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They pledged to be readers forever
Hans Kaushik of Magic Lantern lightens the mood with lines from Lewis Carroll's classics. — Photo: K.V. Srinivasan
AT THE Chennai edition of the sixth annual global `read-a-thon', children from 38 schools pledged to make books a part of their lives and be readers, now and forever.
Scholastic, the publisher, declared December 3 as the official `Scholastic Read for 2005 Day' to promote child literacy around the world.
On Friday, at Church Park School, Anna Salai, children saw just how dramatic reading could become.
Hans, Dayal and Pravin of Magic Lantern started with Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky with all its nonsense words about a brave boy who slays a monster.
"Twas brillig and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe."
And the 200 children watched as the actors moved into the audience, reading aloud, and improvising as they went along.
Hans revelled the crowd, during the reading of `The Hunting of the Snark' by Lewis Carroll.
He roared and mimed, in a booming voice that carried across the huge hall.
There was another reading earlier by Nicola Jeremiah from the British Council who chose a poem about a vegetarian lion who ate carrots and concluded with Roald Dahl's version of Dick Whittington.
Students of the host school did a spot of reading too — a poem on an Oyster, an explanation of the idiom `eat my hat' and a couple of Hindi stories.
According to Jyoti Swaroop, regional director, Scholastic India, the programme was organised to encourage students to share the joy, magic and excitement of reading.
By Dhanya Parthasarathy
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