparkling stream.
Cultivate your own little garden which will serve as your personal oasis in the middle of
a crowded city. By cultivating a friendship with Nature, you will quickly find more
serenity, contentment and richness in your life.
From the Book The Top 200 Secrets of Success and the Pillars of SelfMastery
-- Robin S. Sharma
Observation: the document now presented The National Book Festival (USA) Celebrates
Reading for Everyone, and a previous document named Reading in USA are not
identical.
M.C. Enrique Ruiz Daz.

Con ttulo y cdula profesional 5632071 en la Maestra en Ciencias de la Computacin.
Egresado del Instituto Tecnolgico de Orizaba, Veracruz, Mxico.
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Invitation: Discover The Assortment for you of M.C. Enrique Ruiz

Daz of Texts of the VOA Special English Program.
Visit my Personal Page. Get ahead.

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Know the Project: Books of English, from English 1 to 5, for all the
CBTIS of the United Mexican States.
The Students can do the organization as they like it; but

absolutely, the Responses are written by hand, and the Works are
Presented by Groups with a Maximum of 5 persons.
I formulated a project for the CBTIS (Technological Industrial and of Services Center of Bachelor
Degree) 107 of Tuxtepec, Oax., Mxico consisting in giving to the Library of this Institution with
five volumes of English language, of my authorship. A book for each semester, from the first
English book to fifth English book (according to the plan of studies in this regard of the CBTIS). At
no cost to the Institution, because this is a donation (in the staff, I solve my expenses of the project
with income of my employment as a professor that I would be in this CBTIS).
One of the major advantages of this project is to solve the need of the student of spending in books
of English language because the books will be at your complete disposal into the student
community in the Library of the institution.
Afterward, in an immediate subsequent phase of this project is that among the student community
of this CBTIS and all the CBTIS of the United Mexican States will have these 5 volumes of English
language by means of a page of Google; read it, neither cost nor restriction to obtain them.
Well, as a last note, I must say that these books will have the format of 'workbook'. This, as an
intelligent work with foundations and then their respective exercises to resolve, into a concurrent
process.
M.C. Enrique Ruiz Daz.

Con ttulo y cdula profesional 5632071 en la Maestra en Ciencias de la Computacin.
Egresado del Instituto Tecnolgico de Orizaba, Veracruz, Mxico.
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Invitation to my Personal Pages.
Visit: https://sites.google.com/site/mcenriqueruizdiaz/
Also: http://sites.google.com/site/enriqueruizdiaz/
Get Instruments for your Training.
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