Pupils at San Bastjan primary school enjoyed a hands-on experience putting a book together thanks to a project spearheaded by assistant head Mark Camilleri.
For three days earlier this month, children attending San Bastjan Primary in Qormi, part of St Ignatius College, went through the entire process of book-making. From the writing to the editing to the illustrations and cover, the children carried out a number of activities related to the creation of a book. And, what’s more, they loved it.
Although it was planned around World Book Day, the event had long been coming. Mark Camilleri, assistant head at the school, had planned it meticulously for several months.
Camilleri’s idea was to get the children to engage in the whole process of putting together a book – not just the writing - but also the editing, the illustrations and design and the publishing. Rather than giving them reading as just another lesson, he created an experience based around the creation of the book.
“Preaching doesn’t work with children; you have to put in passion.”
The events – spread out for an hour on different days – were tailored according to the different age groups. Camilleri built up the momentum beforehand by setting specific tasks which would then come to fruition during the event. Eventually, the children started looking forward to it.
So the youngest children, the Year 1s, gathered in the school hall, where they sat on cushions and met children’s writer Sandra Hili Vassallo, who led an event involving storytelling and crafts.
The children wrote words in a provided template according to the subject chosen.
Second years met Trevor Zahra for an event involving storytelling, crafts and a question and answer session with the author. Both these events were followed by a mini-book fair with books in Maltese by Merlin Publishers and even book signing.
“This was an experience also for the parents. They overwhelmed us with the book sales. This was important to us as an early start is key to a lifetime of reading. We were happy to see parents encouraging and supporting their children’s engagement with reading.”
The idea was to get the children to engage in the whole process
Third years produced a big book of three stories in Maltese (one from each class) themed around animals being friends. They also had a session with local author Rita Saliba where they ‘cooked’a new story using words provided by themselves.
Fourth year classes each presented their own book in Maltese – centred around the theme of childhood. The children spoke about their work and discussed it with Zahra. “The kids came up with three different stories. One was a story about a pencil, Qawsallinu, written from the point of view of the pencil. Another was about the experience of children in school and another focused on traditional folklore linked with childhood. Having Zahra discussing their work and giving them feedback was a major boost for them.”
Fifth years met young illustrator and cartoonist Camilleri Scicluna. In the run-up to the event, each Year 5 class had been provided with a different book synopsis and in groupwork the children created a book cover based around the synopsis. Each class made four versions. “The end results were excellent, even better than I expected.”
Year 6 students wrote a story – about any subject they liked – in Maltese and discussed some of them. They also met Chris Gruppetta, director and editor of Merlin Publishers, who shared his experiences of publishing.
Throughout the events the children were completely engrossed, says Camilleri. “They did it all out of their own free will, learnt about books, acquired other skills such as articulacy and public speaking and got to know each other’s talents.” For him, it made the months of planning, coordination, e-mails and headaches worth their while. “In fact, I’m even thinking of including printing next year.”
As a writer of two published novels, Prima Facie and Volens, Camilleri knows that reading is at the heart of learning. For him, books – in more ways than one – are physical entities with a real existence.
“I started reading at a very young age. Then, in my early 20s, I discovered Sherlock Holmes, Montalbano and Ian Rankin. At the time there was a gap in the Maltese market: crime novels. So in 2008 I started writing, without knowing if my work would ever be published.”
“When I was a teacher I used to discuss writing with my students. Then you get a different response from children rather than when you just ask them to read. Children can feel the excitement. Some of the groups who took part in these events were not academic – but they came up with some incredible things which boosted their confidence… Now when they see a book, it is no longer the same as before.”