BOOK WEEK 2016
Peak School Ignites Our Imagination!
This year, our theme was Ignite Your Imagination, and we had no idea how imaginative our young pupils could get! We were amazed at the breadth of talent from writing, drawing, dressing up, creating, designing and imagining - all inspired by the written word, which warms our bookish hearts. Below are some highlights from the week that was...
BOOK CHARACTER DAY
The hallways were unrecognisable on Monday morning as a cacophony of wizards, witches, animals, plants, monsters, crayons, inanimate objects, adventurers, space travellers, heroes, heroines, villains and sorcerers - to name but a few - filed into the Assembly Hall for our Costume Character Catwalk to kick off our 2016 Book Week!
visiting authors
Marc Tyler Nobleman
It was a delight to host Marc Tyler Nobleman who had a great rapport with the kids and captivated everyone's attention with his remarkable story of perseverance and dedication as he uncovered the identity of the real creator of Batman. Not just a story about superheroes, it was a great example of putting passion into writing, which he spoke about in his workshops with the classes from Year 3 through to 6. They worked on perfecting that opening sentence to draw readers into a piece of writing.
Sarah Brennan
The irrepressible Sarah Brennan came to read her brand new Chinese Zodiac story, Ming Kee Monkey. Sarah's rich language and rhyme make her stories a hit with the kids while her enthusiasm keeps them engaged and hanging on every word.
Blair Reeve
Local author Blair Reeve has written a poetic and rhythmic read aloud - Hogart the Hedgehog turns Nink. He was a featured local author in the Young Reader's Literary Festival in Hong Kong this year and we were thrilled to host him for our younger readers. He held their attention for the entire reading and answered some fairly offbeat questions!
A note about book orders...
If your child has brought in money for books, we have now placed all the orders but please be patient while the books make their way across the ocean in either a boat or a plane. Sarah Brennan and Blair Reeve books have been delivered (stock in Hong Kong) while Marc Tyler Nobleman and Gail Clarke books will arrive after the Easter holidays. Good things come to those that wait, and all that...
story sacks
This is always our favourite competition and we were not disappointed this year! Children were asked to put together a container (jar, basket, box...) based on their favourite book, and the results were spectacular. Some were simple and inspired (an apple and a flower in a picnic jar for Little Red Riding Hood) while others were elaborate works of art (for The Magic Faraway Tree). One of our winning entries was so intricate, the miniscule plasticine ruler and sweet wrappers scattered in Tom Gates' room showed us that tremendous care was taken on the project. Well done to all the entries!
Our winners were: Charlotte & Valerie Man (Yr6) and Pradeep Rajagopal (Yr4)
writing
The rules were simple: write something! What we didn't expect was such diversity... fiction, non-fiction, cookbooks, comics... it was so fun judging this one because we discovered what vivid imaginations our students have, and we could see clearly how they had been inspired by books they had read in the Library. How perfect is that?
Our winner not only developed, illustrated and wrote his graphic novel, a group of boys from 4E took action and sold copies during our Book Sale and raised over HK$600 for charity. Our second winner was from Year 2 and we were impressed with the book package (gold embossing - a publisher's dream!) as well as the story from someone so young competing next to older students.
Our winners were: Vibhu Vajpayee (Yr4) and Don Wong (Yr2)
cover art
Every year this is by far the most popular and most subscribed, so the competition is fierce. We were really looking for creativity, and an original cover that did not exist on a book. Again, we wanted to acknowledge some of the very young entrants who were competing against students who were much older, so we had 2 winners (use of colour, original drawing, use of space) and 1 runner up (the most original concept of combining two different books into one!)
Our winners were: Harriet Cook (Yr5), Elliot Munt (Yr2), and Hannah Goddard (Yr2)
extreme reading
Well, its obvious we have a few dare devils in our midst! And gymnasts. From reading while bent into pretzel shapes that make us hurt just looking at them to handstands, roller-blades, scooters and skating we have seen some pretty unconventional reading. But the winning entry had to be the boy in the bath of books! Also the one curled up in his laundry basket. Makes sitting on the sofa positively mundane...
Our winners were: Hugo Dernoncourt (Yr6) and Ethan Ko (Yr5)
book trailers
For our technical gurus we offered a digital component to the competitions ... give us a trailer that makes us want to run out and buy that book immediately, and we'll give you first prize! And our kids stood up to the challenge, obviously. We judged for originality, technical excellence, and choice of music and text. We had 2 that we loved and couldn't decide. One for the girls, one for the boys. Enjoy.
Dork Diaries
Star Wars
Our winners were: Tanya Khanduri & Anaya Rao (Yr4) and Keifer Tsang & Zac Brasington (Yr5)
The booksale
Each year, Fields & Associates set up a book sale for the children. It's all very exciting for them and we find many become quite over-enthusiastic (in a good way) about all the lovely books lying about on the tables for them to choose from!
And now for some light entertainment
Here are the highlights edited down into our Peak School Book Week Video.
Grab a coffee and try not to spill it while you chuckle.
Keep Reading 2016
Peak School Library
Email: library@peakschool.net
Website: www.ps.edu.hk
Location: Plunkett's Road, 20, The Peak, Hong Kong
Phone: 2849 8522
Facebook: facebook.com/peakschoollibrary