ABC TV interview YA Author Mem Fox

[GOLLUM]

As per the ABC's strict guidelines this information this link is being used in the context of providing information or awareness to others interested in this topic and under no circiumstances is currently intentionaly or in the future ever to be used for the purposes of financial or commercial gain. You may however save a local copy to your PC or print for PERSONAL USE ONLY

Here's a link courtesy of ABC (Australian) TV of a recent interview with YA author Mem Fox.

Unfortunately the text isn't necessarily all that easy to read depending possibly on your browser settings.?

Alia if it's a problem to read maybe Brian can help..

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/transcripts/s1427993.htm

Hope you all enjoy this...

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Mem Fox sounds a lot more funny and interesting than the guy interviewing her. I like her combination of humor and passion. Thanks for the link, Gollum.

 

[GOLLUM]

Mem Fox sounds a lot more funny and interesting than the guy interviewing her. I like her combination of humor and passion. Thanks for the link, Gollum.

Actually I saw the inteveiw on TV and they were both pretty funny, you sorta needed to see the way Andrew delivers his lines, very funny guy....

Glad you liked the interview...

 

[Alia]

I didn't have an issue reading the article or with the link you provided Gollum and thanks for sharing...
Mem Fox talks like a mad woman though... but I would have loved to seen the actually interview. She does bring up several good points:

ANDREW DENTON: 1000 books. Sorry.



MEM FOX: 1000 books by the time they're five. But Andrew, it could be the same book 1000 times.



ANDREW DENTON: Sure. That's a big number though.



MEM FOX: No, it's not. Because I'm advocating people read aloud for 10 minutes a day. Because that's one per cent of the day. If you can't read aloud to your kid for 10 minutes, why have you got a child? Why have you got one? Wouldn't it have been better for you to have goldfish? Right? So we're reading aloud for 10 minutes. That's roughly three books. If we're doing that every single day we've done 1,000 books by the time the kid is 11 months. So it's not a lot of books at all. Between zero and five, it's easy as pie.



ANDREW DENTON: What difference does it make? What difference is there between a kid who's had all that reading and one who hasn't?



MEM FOX: There are lots of differences. And one of the major differences is an emotional difference. A knowledge that the child is loved by its parents is a HUGE benefit. And really the more I am involved in this the more I realise that the literacy arises out of the love that parents show for their children. By spending time with them. And when we're reading aloud to kids we are stimulating the brain in ways that we had never realised. And kids brains are just going berserk, particularly in the first four months of life.



ANDREW DENTON: So you reckon, "get into it right from the start"?



MEM FOX: If you're not reading in the first four months of life you're missing an opportunity to make your child very, very bright.



ANDREW DENTON: Other than classrooms and bedrooms where else would you like to see kids' books available?



MEM FOX: I'd love to see kids' books in police cars. Because I think that when police go to situations there are often children who are traumatised by whatever's going on around them. And they need to be taken somewhere and calmed down. (Laughs) There are all sorts of places. You know, a parent without a book on a plane always astounds me. How can a kid between Adelaide and Perth who's aged two be expected to behave? Why should they sit there in a seat for two and a half hours or whatever it takes?



ANDREW DENTON: They can read the card about the emergency procedures.



MEM FOX: If they've been read to in the first month of life perhaps they can!

There is a book in my library called "No, David, No." It's one of my favorites besides The Foot book... why? Because in "No, David, No" every child can relate to the main character at one point or another. Also, the words are simple and they quickly memorize them. Children as young as 1 1/2 come up to me with this book in hand and make listen to them while they read to me. It's very impressive... Reaching and touching a child's imagination, even with simple words such as "No, David." can lead a child to feel more confident and secure in who they are and inspire them to continue reading.
Even reading adult literature in front of them encourages a child too. I often times lay on the floor with my nose in a book. The kids will each get a book and still down and read with me. Often times, they talk to each other about the pictures and make up their own stories. Art work in a story is just as important as the words and the message that is trying to be said.

 

[GOLLUM]

Thanks alia, YEH that was the bit I was trying to allude to with the 10 mins/day thing LOL!!..

Thought this interview might be close to your passion of reading to the young....

YES, she is pretty animated in the interview I must say but mad she aint...

The interview I think is coming out on DVD with other highlights from the show so maybe if you're real nice I can send you a copy, although not sure on release date yet....

 

[Alia]

Thought this interview might be close to your passion of reading to the young....

Indeed it is, Gollum!

YES, she is pretty animated in the interview I must say but mad she aint...

The interview I think is coming out on DVD with other highlights from the show so maybe if you're real nice I can send you a copy, although not sure on release date yet....

It's good to hear she isn't mad... and I would love to see the video. I'll try to be very nice to you from now on. hehe

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Hold on there -- before you start peeling the man's grapes for him and cooling his heated brow with peacock feather fans, ask yourself this question: Will a DVD released in Australia work on an American machine?

 

[Alia]

*eyes widen*
*lowers fan*
*puts grapes back in the bowl*
Very good point Kelpie! I think not, if I know my systems right. Maybe there is another alternative? Gollum?

 

[GOLLUM]

Indeed it is, Gollum!

It's good to hear she isn't mad... and I would love to see the video. I'll try to be very nice to you from now on. hehe

If you can be nice for more then 24 hours I'll be impressed...

I'll see what I can do with the interview, in the meantime if you like if I come across any other YA interviews with authors I can post them too. Maybe it would be good to start a single thread called YA Interviews, so they all appear in the one place starting with this one, just an idea...

 

[Alia]

If you can be nice for more then 24 hours I'll be impressed...

I'm always nice. *hides can of silly string behind my back*

 

[GOLLUM]

I'm always nice. *hides can of silly string behind my back*

I know I know you're as sweet as Candy....

So is the YA interview thread a viable option?? (HINT: Think MEM FOX.... )

 

[Alia]

Yes Indeed it is Gollum... I will work on it right now. I know a website that talks about authors, so this should be fairly easy. Now that I said that, I've just jinks myself.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

If it's a general thread, people won't be seeing the name of someone they might be interested in reading about each time, and it might be harder to lure them in. And it seems like each interview might be worth its own thread anyway.

 

[Alia]

Good point... I will stew on it over night. Thanks Kelpie!

 

[GOLLUM]

Yep that issue Kelpie raises was in the back of my mind, was just trying to think of a clever way of consolidating things.

Actually what you could do possibly is if you could have another subforum under this YA subforum specifically called YA Author Interviews then you could have seperate threads for each individual author there. If technically possible then might be a way to go...

 

[Brian G Turner]

If you can be nice for more then 24 hours I'll be impressed...

I'll see what I can do with the interview, in the meantime if you like if I come across any other YA interviews with authors I can post them too. Maybe it would be good to start a single thread called YA Interviews, so they all appear in the one place starting with this one, just an idea...

Best to simply just link to other material for the time being as appropriate, as otherwise we could really fall foul of copyright issues.

I have a number of great interviews coming - however, if there are any YA authors out there you think the chronicles network should exclusvely interview, then do feel free to posts suggestions in this thread and I'll see what I can chase up.

 

[GOLLUM]

Best to simply just link to other material for the time being as appropriate, as otherwise we could really fall foul of copyright issues.

I have a number of great interviews coming - however, if there are any YA authors out there you think the chronicles network should exclusvely interview, then do feel free to posts suggestions in this thread and I'll see what I can chase up.

Do you mean Brian that it's still Ok to provide a hyperlink in a post to an interview residing on an official website eg ABC TV, that members here can click on to view rather than actually copying and posting the actual transcript of that interview into a post here. In other words what I did with the intial hyperlink at the start of this thread was OK but you're saying don't go any further than that other than obviously always acknowledging the source OR do you mean don't even provide a link to an interview at all unless Chroincles is doing them??...

Please carify....

 

[Brian G Turner]

It's absolutely fine to link to other sites - it's simply that we can't have the same material reposted here or else we're in danger of violating copyright.

Hope that clarifies...

 

[GOLLUM]

That's what I thought Brian but thanks for clarifying that...