Readers Rock

MERCEDES - Fifth-grader Denise Montoya shyly pulled out a second copy of "The Jumping Tree" for author Rene Saldaña Jr. to sign.

That copy was for her twin sister.

"Thanks for asking a question in there," Saldaña told Denise as he carefully signed the book.

Saldaña, poet, teacher and author with Random House Children's Books, visited John F. Kennedy Elementary School on Wednesday morning as part of the Reading Rock Stars program of the Texas Book Festival.

Carmen Tafolla, author of "That's Not Fair!, No Es Justo!" also spoke to the students later in the day.

This year's Reading Rock Stars was a collaboration between The University of Texas-Pan American and the Region One Education Service Center with the Texas Book Festival.

After receiving more than 70 applications from the Rio Grande Valley area, six schools were chosen to participate, reaching 3,500 children, the university Web site said.

The program focuses on brining children's book authors to schools to promote literature to students through an interactive presentation.

Each student also received a copy of the author's book.

On Tuesday, Saldana was at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in Pharr while Tafolla also traveled to Fields Elementary School in McAllen. Schools in Rio Hondo and Roma also had authors visit this week.

Saldaña said the event is "an incredible thing" because of the difficulty in qualifying for an author's visit - something Saldaña said he credits to the hard work of the school librarians and staff.

The idea that "literature isn't dead" among the youth is motivation for Saldaña.

"And (the students) get to interact, even in this format, with a living, breathing author," Saldaña said. "It's great for them to see that they really can do anything they set their minds to."

Colored bookmarks and homemade construction papered posters lined the hallway that led to the auditorium where Saldaña spoke.

At the end of his presentation, Saldaña answered questions about his book, his writing process and characters from the sea of students.

"I thought the teachers did a fantastic job in preparing the kids," Saldaña said. "The questions they had were really good."

Saldaña told a story about how he was floored when a third-grader named Rachel's gave her evaluation of the meaning behind the title of "The Jumping Tree" and later said he was once so inspired he ended up writing a poem in the middle of driving his vehicle.

Fifth-grader Laura Lopez said she and her class read the book before Saldaña's visit, and really enjoyed "The Jumping Tree."

But Laura said she had a preconceived notion that Saldaña would be wearing a suit like a businessman, and serious.

"But he was really funny," she said.

Saldaña, who is originally from the Rio Grande Valley, responded without hesitance to one of the final questions asked by the students.

Saldaña said his biggest personal accomplishment in life to date was when he received a Ph.D. from Georgia State University, something he said meant much to him considering he grew up in an area like South Texas.

"We can do it, it's just a matter of getting it done," Saldaña said to the students.