“There is no friend as loyal as a book.” These
words by Ernest Hemingway reverberated throughout Jyotirmay International
School with children and teachers equally enchanted during the Festival of
Books which was held on Monday, 7th March.
With events
planned around this theme, the day was dedicated to book reading and related activities
for the entire school. This joyful activity can be best expressed by another
quote from a Chinese proverb: “A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.”
Besides reading, children solved crosswords,
anagrams, and a honeycomb, and read quotes from Shakespeare. They even
participated in a game called Vocab-u-lous and searched for dedications in the
library books.
At the beginning of the day, a general quiz on
the school library perked up the morning assembly for all classes which had
young children from Ivy to the seniors’ groups participating with enjoyment.
Having brought to school their favourite book, children were happy to share
these with their friends and classmates. Adding to these was a veritable
treasure trove of around 73 books which Farida di had kindly shared from her
personal collection!
All through the
morning sessions, the students spent time in individual groups and mixed
groups, either reading on their own in contentment or listening with rapt attention during book reading
sessions.
Their enthusiasm spilled over into the next few days as they found out
more information about the books that were introduced during these reading sessions and were eager to share them with the teachers. Some
of the children were excited enough to begin reading these new favourites.
The post-lunch sessions began with a very interesting interview with Chetana di, who has recently added another feather in her cap with two publications. These are Marathi translations of Japanese books titled 'Totochan' and 'Dost'.
Invited by the seniors for an interactive session in the Multi-Purpose Hall, Chetana di was interviewed by seniors as well as the enthralled juniors about her work on these two books.
The final activity of this day brought even more
fun for the children who enjoyed making “Book Blocks”. This involved writing
down the title, name of the author, publisher, the publisher's logo, number of
pages and drawing a character from the book.
Forming one
of the duties of a librarian, these colourful Book Blocks made by our students
will be displayed in the upcoming annual exhibition too for the viewing of
parents and visitors.
Meanwhile in the library annexe, one got to see amusing
Lexophiles decorating a wall which added a humorous spin on words.
The ending
of this enchanting festival brought a poignancy that is best summarized by the
following quote: “You know you’ve read a good book when you turn the last page
and feel a little as if you have lost a friend.” – Paul Sweeney.
On the other hand, a quote from R.D. Cumming gives it a positive twist, “A good book has no ending.” This is where the
reader gets warmly invited to step into the book and make it their own with a literary
adventure.
No comments:
Post a Comment