This week we have been celebrating a love of books for the 25th Birthday of World Book Day. Although dressing up and having fun may have felt at odds with the situation in Ukraine, the organisers of World Book Day acknowledged this:
“World Book Day encourages children to see reading as a superpower that helps them understand difficult things, to find comfort and kindness and to explore the world around us all. This year we hope that World Book Day brings joy and hope at a time when children need it most”.
We, therefore, looked for joy and hope in our activities aimed at encouraging a love of reading. The library was busy all week with boys choosing books, but also having fun with a “guess the book title” picture quiz. Wednesday was the hotly anticipated visit from Sam Sedgman who did not disappoint and inspired us with his energy and enthusiasm for trains and mysteries. He gave us a fascinating insight into the process of writing a successful book series and threw in some science with a demonstration of a Stirling engine. In his workshops with Year 5, Sam encouraged the boys to let their imaginations fly, giving them tips and confidence to write their own mystery stories. A sign of his success was that some boys returned to the library in their break time the following day to continue with their writing and of course to read Sam’s books.
Pre-Prep had a return visit from Chloe Inkpen who was so popular last year that we had to invite her back to hear more about the adventures of Mrs Blackhat and her cat.
The finale of the week was dressing up when Aldwickbury was filled with a cast of book characters, and we all had fun guessing who was in the costume and which book they represented.
A video montage of the week’s activities can be found here https://youtu.be/47rPrAJq8Jw.
