Reading Club: Children’s Literature | The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly

Our Reading Club for young book lovers continues through the summer, and welcomes a new hostess, the theater educator Artemis Manou. 

The book that will inspire this month’s meeting is “The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly” by Hwang Sun-mi. 

Our young readers will have the chance to share their impressions, feelings and thoughts, as well as to travel, using their imagination as the vehicle and the book of the month as their launch pad, into the exciting worlds that spring up from its pages. 

The book:

“Sprout was a hen destined to lay eggs, which meant that she was bred for that precise purpose; for her eggs”. 

Is that a life? To exist only to lay eggs? And – even worse – only to have those eggs taken away to sell in the market? What can a hen do, when her destiny is predetermined? Could she change that destiny? Can a hen dream? Those are a few of the questions we’ll ponder while reading the book we’ve chosen for this month. 

“The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly” is a book written in a simple and accessible language, and an allegorical tale on life, that can sweep young readers into a world full of adventure, passion, loyalty, humanity and love. A world where everyone – no matter the difficulties – can make their dreams come true. As long as they want to. 
And if it seems a bit long, just start at the beginning, without worrying about reaching the end, and see how it goes… Because sometimes… you might surprise yourself… with all that you can achieve! In any case, we’ll all try to follow Sprout on her journey, and even bring her to life through thoughts, words and games. So, when you come to our meeting, don’t forget to bring along a dream of your own! (Or, if you write it down on paper, bring that with you so we can all dream it together!) 

The author:

The book’s author, Hwang Sun-mi, was born in South Korea and her writing career began in 1995, with the exact same book that we’ll be reading, which became an international bestseller and made into a film. She has received several awards in Korea, and teaches Literature at the Seoul Institute of the Arts. 

The Reading Club hostess: 

Artemis Manou completed her undergraduate studies at the Faculty of Philology (majoring in Linguistics) of the University of Athens School of Philosophy, and gained a Master’s Degree in Teaching Modern Greek as a Foreign/Second Language; she also attended the Vasilis Diamantopoulos School of Drama. Having spent several years working in private education and as an actor, in 2009 she combined her love for theater and children as a facilitator and director of theater groups. She has worked with the Onassis Foundation Stegi on the Youth Theater Festival, writing plays and staging performances for teenagers, and was a contributor in the experiential learning program “Contemporary Art: first you live… then you understand” held by the Onassis Stegi in primary schools, where she organized, along with Jenny Argyriou, Andreas Kasapis and Myrto Tikov, creative expression workshops based on stimuli from contemporary art. Since 2017, she runs workshops for children, teenagers and education professionals at the National Theater. She has written a total of 15 plays for young people. The National Theater’s program “Theater in Greek”, addressed to Greek and refugee teenagers, holds a special place in her heart. Her play “To Taxidi”, which she co-wrote with Vangelis Kyriakou, was included in the repertoire of the Young People’s Stage of the National Theater (“Mikro Ethniko”) in 2018. She was born and lives in Athens. But she dreams of living in many more places – along with her family. 

Friday 23/07
19.00-20.15

MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN

For children aged 7 to 10 years old
Up to 27 participants
Free participation by online pre-registration

Preregistration starts on Friday 02/07 at 12.00

To take part in the Reading Club, all registered participants are required to read the book of the month. 

“The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly” is available in Greek translation by Dioptra Publications. 

In the context of the collaboration between the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center and the National Library of Greece, the children's book of July’s Reading Club has been selected by the Staff of the NLG.
 

The use of face mask and social distancing measures are mandatory in indoor and outdoor areas of the SNFCC, in accordance with Hellenic National Public Health Organization regulations.

Due to public health measures, there may be changes regarding either the staging of the event, or the maximum number of participants.

Children should always be accompanied by parents or adult chaperones, who should stay outside the activity area for as long as the activity lasts.