Pen pals

Deirdre Newman

NEWPORT-MESA -- Students at College Park Elementary School know how to

say “hello” and “goodbye” in a variety of foreign languages, thanks to a

book by Maxine Meltzer.

On Thursday, the students got the chance to show off their

international vocabulary to Meltzer when she visited the Costa Mesa

school as part of the district’s annual Author’s Festival.

The festival, in its sixth year in the district, featured 35 authors

who fanned out to the various elementary schools to share their writing

expertise.

At College Park, Meltzer explained her writing process and then read

her book, “Pups Speak Up,” along with the students. She said she

participates in the yearly reading extravaganza as a writing ambassador.

“I wish someone had come to me when I was that age, so I imagine

myself as a messenger to let people know to do what they enjoy,” Meltzer

said.

Before Meltzer came to the school, librarian Gay Royer read the book

to the students so they would be familiar with the greetings.

“I read her book not knowing how to say the words -- many of the kids

piped up with what they thought,” Royer said.

Meltzer, who grew up in Santa Monica, showed a slide presentation of

the writing process she used to write “Pups Speak Up” -- about dogs from

different countries saying “hello” and “goodbye” to each other. Then she

read the book with the students, encouraging them to echo the “hellos”

and “goodbyes.” “Hasta la vista, baby” was a crowd favorite and

illustrated how the students put their own twist on Meltzer’s phrases.

Meltzer emphasized to the student the importance of rewriting, showing

a lot of pages with scribbles on them during her slide show.

“I wish someone had given me this advice earlier,” Meltzer joked.

The students then had the opportunity to ask Meltzer questions about

writing.

The author earned rave reviews from the students for her book and her

presentation.

“It was cool,” said Edward Jaimes, 9. “Maybe I’ll get a copy of it and

talk to my friends in different languages.”For her finale, Meltzer

entertained the students by drawing various animals they suggested,

including an alligator riding a motorcycle -- while wearing a helmet, of

course.

“She’s a good artist,” said Kristy Figueroa, 9.

Royer said she might involve students in a drawing activity as a

follow-up to Meltzer’s visit.