Rona Arato

Readings

I introduce Ice Cream Town as a story about a boy looking for acceptance in a new country. Sammy is nine years old when he and his sister Malka come to New York to meet their father. Their mother died in the influenza epidemic following World War I. Their father, who left before the war, is virtually a stranger. Sammy faces many challenges in his new home. He must learn a language, deal with strange customs and make friends. The latter, he learns, means joining a gang. Now Sammy has to weigh loyalty to his new friends, who often lead him into trouble, and keeping the family’s traditions that his father wants him to respect.

Issues in the book include immigration, bullying, gangs, and cultural differences. Using photos, I show the children pictures of Ellis Island and the Lower East Side along with comparable photos of Pier 39 in Halifax and street scenes from Toronto and Montreal. I discuss the challenges that immigrants faced including adjusting to a new culture, language, food, and customs. I ask them if any of them have moved to a new country, city or community. What was it like for them? Did their parents or grandparents immigrate? How do Sammy’s problems relate to those that today’s immigrants to Canada face? How have these issues changed? How are they the same? What can they do to help new children who move into their neighbourhood and come to their school?

When I do a reading, children always ask where I got the idea for my book Ice Cream Town. I tell them that I heard my father’s stories about when, as a child, he came to New York from Poland in 1920. This makes a good springboard to discuss immigration and family histories. I tell the children that my book is Historical Fiction. That means that I took something that really happened and turned it into a story. I explain that the difference between biography and fiction is that in fiction you can make up conversations and events. In both, however, you have to research to make sure the facts about the time and place are correct. I suggest the children ask their parents and grandparents where they came from and write down their stories.

I can also do a separate session on interviewing techniques to help children record family stories. I can do this with the children or in a multi-generational session where the children bring a parent or grandparent to school and we conduct the interviews right there.

Book Sales:

Copies of books can be brought to be sold and autographed.

Workshops

Please contact Rona for details.

Special Equipment:

If I am using a PowerPoint, I will need a screen.

Book Sales:

Copies of books can be brought to be sold and autographed.

Biography

Rona Arato of Toronto, Ontario has been a writer and editor for over 25 years. Her work has appeared in magazines and newspapers in Canada and the United States. Rona is the author of Fossils: Clues to Ancient Life, World of Water and Ice Cream Town. Rona holds a degree in Elementary Education from U.C.L.A. She taught elementary school in Los Angeles and Toronto, adult Creative Writing for the Toronto District Board and has conducted business writing workshops for profit and non-profit organizations. She has written educational materials for organizations including Mosdos Press in Cleveland, Girl Guides of Canada, and B’nai Brith Canada. From 1994-1998, she was an interviewer for Survivors of the Shoa, a Steven Spielberg project that recorded the histories of Holocaust survivors. Rona is available to conduct readings on Ice Cream Town, and creative writing workshops on creative writing, writing family stories, and interviewing techniques.