Hopes and dreams in kids' poems

The NZ Herald has published an article on 25 Jan 2019 titled 'Astronaut ancestor inspires 8-year-old writer' (hard copy title: Hopes and dreams in kids' poems), available here. Extracts from the article follow:

Milan Muller, an 8-year-old writer at St Joseph's School in Ōtāhuhu, writes poetry from his own life experience.

Not many Kiwi 8-year-olds have an astronaut in the family, but Milan is one of a growing number who are learning to read and write about things that are relevant to them and their community, rather than from standardised textbooks.

For the past four years, St Joseph's and four other Ōtāhuhu primary and intermediate schools have brought in local writers through the NZ Book Council to help their children to write and publish their own books. ...

St Joseph's principal Liz Horgan says the scheme grew out of the Reading Together® programme, which encourages parents to support their children's reading, in their own language if necessary. English is a second language for a third of the school's children.

Parents attend the annual launch of books written by students at all five schools in the scheme, held last November at Ōtāhuhu Primary School.

Further Information: Writers in Communities - Ōtāhuhu Book Launch Nov 2018