Meet Our Winner!
Michigan School Librarian Karen Alberts has won a trip for two to the London premiere of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the WardrobeNovember 16, 2005
BOSTON - What more fitting place could there be to reach the winner of our Educator's Sweepstakes than at a Library Media Conference? That's exactly where Karen Alberts was when she received our call telling her that she had won a trip for two to the London World Premiere of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Her obvious dedication to her career as a school librarian and enthusiasm for the novel only became clearer in an interview after she had won.
Mrs. Alberts—the school librarian at All Saints Catholic School, a K-8 school in Canton, Michigan—has been a Narnia fan since she read the books in middle school. "I think it's a wonderful series because it appeals to many different kinds of readers. It's got fantasy; it's got adventure; it's got boys and girls. Magical lands have great appeal to children because anything can happen there. Fantasy lets kids' imaginations soar," Mrs. Alberts told us. She often suggests the series to her young readers, emphasizing the fantasy or the adventure depending on her student. When asked what she'd tell other librarians about using the series, she encourages them "to give it a try. I highly recommend it because it has such appeal to kids. Even if they personally are not familiar with the series or they're not fantasy fans themselves, they can still promote the series."
She is convinced that releases of great film adaptations can bring kids back to the books on which they're based. In preparation for the December 9th release (and before getting her call from Walden Media), Mrs. Alberts themed out her library with a large map of Narnia, Walden Media materials, a mini-poster for the movie, and a 3-D lamppost that she built herself! She wants her display to get kids asking "What's this?" and "Where's that?" so that she can point them to the book. She told us, "I think it's great that you guys are creating movies from books. Kids today are so visually stimulated and that's what gets their attention. Movie adaptations and promotions of movies bring kids back to the books by piquing their interest. And if that gets their attention and inspires them to read the book, that's great."
The main point, though, is to bring kids back to the book, one of Walden Media's chief goals. A firm believer in reading the book first, she told us that she likes to "get the students to read the book first so it sparks their imagination and gets them thinking about the story. Then, when they see the movie, this can promote some wonderful class discussion about what the filmmakers included, what they didn't, and why they included what they did. I've had some great discussions with my students about this. Even other students who haven't read the book or seen the movie get stimulated by these discussions and they want to read the book and see the movie. My motto is never judge a book by its movie."
Walden Media is very excited to offer this once-in-a-lifetime experience to such a dedicated educator and true fan of the series. We look forward to hearing Mrs. Alberts' thoughts after the premiere, but for now she tells us, "I am so excited, I cannot tell you. My feet have not touched ground since I was told I won."
