Loading...[PADUCAH] "Inside the dinosaur," Jayshawn Milliken figured correctly. His was an answer to Byron von Rosenberg's dangling verse, "Pinching the Dinosaur," and these are the first lines of a news story [Paducah Sun, July 13] about the second reading camp offered at Grace Episcopal Church. The camp was also featured in a television show, "Reflections," by Western Kentucky Community and Technical College Television that may be found here. The news story is published here with the permission of Paducah Sun reporter Steve Vantreese.
Kids' author blends silly with smart to help reading campers improve
By Steve Vantreese, Paducah Sun
"Inside the dinosaur," Jayshawn Milliken figured correctly.
His was an answer to Byron von Rosenberg's dangling verse, "Pinching the Dinosaur." The poem he recited leaves readers to wonder the whereabouts of a caveman who tweaks an angry reptilian just to hear it roar. Well, no more.
Participants in this week's second annual Reading Camp at Grace Episcopal Church on Tuesday were treated to readings by children's author and rhyming poet von Rosenberg. A suburban St. Louis resident who still works a day job for the Boy Scouts of America, he is in increasing demand for his published works, which intertwine subtle wisdom with overt silliness.
Best known for his "I Don't Want to Kiss a Llama," von Rosenberg is a guy who scoops up an entertaining word or quirky phrase and strikes out on the path of whimsy. He surprises himself to find lessons for living waiting a trail's end.
"I often start with a title and I don't plan for an ending," von Rosenberg said. "That will come from the words. Poems unfold in my mind and I have to catch them as they release."
He launched his writing when he composed a prayer for his terminally ill father. His father did die, but he learned through poetic process that his father's love and thoughts live on through him.
"I've learned that God's answers to prayers are 'yes' more often than we realize because we don't always recognize how he's answered us," von Rosenberg said.
Unlike that bittersweet poem, von Rosenberg mostly just has fun with words. He thrives to see them click with young readers.
"Discovering reading, having it all come together, is really almost like falling in love with it," von Rosenberg said. "This camp is about putting a little love on what can be a dry subject."
Reading Camp is a five-day binge of reading with and to third-and fourth-graders whom area schools have referred to soupup their literacy skills.
Grace Episcopal's the Rev. Libby Wade said her church and Paducah's First Presbyterian Church with help from Broadway United Methodist and Fountain Avenue Methodist host the camp for 24 students. It's free thanks to volunteers, including current and former teachers. Sponsors kick in transportation, meals and snacks.
Activities include skill groups, crafts and recreational jaunts such as swimming and fishing, Wade said. But the week revolves around reading, making it fun and a bigger part of the students' lives.
"It's amazing to see the change in just five days," Wade said. "It really can make a difference."
Wade said involving authors like von Rosenberg and making reading entertaining changes the way young people regard the written word.
Von Rosenberg's poetry and books can be found at the website idontwanttokissallama.com.
