HAY RIVER - Eric Walters says there's more to literacy than reading.

Speaking to a roomful of people at the Hay River Public Library during NWT Literacy Week, the children's author said he started writing to encourage people to read.

In a talk that focused on appreciating the impact of events like 9/11 and the Rwandan genocide, Walters said people need to expand their knowledge about the world. He said reading is necessary to help kids learn what's important.

"People have to go beyond reading things. They have to be transformed by the reading process," he said.

The former teacher made reference to some of his 68 novels - the last of which he finished writing in Hay River last Tuesday night - and spoke about the writing process, but his talk focused on global co-operation.

He said young people should be informed about what's going on in the world - beyond the latest celebrity scandal - and said it's the responsibility of parents and teachers to help them learn.

"It's not about teaching them how to count, but teaching them what counts," he said. "Kids aren't too delicate. They're not too self-centred ... Not only do kids need to know the truth, they're owed the truth. There's nothing in the world that can't be explained to a 12, 13-year-old kid that can't be explained to an adult."

In his hour-long talk, Walters gave examples of young people who were inspired to help others and who raised substantial amounts of money to help others.

He also talked about the organization he and his family started in a rural village in Kenya, Creation of Hope. Showing a photo slideshow, Walters told stories of the lives of the children in Kikima and explained the difference education has made in their lives.

"People don't want charity, they want opportunity," he said. "People want to learn how to take care of themselves."

Creation of Hope provides a home for 17 orphans and is a partnership organization that works with Canadian schools to provide economic and education opportunities for people in the village.

"You can't help everybody. That doesn't give you an excuse not to help anybody," he said.

Afterwards, Walters talked to audience members and signed books.

"It was really powerful," said Jaeda Larocque after the talk. "It reminded me how much I agree with him, adults don't think we can handle it."

"The idea that there are kids my age who don't have anything ... this is all luck of the draw, I could have easily been born HIV positive or have lost my mother," she said, adding she thought her fellow high school classmates could easily help raise money.

The 15-year-old brought her 10-year-old sister, Jacqueline, who said, "It was fun and cool. He helped the world."