22 September 2021
During Week 8, the Reception to Year 2 classes participated in a virtual performance of a book called “Littlelight”.
The boys had previously heard the story of the town of Littlelight, whose Mayor did not allow anything that was strange, different or unusual in his very grey town. One day, some bricks started to disappear from the walls of the city which allowed the people of Littlelight to see and meet people from different towns.
The people from the South ate unusual food, the people from the North spoke a strange language, the people from the East listened to upbeat music, and the people from the West read new books of interesting stories. Initially the people of Littlelight agreed with the mayor about things that were strange, unusual or different, but little by little, they realised that they were missing out on some wonderful experiences by keeping the walls of Littlelight intact.
So, where the walls were missing bricks, they created windows, then doors, and finally bridges to meet new people, discover new foods, learn new words and dance to upbeat music!
On 16 September, Author / Illustrator and old scholar Andrew Joyner (FLL 1986) worked with all the Year 6 classes. Andrew introduced the boys to a book titled ‘The Horse Museum’ which was written by Dr Seuss, illustrated by Andrew and only published after Dr Seuss had died.
The unfinished manuscript for the book was discovered by his wife Audrey in 2013, 22 years after Dr Seuss had died. Andrew was delighted to be invited to illustrate this book and took inspiration from the very rough sketches which were included in the unfinished manuscript.
Andrew shared how he went about creating the illustrations for the book and explained the creation of the horse character, which is based on the Cat in the Hat and a tribute to Dr Seuss. Andrew taught the boys many strategies and tips for drawing and was very impressed as the boys followed his step-by-step guidance to create some amazing drawings.
This concludes our Book Week activities for the term. We are looking forward to Term 4, with the highlight being the presentation of the Premier’s Reading Challenge Awards. It is fantastic that we have such a strong reading culture in the Junior School at SPSC. Please keep embracing books and reading, as recreational reading opens doorways for academic success.
Alison Winter and Sue Dansie
Teacher-Librarians Junior School