Elementary school students in Thompson got a real treat during Canadian Children's Book Week, a nationwide literary festival that ran from Nov. 14 to 21 this year. The students got to take part in an interactive, theatrical-style puppet show put on by author Jacob Berkowitz at the Thompson Public Library.
The library applied to host the author earlier in the year and partnered with the elementary schools within the School District of Mystery Lake.
Ashley Kulchycki, the library assistant for programing at the Thompson Public Library, says having Berkowitz perform at the library has offered a wonderful experience for students in Thompson.
"It's really something. Living in a small Northern community, these kids don't really get this chance all that often. He [Berkowitz] is so colourful, amazing and entertaining, and when kids see authors like that, I think it makes them want to read more - and not just his stuff it opens their minds and their imaginations to what literature can really do."
Berkowitz is an author, journalist and playwright from the small town of Almonte, Ont. near Ottawa, who focuses many of his stories on his love of science. His performance at the Thompson Public Library included a puppet-alien named Ambrosia and had the students help her find her way back to her home planet Xenon by identifying the planets in our solar system with pictures and a question and answer session.
Berkowitz's first book, entitled Jurassic Poop, focused on coprolites, which are essentially fossilized feces left over from the days when dinosaurs roamed the earth. His most recent book, which features the alien Ambrosia, is called Out of This World, and looks at how scientists have been looking for a planet with life on it in outer space.
Berkowitz says he loves putting on shows for children and interacting with them, allowing them to ask questions and learn new things.
"Going out and being able to get feedback from kids, and seeing their joy and feeling that joy and excitement and wonder about the world really kind of fuels me," he says.
His advice for children who would like to one day become a writer, or follow whatever dream they harbour, is to chase their passions.
"I really think that there's a part in each of us that we don't have conscious control over, and it's that creative expression part," he explains. "For some people it comes in painting, for some people it comes in crocheting, and if we don't feed that part of ourselves, we die as people. So when your child says I want to be this, I think it's important, regardless, to really encourage it, because that's their soul speaking."
Berkowitz performed in front of the Grade 3 students from Juniper Elementary School on Nov. 17. Keith Dorion, an 8-year-old student, was blown away by the performance.
"I think it was great, and I thought the alien was real! I'm going to tell my friends that it was a real alien!" he enthuses. "I want to read lots of alien books now!"
You can learn more about Berkowitz's work, both past and up-and-coming, at www.jacobberkowtiz.com.
