On May 21st, 2018, we welcomed Mr. Mei Zihan with excitement and admiration. He is both a university professor and a writer. He has written many books for children, that are enjoyable and funny; he gave many words of wisdom to the children, both humorous and thought-provoking and he expressed many emotions, sentiments and fascinating ideas.
When Mr. Mei interacted with the children of the lower grades, he was full of fun. He answered questions and triggered reflections. The children of the lower grades showed a lot of innocence and raised many questions. For example: Did Dai Xiaoqiao and his buddies read the book when you were a child? Is Dai Xiaoqiao your own? Mei’s explanation of these questions were simple and easy-going, illustrating the memories and effective components of writing. When did you start writing? Mr. Mei said frankly: “When I was 19, I published my first work and I have been writing for more than 50 years.” The children sighed in astonishment and could not help but clapping their hands.
“What is literature? What is children’s literature?” At first glance, it was thought that when he entered the university classroom, in fact, Mr. Mei was engaged in reading and communication with high-grade children. Mei answered in a pure, clean way: “Literature refers to fiction, prose, fairy tales, poetry, and perhaps a new literary style that emerges later. Children’s literature is literature for children.” Excellent children’s literature will most definitely make you an emotional and sentimental person. Mr. Mei started a heart-to-heart discussion on classic literature and children, from the “The Wind of Liulin” to “The Adventures of Tom T. Sawyer”. When talking about “The Times of the Times Square,” Mei ended up with questions: “If you don’t have a good voice, will you be welcomed? Is he welcome, because he brought such a natural voice to the city? Is it a good thing for people who do not do good in the cities that specifically harm the city?” This series of questions attracted the children and they wanted to revisit this classic book. In this exchange, we naturally and fully embodied the students’ love for reading on weekdays and their familiarity with outstanding children’s literature.
Mr. Mei and the children’s reading discussions made for a difficult parting, because the children were all looking forward to reuniting with Mr. Mei again, sharing the excellent children’s literature that could trigger our thinking and weave our common spirit for reading.
Mr. Mei is such a teacher who is willing to light up the light of reading in our hearts, whether children or adults. In the humorous opening, he immediately sparked a reading light in the parents. In the course of Mei’s speech, parents had a taste of the life philosophy of the “Red Apple,” an unwritten book, and realised the unusualness of the four parts of the “Ordinary Book” and experienced the “most important thing”. The philosophy of parenting showed the deep and introverted love of his father in Dancing. Many parents shed tears when they talked about teacher Mei. This is the charm of children’s literature, which is the charm of Mr. Mei. “Interesting, thoughtful, and philosophical are suitable for childhood,” said Mr. Mei.
Reading is joyful. Reading is the simplest and purest way to enter another wonderful world. Today, we are immersed in reading through Mr. Mei’s lectures and feel the amazing feelings that reading can bring. Thanks to Mr. Mei, the “lighting person” of the children’s literature. Thanks to our students and parents, they are willing to light up their hearts with reading and be happy readers!