World Book Week 2009 - Short Story Poster

The theme for this year is A Picture and a Thousand Words.  Nowadays the world is being literally bombarded by larger than-life-images in the form of billboards, commercials, animations, logos, etc.  The book industry is no exception and it has seen an increase in the use of visual aids to get the message (or story) through.  Illustrators like Quentin Blake and Nick Sharrat, have work that is immediately recognised and associated with a particular author.  Many books are being accompanied by DVDs and, for the older ones, links to interactive sites where the story is developed beyond the pages of the book.  This also explains the increased popularity of comics (or graphic novels).

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Grades 4 - 7 had a related activity going on.  The librarian read a short story to each grade during a library session.  The stories were the following:

Grade 4 - Henry and Margaret by Francesca Simon

Grade 5 - Something Different by Anne Fine

Grade 6 - The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde

Grade 7 - Don't Ask Jack by Neil Gaiman

Each class was then divided into groups and each group had to come up with a poster.  These posters are now on display in the library.  :)

World Book Week 2009 - Trevor Zahra & Mikiel

World Book Week kicked off with a very special guest.  Local author Trevor Zahra met the Grade 9 students to talk about his books.  At the moment they have Fuklar Qadim u Bnadar Imcarrta as a class reader and therefore they were very excited at the idea of meeting the author.  In conjunction with the librarian, they also prepared a small Powerpoint presentation about one of the chapters in the book.

Seeing that this year's theme is A Picture and a Thousand Words, Mr Zahra placed special emphasis on the illustration of his books, which he does himself.  He brought with him some samples of work he'd done and explained the various intricacies that such work entails.

At the end of his talk Mr Zahra was kind enough to sign books (and t-shirts sporting a logo in Maltese) for the students.

The younger students of the Junior Sector where on the other hand treated to story-telling sessions courtesy of Rita Antoinette Borg and Mikiel, the lovable mascot of Agenda Kids Club.  The children were enthralled during the whole time and absorbed every single word.  They simply loved looking at the big books and participating in the story as it unfolded.  And after each session, they simply had to go and hug Mikiel and Ms Borg!

Gnomes in the Garden

One morning, Jake wakes up and looks out of the window. He sees that his two gnomes in the garden are trashed. He wonders why but can't get an answer.

In the middle of the night, Jake wakes to the sound of a disturbing noise. He creeps out of bed and goes into the garden with his flashlight. He goes behind a bush, and in front of the bush he sees the two gnomes fighting. Jake is terrified. The gnomes are alive! So that's why they were trashed to bits. Then Jake jumps out and shines his flashlight on the gnomes. At once, they freeze and turn back into statues.

The following night Jake is ready for them. When the sun is down and the moon is up, Jake prepares himself behind the same bush. Then he hears them. The gnomes start fighting, as usual. Jake counts to three and jumpsout of the bush. But this time the gnomes are quick and run into the bushes. But Jake follows them. He crushes through the bushes and catches up with them.

Suddenly, Jake stops. In front of him is a porthole. The gnomes are on the other side, ready to jump in. Jake tries to shine the flashlight on them, but they have already gone through the porthole. Jake closes his eyes and does the same.

He falls to the ground and gets up. He looks around and realises that he is right outside his house in the garden. Then Jake quickly turns around expecting to see the gnomes. But instead he sees two statues. They are his parents. How can this be? Is this another world? He hears noise coming from the house. And then he understands. He has jumped into a porthole that transported him into another world. A place where everything is switched around. His parents are the gnomes frozen outside in the garden, and inside the house are the two gnomes alive.

Jake knew what he has to do. He opens the front door and waves at the gnomes. And they see him. Then Jake runs into the garden and waits. The two gnomes run out and stop, rooted to the spot. They are frozen. They have turned back into statues.

Jake knows this was happening because this world is the other way round and his parents are frozen in dark not sunlight, like the gnomes. So the live gnomes that are in the house will get frozen in the dark. Then Jake starts feeling stiff. He can't move his legs. He is turning to stone! Into a statue!

Julian - Grade 7.3

WINNER of WORLD BOOK WEEK 2008 Short Story Competition

Good Deeds Bounce Back

One bright sunny morning in July, a man named Alan McGregor was walking on the beach. The sun shone in his face as he walked across the golden beach. As he was staring out at a calm, blue sea he spotted two bobs of gold paddling their way across the waves. As they came closer, Alan saw that they were two dogs. He jumped into the sea and rescued them. When he brought them back, he saw that they had name tags. He returned them to their owners and to say thank you, the owners gave Alan one of their puppies. He named the puppy Pink.

Alan went everywhere with Pink and they soon became the greatest of friends. Alan felt secure when Pink was with him. In the afternoons, Alan took Pink to the beach with him and used to meditate. Alan felt even more secure beacuse cars could not drive through to the beach. That afternoon, a car drove through the beach without noticing the signs. Since Alan was meditating he could not see or hear the car coming. Only Pink noticed the car coming their way. Pink barked, but Alan was still lost in his meditating.

Pink put herself directly in the way of the car. Just as Alan became aware of what was going on, the man in the car saw Pink and dodged her. This further strenghtened Alan and Pink's friendship. This just proves that since Alan saved the dogs and brought them back to their home, Pink, the daughter of the dogs saved Alan's life. It proves that every good deed that we do bounces back at us.

Matthew - Grade 7.3

RUNNER-UP WORLD BOOK WEEK Short Story Competition

The Day Everything Disappeared

One day there was a lovely blue bird in an oak tree, there was a flock of sheep running in a meadow. There were pretty pink buterflies flying in the air.

The following day there was a magician at a boys' birthday party. The magician wanted to make a ball disappear but the trick went horribly wrong because he was so so rushed by the children, that he made everything disappear.

The children in the party disappeared, the blue bird disappeared, even the oak tree disappeared, the sheep stopped running and disappeared, the pretty pink butterflies disappeared, every living creature, every country, state, continent and planet disappeared, the whole world disappeared. Everything in the universe disappeared. So there was nothing else to disappear, not even a pretty pink butterfly.

Max - Grade 7.1

RUNNER-UP WORLD BOOK WEEK 2008 Short Story Competition

Me and My Books

I am sometimes teased,
and not very pleased
because I read books
which don't improve my looks.

I just can't help it,
I'll go and sit
take a book,
and give it a good look.

Time flies when I'm reading a book,
so I don't bother to give the clock a look
when we go back to class
I wonder how the time passed so fast.

On Book Day,
some children try to stay away
when books are such fun
especially if you have more than one.

In the end it was their loss,
I showed them who is boss;
with books I am always on top
that's why I will never stop.

Dawn - Grade 6.1

WINNER of WORLD BOOK WEEK 2008 Poetry Competition.

The Wizard's Story

Once, there was a wizard,
who swallowed a lizard
and got caught in a blizzard.

His name was Fay,
he was born in May,
and, they say,
was born in a barnyard of hay.

He lives in a number of flats,
his neighbours have rats
and lots of bats.

He flew to the moon
on his broom
while holding a spoon.

Later, he went to Pluto,
and found a creature called Muto,
which was half hog and half dog.

Then, he coughed the lizard,
so more bad luck for the Wizard!!

If you look at the sky,
you will see someone saying bye,
on a star so far,
on the Milky Way;
if you look closely,
that is Fay.

Bettina - Grade 6.1

RUNNER-UP for WORLD BOOK DAY 2008 Poetry Competition.

My Dream

Last night I had a dream,
of dolphins in the sea.
Strange creatures in their team
all waiting for their tea.
Shining diamonds in the sky
and aliens flying by
all waving me goodbye.
Hope I'll see them again next time.

Andrew - Grade 6.4

RUNNER-UP for WORLD BOOK DAY 2008 Poetry Competition.

In The Name Of Science

As dawn crawls quietly across the morning sky

The hounds pretend to sleep; silent they lie.

They know that when the door will let in rays of light

The one that will be taken won’t live another night.

When sudden brightness comes and overwhelms the room,

It brings with it the shadow of one unlucky hound’s doom.

They choose at random; any animal will do.

The one that is chosen has eyes of brightest blue.

Men take him to a place where surfaces gleam bright.

The hound struggles and thrashes with all his might.

Then he feels the needle; it’s way too sharp and cold

And he’s engulfed in blackness, far too vast and bold.

And those who’ll finish like him yowl in despair,

Because their grief and sadness is too much to bear.

Their howls cleave the silence, but the world pays no heed.

For people only care about what people need.

Over the hound which for the sake of science died,

No soul, no person, no one has ever cried.

Giulia 9.3

World Book Week

Last week was World Book and Copyright Day. The 23rd of April was chosen to celebrate books and reading for a very specific purpose. William Shakespeare, the most famous playwright ever, was born on this day. He became famous for his absorbing plots and superb command of the English language. Therefore it seemed quite fitting that his birthday would be chosen to make people more aware of the wonderful world of books.

San Anton School decided to go a step further and instead of devoting just one day to this event, a week full of activities was planned. All the school was involved, from the very young ones in the Junior Sector to the oldest students in Senior Sector. A number of guest authors also visited the school... but let's go through the whole event day-by-day.

On Monday, Mikiel, the popular children's mascot of Agenda Kids Club, together with story-teller Rita Antoinette Borg, visited the Junior Sector. Children and teachers were thrilled at the sight of the big friendly giant dog and his companion. After much cheering and clapping, Ms Borg then proceeded to read a story to the children.

As this was going on, the Grade 5 were busy with their Class Atlas. This consisted of a worksheet wherein each class had to put down the topographical details of their classroon. Width, height, number of chairs, doors and windows, subjects they study - EVERYTHING. By the end of the activity they had a fact sheet of their classroom.

Next was the Grade 7s turn. They were treated to a very interesting talk by Joe Attard about the goings about of publishing a research book. Mr Attard is one of the local authorities about Maltese flora and fauna and his talk proved to be a stimulating experience.

The Grade 7s were busy the following day as well. They had a Short Story Competition. The librarian visited each class and expalined the rules of the competition, after which the students had an entire lesson in which to write their own, original story. The best one of the Grade shall win a prize.

Local children's illustrator Marisa Attard visited the school and did a workshop with the Grade 5s. This proved to be a huge success as the children were awed at Ms Attard's dexterity with her pen and were very keen to try their own illustrations. The library was transformed into a hullaballoo of activity as children posed, sketched and giggled at each other's drawings.

On this day, the Write-A-Story activity kicked off as well. This is activity consisted of a big book with the beginning of a story. Starting from Grade 0.1, the book is going through all the classes in the Junior Sector, and each class has to read the story so far, add its bit, and pass it on to the next class. Thus, in the end, there will be a story written by the entire Junior Sector.

On Wednesday, Trevor Zahra visited the school. He is undoubtedly the most prolific of children's authors and well-loved by readers of all ages. It was quite an honour to have him over to speak to the Grade 9s. The latter, in collaboration with the librarian and the Maltese Department, prepared a surprise for Mr Zahra. A number of students stayed after school hours and filmed a trailer for Fuklar Qadim u Bnadar Imcarrta, the book they are presently doing in class. Mr Zahra was extremely pleased with this and congratulated everyone involved on doing a great job.

Later on the Grade 6s had a Story-Telling Session with Ms Vicki, the Head of San Anton School. She chose a beautiful and challenging story written by Malorie Blackman that dealt with bullying. The children were absorbed in the story throughout the entire session and one could tell that they were paying attention to every single word.

During break there was a book sale. This proved to be an enormous hit. The stand was literally stormed by children, eager to buy a book. The selection, supplied to us by Merlin Library, was superb and therefore there was something for everyone. There were many students who left the stall with a satisfied grin and a book clutched in their hands. (A big thank you goes to all the members of staff who volunteered to help during this activity.)

Thursday kicked off with the Grade 6s Poetry Competition. Once again, the librarian popped over to each class and explained the rules. The students had one lesson in which to write their original poem., which was then collected by the class teacher. The best one of the lot shall be awarded a prize.

As this was going on, Ms Vicki was conducting a workshop for parents. She used her own experience both as a mother and as an educator to share strategies on how to get children enamoured with books and reading. The parents found this extremely helpful and their enthusiasm was obvious during the group exercise at the end of the session.

A couple of hours later, Ms Vicki was once again on the centre stage as she read a story to the Grade 11s. She chose a supernatural story by Ray Bradbury. It was a very intense experience and there were a couple of students who actually jumped during some moments of the story. So kudos to Mr Bradbury as a writer and Ms Anastasi as a story-teller.

On the last day of World Book Week, the school in general and the Grade 10s in particular were given a very special treat. Merlin Library chose San Anton School to launch a week-long tour by authors Simon Bartolo and Lorrane Vella, whose book Wied Wirdien hit the bookshops that very day. It was a very special moment as their previous book, Sqaq l-Infern, had sold over a thousand copies in a couple of days. Also, a television crew came over to film the event. It was a special moment that was enjoyed by everyone around.

Next came Spot the Dog. The latter is a very popular and much beloved character amongst the younger students of the Junior Sector. Merlin Library had kindly supplied the school with a number of Spot the Dog beanies, together with a certificate of adoption, and therefore, the librarian, together with Ms Maria Pia Galea, the Head of Administration, went round the Grade 0 and Grade 1 classes to give a Spot the Dog to each class. He will be the class mascot and whenever they read a story, they can use him to animate his adventures.

Last but not least on the agenda, were the Grade 4s. Each class came to the library and they did a session about bookmarks. The librarian explained what a bookmark is and how to use it and then proceeded to give each student an empty bookmark. They had to draw on it pictures about their favourite books. Not only this, but Merlin Library supplied the school with a number of freebie books, and therefore each child went home with a book and a bookmark.

Besides the above activities, there were other sessions being held throughout the school. The French and Italian departments had book review and book author projects going on, which are at the moment being displayed in the library. The English and Maltese departments, on the other hand, had short stories and fairy tales which are also beng displayed in the library.

It was an eventful week packed with activities and it was clear that the children were enjoying every single bit of it. Reading and story-telling is an enjoyable experience that stimulates and excites one's imagination. Nurturing the latter is as important as having food on the table. Imagination is an essential tool towards the intellectual and emotional development of any individual.

The Spiderwick Chronicles

The Spiderwick Chronicles will soon be released in the local cinemas. This is a fantastic adventure based on the series of books by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi. The film tells the story of Simon and his brother Jared who, together with their sister Mallory and their mum, go to live in the secluded mansion owned by their great great uncle Arthur Spiderwick. There is some seriously creepy stuff going on and everyone seems to be blaming Jared. However, when he and his brother and sister start to investigate the strange occurences, a sinister explanation is unraveled...

To go on the Official Movie website CLICK HERE.
To go on Holly Black's site CLICK HERE.
To go on Tony DiTerlizzi's site CLICK HERE.
To go to the Spiderwick site CLICK HERE.

And here is the Trailer: