Festival of Books and the Joy of Reading

“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, 7^th 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.