Coppermine (Dec 22/03) - A recent visit by international children's author and storyteller Itah Sadu has inspired Kugluktuk students, like 10-year-old Danielle Adjun, to read and write more.

Adjun, a Grade 5 student at Jimmy Hikok Ilihakvik, says she wants to be an Inuinnaqtun author one day.

She has already penned many of her own stories with a traditional flavour.

Sadu, who is African Canadian, wowed Adjun and the other children with tales of diverse cultures coming together and living in harmony.

"I like her stories because of the culture. She opens her heart in them," Adjun said.

Sadu did a few hands-on writing projects with the children.

"I got good tips," said Adjun. "You learn from your mistakes. When you make mistakes you can fix them."

"She really encouraged the kids to write. To love writing and to love reading," said Michelle Buchan, a member of the Kugluktuk Family Literacy project which helped arrange Sadu's visit.

Sadu's stories deal with issues of race, culture and people getting along with one another. She was the literacy group's first choice for guest author when they came up with the reading series idea. They felt that children who come from racially-mixed backgrounds can relate to the issues in her stories.

"One story dealt with name calling," said Buchan. "The name calling that goes on in school. But the name they end up calling each other at the end of the book is 'friend.' That's a popular topic in an elementary school."

Look Who's Reading was the theme of the festival, which was sponsored by World Literacy of Canada and hosted by the Kugluktuk Family Literacy project.

Overall, the 200 people who attended the festival helped raise more than $2,000.