And if I’m writing children’s literature, that’s really, you know, the best place for me. But one glance at it and you're inside the mind of another person ..." BookPage interview by Cat Acree February 11, 2015 There’s a moment in Kwame Alexander’s middle grade novel, The Crossover, when protagonist Josh Bell’s father is telling him all about jazz musician Horace Silver: “Josh, this cat is the real deal. by Kwame Alexander - A guide for parents, teachers, and group leaders to accompany the reading of this picture book. When she was born, I was reading the same stories to her, and watching her reacting to them. Follow along and learn the proper ingredients that go into creating a poem. Type of resource . I get a lot fewer nos than I got in the past, and a lot more yesses. All rights reserved. Ultimately, literature can inspire and engage and inform and empower you. How did you get the idea? But in terms of deciding on a career as a writer, that happened at Virginia Tech [Kwame’s alma mater]. But I don’t drink coffee; I drink lots of lemonade. I grew up around a mother who was a storyteller and who taught writing, and a father who was a book publisher and who wrote sixteen books, so books were, you know, a reward in my house. It’s very exciting. This was an extremely enlightening and poetic interview. Created by Weekend Edition Sunday (NPR) Listen to the Audio Share. Those are the real rewards, when you see your words having an impact on the world in general, and young people in particular. We give kids books we think they ought to read. Be done with it. It’s a lot more pressure. The guide below provides before, during, and after-reading discussion questions. Kwame: Thank you. Edward Kurdyla has written 5 posts on this blog. But books were also punishment. Author Interview: Kwame Alexander, "The Crossover" Author: Jake Aron Publish date: Apr 30, 2014. Kwame Alexander is a writer, poet and the Newbery-winning author of the book The Crossover. He is the author of many excellent books for young people, including novels-in-verse, works of … Or how a story changed their life, or made them see things differently. My name is Kwame Alexander. Kwame: Same thing. When am I gonna be successful?” And I kept getting the response, “There are people in front of you.” Or, “It’s not your time,” or “Just be patient.” And I’m still on the runway, and I stay on the runway for twenty-three years, and there were so many times I just wanted to turn around. Timothy: Hello Mr. Alexander. Kids want to take what they read, and they want the story to continue. I took a class with Nikki Giovanni, and sort of discovered the, you know, the power of poetry. Copyright © 2021 WETA Public Broadcasting, Visit WETA's other education websites: Start with a Book  |  Colorín Colorado  |  AdLit  |  LD OnLine, The reasons why some kids struggle with reading, Target the Problem! Or the international literacy work I did in Ghana where I worked with a group of colleagues and friends to build a library for a school that didn’t have one. Alexander believes that poetry can change the world, and he uses it to inspire and empower young people through his Book-in-a-Day literacy program which has created more than 3,000 student authors at 69 schools across the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean. My house was a library, literally. Kwame Alexander joins the Professional Book Nerds podcast to chat about the power of poetry, their shared background surrounded by books, and the literacy programs Kwame has launched And then on some Saturdays, my mother would take us to the Brooklyn Public Library, and we’d go to story-time. 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