Book Week 2019
Our Book Week 2019 got off to a slightly crazy but hilarious start in the form of beloved author of Astrosaurs and Young Bond Steve Cole. Steve (and his ukelele) took us back to how he developed the concept for the first book he ever got published, inspiring us to give imagination to the most normal of objects - a cucumber and a banana - and to see how we can all shape exciting stories out of everyday life. It was fantastic to see our Year 4s and 5s, alongside our partner school Dry Sandford, develop Superheroes with amazing powers, including a Superhero Guinea Pig that could overwhelm villains with one squeak!
Jay Jay Burridge, artist and writer, brought along his life size T-Rex (complete with saddle) - the protagonist of his best-selling Supersaurs series. ‘The Tyrant’ greeted everyone arriving at school on Monday morning and set the scene nicely for Jay Jay’s fascinating talk about dinosaurs and their history in Oxfordshire. Jay Jay shared that he is dyslexic, but the fact that he has gone on to write a series of books should inspire us all to try our hand at writing, even if we aren’t the most confident writers. He also let us in to a secret - that he has been commissioned to write a Supersaurs screenplay! So watch this space for Supersaurs arrival on the big screen…
Author Laura James got the Years 1 and 2s laughing with her funky hats: the children became sea captains, cowboys, pirates and safari explorers for the duration of her talk during which they also co-created a detective story that even Fabio the World’s Greatest Flamingo Detective would have been hard pushed to solve! Terry Milne, author and illustrator of the lovely book Charlie Star, explored character generation with the Reception and invited them to practise their illustration skills by using an ingenious technique of drawing around a hand and using your imagination to develop the image into different characters.
A highlight of the week pulled into the Chandlings drive early on Wednesday morning: Once Upon a Bus! Throughout the day the children ventured onto the magical double-decker story bus to hear magical retellings of Alice in Wonderland, the Gruffalo and Commotion in the Ocean. The staff were also encouraged to get involved, with a lucky few starring as the evil Queen of Hearts!
We rounded off the week with our annual World Book Day Quiz, followed by a day of dressing up that raised money for the regeneration of Oxford’s wonderful Story Museum. Our Friday Book Fair really brought the library to life with children piling in to browse and buy a new book from a range of the latest titles chosen by our local bookseller Mostly Books.
A big thank you must go to Ms Brown, our librarian for organising such a fantastic week.
Photos of the whole week can be found in our Photo Gallery.
