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An Interview
with Kalli Dakos
On the release of her book,
Our Principal Promised
to Kiss a Pig
Principals
never kissed pigs when I was in school. Do they really do crazy things
like this now?
I met one principal
who refused to do things that made him look silly, but most principals
will do just about anything to bring joy and life into their school
programs.
If you use the key
words "principal" and "pig" on the internet, you will
discover that hundreds of principals have actually kissed pigs in front of
audiences of children.
The principals are
usually encouraging children to read large numbers of books, or to meet
another school goal that requires special motivation. The day of the
actual kiss is a celebration of the students' success in reaching the
goal.
Where did you
get the idea to name the pig, Hamlet?
My daughter has
always been my best editor. After I wrote the original version of this
story, I asked her to read it and to give me feedback. She loved the idea
of turning the pig into Hamlet, and having him speak Shakespearean verse.
We stayed up that entire night and began looking for Shakespearean
references that would fit the text of the story.
Isn't
Shakespeare difficult for children who are at the picture book level?
Children love to
play with language, and Shakespeare is a great writer to build on this
love. Even kindergarten children love to chant our pig's lines, and the
fact that the words are different and a bit difficult make it all the more
challenging.
Elaine Flood of
Oswego BOCES says, "Kids have always loved the nursery rhymes and
they certainly don't understand every word." This book builds on the
same philosophy that children don't have to understand every word, and
that they respond to the rhythm and the melody of the language.
I've always used
Shakespeare in my elementary school reading programs, and if the plays are
taught properly, the kids have a natural love for the Bard's work.
I think this book
can be used at all grade levels. In high schools students can take on the
challenge of identifying the plays and the passages that we have adapted
from Shakespeare. The answers are at the end of the book.
I've come to realize
how we can use Shakespeare's work to help students, at all grade levels,
with their writing skills. On the night before the big kiss, Hamlet is so
worried that he can't sleep. Now, he could say something very boring like:
I can't sleep tonight because I have to kiss the principal
tomorrow and
I don't want to.
Or he could use
fiery language to really get his feelings across:
Oh heavy heart, do not weep,
This kiss has
murdered sleep.
I tell the kids that
the next time they can't sleep because they have a big test, they should
tell their parents:
This test has murdered sleep!
Would you tell
us about Carl DiRocco, the illustrator of the book?
Yes, Carl is a
graduate of the New England School of Art & Design in Boston. He is a
graphic designer during the day, and an illustrator on weekends and
evenings. Our Principal Promised to Kiss a Pig is his second children's
book. He lives in Reading, PA with his wife and three sons, and they are
all excited about this book.
Alicia and I loved
Carl's illustrations right from the beginning! It's hard enough for an
illustrator to please one author, but in this case both authors fell in
love with his artistic vision of Hamlet.
Kirkus reviews says,
"DiRocco's artwork is fittingly busy and possesses good Elizabethan
costumery and lots of funny detail."
You'll have to look
carefully at the artwork because the funny details surprised and delighted
the authors as well.
Was it hard to
find someone to publish this book?
Yes, it was. I had
several companies that said they would publish the book, if I took the
Shakespearean references out of it. But, Alicia and I felt that the book's
magic was in those very references.
It was my years of
teaching Shakespeare at the elementary school level that helped me believe
that children were capable of taking on the challenges of this book.
Abby Levine, a
senior editor at Albert Whitman & Co in Morton Grove, Illinois, felt
the same way. Rather than fearing the Shakespearean component, she
embraced it, and did a splendid job, helping us to make this wonderful
verse available to children of all ages.
What do you
hope to accomplish with this book?
I think we're going
to have children chanting our adaptations of Shakespearean verse and
having lots of fun with it. By the time they get to high school, they will
be familiar with the language and rhythms of the Bard himself.
I hope teachers,
parents, and children will put on stage productions of this story. I turn
teachers into actors on my school visits, and I give them about three
minutes to learn their parts. Somehow we pull off the productions and the
kids especially love the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet.
Like Shakespeare's
plays, this book was meant to be read out loud and performed.
On a more
general note, how do you feel about education today?
I visit schools all
over the United States and Canada, and I see the work of dedicated,
hard-working teachers everywhere. I do feel that they are operating under
severe pressures because of the emphasis on testing, and I hope that this
will change over the course of the next few years.
What Other
Books Have You Written?
I have written over
two thousands poems about life in our elementary school classrooms, and
they have been published in my many anthologies of poetry with titles
like: If You're Not Here, Please Raise Your Hand The Bug in Teacher's
Coffee The Goof Who Invented Homework Mrs. Cole on an Onion Roll Don't
Read This Book, Whatever You Do! Get Out of the Alphabet, Number 2 The
Greatest Magic (Poems for Teachers)
What is the
most important lesson you have learned from your books and your school
visits about educating children?
I have one statement
that I truly believe is the most important one I have ever made in all my
writings. It goes like this:
When we operate from
within the spirit of childhood, we have our greatest power as educators.
I think the next
step in education has little to do with technology and testing. We need to
really look at how young children learn best, and then we need to
implement programs that support this learning.
I use a lot of toys
and props in my presentations with teachers and students, and have found
that "magic" happens when we play our way to love of reading and
writing.
I have a little
toilet that flushes, and I use it with some of my bathroom poems. A child
is picked from the audience to plunge the toilet with a small toy plunger.
There is something magical that happens here, and it becomes a part of the
literacy experience. The children are pulled into the poem through play,
and afterwards they want to read and write poetry.
I think that when a
principal kisses a pig, he is "playing" with the children, and
they respond whole-heartedly. It's as if "play" is the language
of childhood, and most adults have forgotten the basic vocabulary. How can
we teach children if we don't even speak the same language?
Will you have
a toy to go with your new book?
I have an adorable
little plush toy, Hamlet, sitting on my desk. He looks exactly like the
illustration in the book with his arms crossed over his chest, and a look
on his face that says:
I won't do it!
We're still trying
to decide how to make the best use of this very special toy.
We've also performed
the story with masks of the characters, and this is a lot of fun too.
Are you
writing any new books?
Yes! Yes! There are
always more writing projects than time to do them. I lived in small Inuit
community above the Arctic Circle one year, and the children had RECESS IN
THE DARK, during the long winter months. I've always wanted to write an
anthology of poetry on this topic, and I'm working on it now.
I'm also finishing
up a manuscript titled; Jeremy's Rooster Laid an Egg. During my first year
of teaching, Carlos brought his pet rooster for sharing time. It laid an
egg at school that day, and we all found out that Carlos' rooster was
really a hen.
Schools are filled
with crazy stories like this, and I wove many of them together into one
hectic day in a child's life. Carlos goes out for a fire drill in his
underwear, gets in trouble for saying the B word, brings ants to school in
his book bag, and chases Jeremy's rooster all over the school.
I'm also working on
a selection of Bathroom Poems to go with my small, flushing toilets. This
book has surprised me because so many of the poems are very sad. In our
elementary schools, the only place for some children to go and hide with
their tears is the bathroom.
Do you have
any concluding remarks about your new book?
I remember a
statement made to me by an old Inuit woman many years ago. She said,
"I cannot read and I feel as if I am blind."
More than ever our
children need to find vision, hope, inspiration and joy in the printed
word. There are so many evil forces in our society today ready to devour
the attention of even our youngest children.
I hope parents,
grandparents, and teachers will take the time to read this book with both
feeling and expression to the special children in their lives. In this age
of technology, I am still convinced that a comfortable chair, a special
book, and the enthusiasm of an adult who loves language and literature can
make all the difference in a child's life.
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