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I Wish – written by Toon Tellegen and illustrated by Ingrid Godon in DC Family Reads – virtual event
@ DC Family Reads
@ Archipelago Books
Tue, Apr 6 - Tue, Apr 6 2021
I Wish in a special event during National Poetry Month, hosted by DC Family Reads
In celebration of National Poetry Month, this month’s DC Family Reads is I Wish which was written by Toon Tellegen, illustrated by Ingrid Godon and translated from the Dutch by David Colmer.
A virtual event “I Wish Book Talk with Author Daniel Handler” for young readers and families will be held on Tuesday April 6th at 1:30 p.m. on the platform Turning the Page DC
Daniel Handler–aka Lemony Snicket–will host the book talk for I Wish. He will share his reflections on the work, and also on the creations by Takoma Park Education Campus’ fifth graders who created poems and drawings inspired by I Wish.
DC Family Reads is a DC Public Library literacy program that complements DC Reads, featuring a book that families can enjoy reading, discussing and doing related activities together. This month’s book with 33 poems and intriguing portraits is a 2021 Notable Book of Children’s Poetry by the National Council of Teachers of English. The DC Reads program together with the event partners, encourage you to write a poem or to create art inspired by the book and to share it with Elsewhere Editions who will post it on their website.
About the Book
In thirty-three delightful poems by Toon Tellegen, paired with luminous portraits by Ingrid Godon, children wish for courage, a sudden miracle, an extremely unusual pet, or the ability to become a song, hummed by all those in love.
I Wish pairs poems with a gallery of portraits inspired by old-fashioned photographs – faces staring out at us with the serious, veiled expressions of a bygone time. Scattered among the paintings are young children, men and women, and babies, speaking through Toon Tellegen’s yearning poems. Like dozens of confessions poured from the page, the poems present a glittering kaleidoscope of wishes, from imagined feats of heroism to reciprocated human love.
About the Author:
Toon Tellegen is a Dutch writer and poet. He was a nominee for the 2020 Hans Christian Andersen Award. He has published more than twenty collections of poetry to date, including the 2001 winner of the British Poetry Society’s Popescu Prize for European Poetry in Translation, Raptors (Raafvogels), translated into English by Judith Wilkinson. Tellegen has also been awarded the Theo Thijssen Prize in 1997 and the Constantijn Huygens Prize in 2007, each for his full body of work.
About the Illustrator
Ingrid Godon is a Flemish children’s book illustrator. A born observer, her evocative drawings are charged with great seriousness and strangeness, with immense compassion for ordinary people. She was awarded the Boekenpauw Award and the Gouden Griffel in 2001 for her book with André Sollie, Wachten op Matroos. She also won the Boekenpauw Award in 2015 for Ik denk. Godon’s drawings in I Wish were exhibited at the museum M in Leuven and around Europe, and I Wish was nominated for the Deutsche Jugendliteraturpreis in 2011.
About the Translator:
David Colmer translates Dutch literature, including literary fiction, nonfiction, children’s books, and poetry. He is a four-time winner of the David Reid Poetry Translation Prize, and received the 2009 Biennial NSW Premier, a PEN Translation Prize, and an International Dublin Literary Award. In 2014, Colmer was also shortlisted for the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation for Even Now, a selection of the poetry of Hugo Claus.
Events
Tuesday, April 6, 1:30 p.m. | I Wish Book Talk with Author Daniel Handler
Tune in to Turning the Page DC where Daniel Handler aka Lemony Snicket will host a book talk for I Wish. He will share his reflections on the work, and also on the creations by Takoma Park Education Campus’ fifth graders who created poems and drawings inspired by I Wish.
Turning the Page DC is an education partner of DC Public Library.
Book Related Activities
Watch I Wish, the Movie via this YouTube link.
Puzzling Poetry App
Follow this link to download the Puzzling Poetry Treasure Chest App to create a poem in a fun way and learn more about Dutch poetry translated into English.
Follow this link to find more information about the developers and this gamified poetry experience. The app is available in the Apple app store and Google Play store. It was developed by Studio Louter, a Dutch Poet and the Dutch Foundation for Literature, and translated by David Colmer, who also translated I Wish into English!
Submit Your Work: Did I Wish inspire you to create a poem or picture? Then use this link to send it to Elsewhere Editions!
Ebook copies for DC Public Library members and Public School students
Collaboration
This program is a joint collaboration between Elsewhere Editions, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the United States, the Dutch Culture USA Never Grow Up! Program, DC Public Schools’ Library Program and Turning the Page DC.