Authors Sven Gerhardt, Mira Valentin, and Andreas Steinhöfel treated the audience to an entertaining evening at the well-established annual early-summer event hosted by the MENTOR association—Die Leselernhelfer—at the Steinmühle Forum.
The three readings, which could hardly have been more different, were interspersed with musical performances—not only a treat for the ears, but also a visual treat thanks to the many singers in attendance.
On the bestseller list
Sven Gerhardt says he “almost became a teacher,” but then decided to write children’s books—and did so with great success. He has written 28 of them and made it onto the bestseller list. At the Steinmühlenforum, he took the audience on a journey to the Wahrlichwald, transporting listeners to another place in their minds for a while. That, too, can be a great way to unwind at the end of a workday!
Captivated by the lecture
Andreas Steinhöfel, a crowd favorite, multiple award-winning children’s book author, and patron of MENTOR, never fails to captivate his audience in a special way. With his work and its protagonist, “Inger,” he once again ensured that the people in the packed hall could let their minds wander for a while, while at the same time remaining captivated by Steinhöfel’s style of storytelling and by the plot, which allowed the audience to identify deeply with the characters.
Great Fantasies
Mira Valentin transported the audience to another world for the duration of her reading. “Melek vs. the Jinn” was the theme of her evening, and the literary journey was brimming with fantasies, dreams, and discoveries. The setting for the story, however, was “the forest near Buchenau”—that is, the Marburg countryside, where all three authors call home.
Musical Variety with WirSing
Several performances by the WirSing choir, conducted by tenor and Steinmühlen music teacher Daniel Sans, added an extra touch of musical flair to the evening. It was clear to everyone that they were having a lot of fun, as was evident in Daniel Sans’s professional piano playing.
One-quarter of the population cannot read
Listening to all these performances, one almost forgot the actually not-so-joyful reason behind this lovely evening. Time and again, it’s hard to imagine that 25 percent of fourth-graders have little or no reading skills by the end of elementary school. – It’s therefore obvious why MENTOR has made it its mission to improve children’s reading skills with the help of volunteers. Parts of Marburg’s business community are also committed to this cause, and their representatives were also in the audience.
An Important Social Issue
MENTOR Chairwoman Inge Maisch and board members Irmgard König, Dr. Michaele Künzel, and Gisela Falk thanked everyone who advocates for this cause—regardless of their role. This also applied to the host, Björn Gemmer, principal of Steinmühle School, who sees a close connection between the association’s self-imposed mission and the concerns of Steinmühle School. Collaboration is therefore fruitful, as an event like this consistently brings an important social issue to the forefront. Information about reading skills deficits must be brought to light! Only then can solutions be developed to address the problem.
