Below is a blog post created from a submission sent in by Stephanie Conrad, a Montessori Teacher and Summer Program Director from Pennsylvania who created a book festival at her school based on The Book Tree, written by Paul Czajak and illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh.
In April, we used The Book Tree as the basis for our classroom Book Festival.
We felt the message of 'words and books turning into ideas that can change the world' was beneficial for our children and timely for everyone.
How We Created our Book Tree Book Festival
1. We created a story walk of The Book Tree in our Outdoor Classroom and invited families to join us for the book festival.
2. After completing the story walk, the families returned to the classroom to make books (paper bag books and one-piece folded paper books) and bookmarks and share books in our classroom library.
3. Because "words grow into ideas," we had a planting station for sunflower seeds that we will transfer outside to create a sunflower house.
4. At the end of the event, each child received a gift book.
Bring The Book Tree Book Festival to your school!
The Book Tree
Written by Paul Czajak
Illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh
When young Arlo accidentally drops a book on the Mayor’s head, the Mayor decides books are dangerous and destroys all the books in town! But thanks to Arlo’s imagination and perseverance, the Mayor finds that suppressing stories cannot stop them from blossoming more beautifully than ever. This timely allegorical tale will be a useful tool for starting conversations with children about the power of activism and the written word.
