Janet S. Wong - Author of Acclaimed Children's Books

I like to reserve the summer, as well as September and June, for writing new books, since my work as a visiting author keeps me pretty busy from October through May. November and March are filled with speaking at conferences. During January, April and May, these popular special programs keep me fully occupied!

Lunar New Year Program
January and February

In my Lunar New Year program (done in January and February), I focus on both Chinese and Korean customs – as I experienced them, as a Chinese-Korean child born and raised in Los Angeles. To me, the lunar new year has always been a time for hope, a time for a fresh start, new dreams and goals. It comes at a different time each year, somewhere between mid-January and mid-February – and always soon after I've managed to forget my New Year's Resolutions!

This next new year
is going to be good,

the best year ever.
I feel it in my hands.

– from This Next New Year

You can read more about these lunar new year customs in an article I wrote called "Moon Soup," originally published in the January 1997 issue of Scholastic's Instructor Magazine (Intermediate Edition).

National Poetry Month
April

April is National Poetry Month – but it's not the only time to schedule a visit by a poet. It certainly is my busiest month, though, so if you'd like to schedule a program in April, please try to make arrangements with me six months to a year in advance!

Many schools have booked me in advance of National Poetry Month – to work with their teachers, writing and talking about poetry together. In my teacher workshops, I share my favorite collections of poetry by other authors, focusing on multicultural collections and poems that fit common themes. I also discuss rhyme, repetition, rhythm, alliteration, metaphor and simile, and share techniques for revision. Poetry is being used more frequently on standardized tests, and is a great tool for the teaching of reading and writing!

Mother's Day Program
May

For my Mother's Day program, which I do both before and after Mother's Day in May, I focus on my book The Rainbow Hand: Poems about Mothers and Children, reading poems that touch on many aspects of the mother-child relationship. When I wrote the poems for that book, I hoped that a child – eight or forty-eight – would want to share the poems in it with her mother, maybe with a mushy little note tucked inside. Not all the poems in The Rainbow Hand are loving and sweet, though, and a few of the poems are even a bit angry at this meat loaf cook who ruins plans and nags about the messy house (as my mother still does). No one drives me crazy the way my mother can, this onion of a mother who makes me cry. But without her, who would I be?

All year round, in my metaphor/simile workshops – not just in May – I give children the opportunity to change their mothers and grandmothers and aunts – and fathers and grandfathers and uncles – into plants, animals and objects, in their own poems. They come up with incredible images! Here is one of my favorites, invented by a sixth grade girl with braces on her teeth:

My mother is like braces.
Yes, she is a pain to deal with –
but she straightens me out!

Another favorite came from a kindergartner, who said:

My mother
is like the sun
because she makes me feel warm
inside
and helps me
grow.

A third favorite was offered by a high school senior, a girl with long red fingernails and lots of makeup, who said:

My mother is like an owl.
She stays up late at night
waiting for me,
spying on me,
asking me
Who?
Who were you talking to?
Who else was there?
Who? Who?
And she knows it all.


		I like to reserve the summer, as well as September and June, for writing new books, since my work as a visiting author keeps me pretty busy from October through May. November and March are filled with speaking at conferences. During January, April and May, these popular special programs keep me fully occupied! Lunar New Year Program January and February In my Lunar New Year program (done in January and February), I focus on both Chinese and Korean customs – as I experienced them, as a Chinese-Korean child born and raised in Los Angeles. To me, the lunar new year has always been a time for hope, a time for a fresh start, new dreams and goals. It comes at a different time each year, somewhere between mid-January and mid-February – and always soon after I've managed to forget my New Year's Resolutions! This next new year is going to be good, the best year ever. I feel it in my hands. – from This Next New Year You can read more about these lunar new year customs in an article I wrote called "Moon Soup," originally published in the January 1997 issue of Scholastic's Instructor Magazine (Intermediate Edition). National Poetry Month April April is National Poetry Month – but it's not the only time to schedule a visit by a poet. It certainly is my busiest month, though, so if you'd like to schedule a program in April, please try to make arrangements with me six months to a year in advance! Many schools have booked me in advance of National Poetry Month – to work with their teachers, writing and talking about poetry together. In my teacher workshops, I share my favorite collections of poetry by other authors, focusing on multicultural collections and poems that fit common themes. I also discuss rhyme, repetition, rhythm, alliteration, metaphor and simile, and share techniques for revision. Poetry is being used more frequently on standardized tests, and is a great tool for the teaching of reading and writing! Mother's Day Program May For my Mother's Day program, which I do both before and after Mother's Day in May, I focus on my book The Rainbow Hand: Poems about Mothers and Children, reading poems that touch on many aspects of the mother-child relationship. When I wrote the poems for that book, I hoped that a child – eight or forty-eight – would want to share the poems in it with her mother, maybe with a mushy little note tucked inside. Not all the poems in The Rainbow Hand are loving and sweet, though, and a few of the poems are even a bit angry at this meat loaf cook who ruins plans and nags about the messy house (as my mother still does). No one drives me crazy the way my mother can, this onion of a mother who makes me cry. But without her, who would I be? All year round, in my metaphor/simile workshops – not just in May – I give children the opportunity to change their mothers and grandmothers and aunts – and fathers and grandfathers and uncles – into plants, animals and objects, in their own poems. They come up with incredible images! Here is one of my favorites, invented by a sixth grade girl with braces on her teeth: My mother is like braces. Yes, she is a pain to deal with – but she straightens me out! Another favorite came from a kindergartner, who said: My mother is like the sun because she makes me feel warm inside and helps me grow. A third favorite was offered by a high school senior, a girl with long red fingernails and lots of makeup, who said: My mother is like an owl. She stays up late at night waiting for me, spying on me, asking me Who? Who were you talking to? Who else was there? Who? Who? And she knows it all.
		Copyright © 1999 Janet S. Wong. All Rights Reserved.