Thalia Kids' Book Club: Ranger's Apprentice with John Flanagan

The Australian author makes a rare US appearance to talk about the long-awaited tenth and final book in the pulse-pounding action-adventure series that has become a worldwide phenomenon. Special guest appearance by the Story Pirates who will perform a scene from the book. Ages 8 - 12.

Story Pirates is a nationally respected arts and creative writing organization founded in 2003 to celebrate the words and ideas of young people, to promote literacy as a vital part of early childhood education, and to preserve the spark of youthful creativity often lost in the transition to adulthood.

Performance playlist:

Performance
Story Pirates

Conversation
John Flanagan and Madeline Cohen

A Discussion with the Audience

Madeline Cohen has been Symphony Space’s Education Director since 1989, and involved in arts education since 1978. She directs the Curriculum Arts Project (CAP) and the Global Arts Program, which gives thousands of students insight into the social studies curriculum through interaction with the arts and artists in the classroom, at museums and at Peter Norton Symphony Space. She co-organizes Symphony Space’s All Write! program for adult literacy students modeled after Symphony Space’s signature literary series, Selected Shorts, and is the co-director of the Thalia Book Club Camp. She is also a costume designer.

John Flanagan’s bestselling Ranger’s Apprentice adventure series originally comprised twenty short stories, which John wrote to encourage his twelve-year-old son, Michael, to enjoy reading. The series has come a long way since then. Now sold in more than twenty countries, the series regularly appears on the New York Times bestseller list and has been shortlisted in children’s book awards in Australia and overseas. John, a former television and advertising writer, lives with his wife, Leonie, in the Sydney, Australia beachside suburb of Manly. He is currently writing further titles in the Ranger’s Apprentice series.

Story Pirates is a nationally respected arts and creative writing organization founded in 2003 to celebrate the words and ideas of young people, to promote literacy as a vital part of early childhood education, and to preserve the spark of youthful creativity often lost in the transition to adulthood. The cornerstone of the company is the Play/Write Program, a series of creative writing and drama workshops that lead to a musical sketch comedy show acted by adults and comprised entirely of stories written by kids. The award winning show has been described as “Monty Python meets Schoolhouse Rock.” Based in New York and Los Angeles, Story Pirates now reaches hundreds of thousands of children in over 150 schools across the country.