Feature Week 28: The Reading Hour
Daniel and William Clarke
In week 28 of the National Year of Reading, we continue our focus on children's authors as we celebrate Children's Book Week and The Reading Hour. We feature Susanne Gervay and our junior ambassadors Daniel and William Clarke.
About Daniel and William
Daniel and William are two of our younger National Year of Reading ambassadors. They live in Sydney with their parents, and attend school just like average teenage boys. William and Daniel are however far from 'average'. They are passionate advocates for the orangutan, and together have raised over $600,000 to help save the orangutans habitat, with a target of $1 million. So far, their efforts have resulted in 10,500 acres of habitat being secured for the orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra through The Orangutan Project.
Daniel has cerebral palsy and is largely confined to a wheelchair, but this does not prevent him from travelling far and wide with William to speak at schools, clubs and other events to spread the message about the plight of the orangutans.
A few years ago, the boys travelled to Borneo to find out more about the orangutans, and wrote a book, 'Tears in the jungle', telling of their experience. Proceeds from the sale of the book are directed back to the orangutan projects.
To find out more about Daniel and William and their quest to save the orangutans, take a look at the following clip from the ABC 'Behind the News' program:
Daniel and William's thoughts on reading and the National Year of Reading
We think the National Year of Reading is a great initiative to help kids around Australia to become better readers. Our role as the youngest Ambassadors for the National Year of reading will help inspire kids to pick up a book and see how much fun reading can be. We hope to continue to inspire kids to read and to reach all corners of Australia with our message.
With our school talks, about saving the critically endangered orangutans and the reason why we wrote our book, 'Tears in the jungle', we hope to inspire more kids to read, to share a book and share ideas. When we share ideas we become more creative and gain a love of learning through reading.
Daniel
Daniel's reading habits
- When do you read? I tend to read at night as a way to quiet my mind down ready for sleep.
- Do you have a favourite genre? My favourite genre is spy / adventure although I do like biographies.
- Which book is by your bedside right now?
'The Henderson's boys: the escape' by Robert Muchamore.
- What was the last book you bought from a bookshop?
'The Henderson's boys: the prisoner' by Robert Muchamore.
- What was the last book you received as a gift?
I received 'Wildwood' by Colin Meloy as a gift from Paperchain Bookstore as a thank you for our providing our talk on the critically endangered orangutan.
- What was the last/first e-book you downloaded? 'The Henderson's boys: the escape' was the last ebook I downloaded.
- How do you get hold of books? My books come from Kindle and bookshops.
- Print books, e-reader or both? I tend to use eReaders more as I can't turn the pages of a normal paper book with my disability but I still like print books as they don't run out of charge.
- What's the first book you can remember reading or having read to you?
'Kipper' by Mick Inkpen and 'Thomas the tank engine' by Rev. W Audry. I loved my dad reading these to me at night.
- Did you like to read as a child? When I was a kid I didn't understand the real purpose of reading but now I understand the importance of reading and what you can learn from reading.
- Estimate the number of books you own. I have about 100 books. When I read a book I never throw it out – I just pass it on to family and friends.
- Where's the strangest place you have ever read?
In the middle of the Bornean Jungle at the Eco-Lodge where we were staying. I read 'Zac Power' books by H. I. Larry to the sounds of jungle gecko's clicking on the roof.
- What author or illustrator has most influenced you?
The author who has influenced me is Robert Muchamore. To read how he has created a spy adventure story from past historical events, I think, is amazing.
Daniel's favourite reads
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'Blood, sweat and steel' by Peter Darman
It really impacted me to see what serving soldiers have to go through every day.
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'Riding the black cockatoo' by John Danalis
It was really interesting to get an insight into Aboriginal culture and their ceremonies.
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'Stone cold' by Robert Swindells
'Stone cold' gave me a really different view upon homelessness and what they have to go through every night and every day.
William
William's reading habits
- When do you read? I read whenever I get the chance, mostly at night when I go to bed. But if I have a great book I'll take every opportunity to read it during the day, even in the car, and finish it within a couple of days.
- Do you have a favourite genre? I really enjoy reading Fantasy novels because I can really get lost into an adventure in a different world.
- Which book is by your bedside right now?
I am reading 'The hunger games' by Suzanne Collins, for the second time as I really enjoyed reading the series.
- What was the last book you bought from a bookshop?
The last book that I purchased from a bookstore is Bear Grylls' autobiography 'Mud, sweat and tears.'
- What was the last book you received as a gift?
'In the forest' by Anouck Boisrobert and Louis Rigaud was a gift to me from a book store in Canberra called The Paperchain Bookstore. It's an amazing popup book about the disappearing rainforests.
- Do your ever cheat and read the end of the book first? I always used to read the last page of a book when I was younger but I soon realised that it always spoiled the story for me, so now I don't even look a page ahead of where I'm reading.
- Do you skim the boring bits or read every word? I read every word of every page because I know that some crucial bits of information are most often in those boring bits.
- At what point do you give up on a book? I only give up on a book if it doesn't hook me in within the first 2 Chapters, and that has only happened a handful of times.
- What's the first book you can remember reading or having read to you?
'Hairy Maclairy from Donaldson's Dairy' By Lynley Dodd. My dad read this book to me almost every night and always did different voices for each character.
- Did you like to read as a child? My mum and dad started me off reading by giving me picture books as a toddler. I have always read since and love every book.
- Estimate the number of books you own. I have over 300 books and I would never let my mum throw out any of them because they are mostly my first books that I read.
- What author or illustrator has most influenced you?
J.K.Rowling has influenced me with the Harry Potter series because it was my introduction into fantasy and really stretching the limits of what could actually be possible in our world. The Harry Potter series gave me a better imagination and a creative mind.
William's favourite reads
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The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
With all the adventure, the spells and the creatures, Harry Potter gave me a new understanding of fantasy Novels.
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'Mud, sweat and tears' by Bear Grylls
Bear Grylls' autobiography really showed how much someone can achieve with passion and determination. It was a great read.
Children's Book Week
We congratulate all the winners of the 2012 Book of the Year Awards, particularly our National Year of Reading ambassadors, Jackie French, Nick Bland, Alison Lester and Anh Do. A list of the winners can be found on the CBCA website.
The Reading Hour
We know it's not always possible for parents to share a book at bedtime with their children, but if you can manage 10 minutes most nights, your child will have the best chance of becoming a good reader, with all the social and educational benefits that brings.
Take a look at this wonderful video produced by Disney Junior in support of The Reading Hour:
The Reading Hour is for everyone and events for all age groups will be held around Australia on August 25th 2012, and in the weeks before and after. Visit your local library or bookstore to find out what events and activities are taking place, or check our events calendar:
Want more information about The Reading Hour?
Want to know more?
- To read more about Daniel and William, take a look at their website, facebook and twitter connections:
- You might also be interested in taking a look at our other featured ambassador for this week, Susanne Gervay:
- If you want to see the other National Year of Reading ambassadors, go to our ambassadors page.
- Other featured ambassadors can be found on the ambassador feature week listing.
