World Book Day Extravaganza 2015- Day Four

-
HAPPY WORLD BOOK DAY!
Today was an exceptional day to celebrate the day that's in it! 
The started off with reading (by me!) to a wonderful group of 2nd class children from Scoil Iognaid. We read from Claude in the Country by Alex T. Smith...what a hilarious story! Then we moved on to The Pirates Next Door by Jonny Duddle. And a good time was had by all.
The second session saw me reading from Young Sherlock Holmes: Death Cloud by Andrew Lane to the 5th class boys (aged 10/11) of St Patricks School. This has been the first year in nine the St Patricks School has attended World Book Day events in nine years and I was positively delighted to have them join us. After reading from Death Cloud, we moved on to a short piece from Knife Edge, in which Young Sherlock finds himself in Galway. Only one of the boys had read any of the Young Sherlock series, so it was a real treat. There was a good bit of discussion has to what the next possible scenario in the books would be. Very inventive and decisive thinking by the boys! (Oh, by the way...there were 51 of them! And their attention and behaviour was exemplary.) I really loved it, and I hope they did as well.
For the final two sessions of the day, we were visited by Marguerite Tonery. Marguerite is a local author who has recently published her first book, and the first in a series, Kapheus Earth. Marguerite really engaged the fifth class students from Scoil Iognaid and Mercy Primary with her readings and discussion of the book. Sitting in a circular with the children, she got them to read various parts in the book and really fired their interest in the story. Thank you so much, Marguerite! They were all enthused with Kapheus Earth!
And now... here are the photos!





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Rights of the Reader

-
Image
The Rights of the Reader; Daniel Pennac, illustrated by Quentin Blake Summer is here and we do encourage summer reading with numerous incentives and programmes. It is important for children (of all ages) to 'keep their reading up' outside of school time. This is the time when kids develop their own taste in books and can be free to read books of their own choosing. And this is the single most important factor in young people developing a lifelong reading habit. But how do we, as the 'gatekeepers' of kids reading, encourage them properly without running the risk of thrusting pressure and our own ideas on them? Do that and you'll run the risk of pushing them away from reading, and there are already so many distractions for the young reader to contend with that can tempt them elsewhere. Published by Walker Books; 9781406300918 In 1992, French writer Daniel Pennac originally published this little gem of a book; The Rights of the Reader. I highly recommend
Read more

The Summer of Lily and Esme by John Quinn....25 years

-
Image
This year marks the anniversary of the publication of an extraordinary book. In 1991, Poolbeg published The Summer of Lily & Esme by John Quinn and in the 25 years since, it has never been out of print. The Summer of Lily & Esme tells a quiet story, filled with compassion, friendship, memory and heart. It is the story of Alan, an 11-year-old boy who has moved from the city into a house in the countryside; in the middle of nowhere.The house is old and extremely large and immaculate; and there is a locked, boarded over attic room that is said to be haunted by the ghost of a young boy who died tragically. Alan is not too pleased with this move and becomes even less thrilled when he discovers his closest neighbours, in fact his only neighbours, are a pair of elderly sisters, Esme and Lily, who seem to be suffering from dementia.  When Alan falls down a hill of brambles and weeds, the sisters, who believe they themselves to be children, mistake Alan for their
Read more

Launch of Genesis by Eilis Barrett

-
Image
A week ago, I played a small part of the launch of Genesis , the much-anticipated sequel to Oasis by Eilis Barrett; this time at Charlie Byrnes Bookshop in Galway. Vinny Brown introduces Eilis Eilis is a remarkable young woman, as you might imagine since she is 18 years old and this is her second book. ( Oasis was published when she was 16.) Articulate and accomplished, it is a real privilege to know her, to hear her speak and to read her writing. Genesis author: Eilis Barrett publisher: Gill Books (8 September 2017 ISBN: 9780717174355 Genesis picks up the story of Quincy Emerson. She now finds herself a captive once again, in the maximum-security prison, the Colosseum as a security risk. Held in deplorable and brutal conditions in the prison, where anarchy rules and rival gangs wage a 'street war' of sorts, Quincy takes care to not make an enemy of either gang boss, while holding allegiance to no one but herself and her comrades on the outside. Food is scarce an
Read more