Thursday, September 24, 2015

Kevin Henkes!

Friends, we had such an amazing visit with author and illustrator Kevin Henkes yesterday! Kevin introduced himself to Lower School students and staff (and a few parents) by showing us pictures from his childhood, noting that he had been drawing since he was two years old. Originally from Racine, Wisconsin, he moved to New York to pursue illustrating and writing as a career. His first book, All Alone, was published in 1981 when he was only 19 years old - nearly 35 years later, he's still writing and with the same publisher! 

Kevin shared many detailed aspects of his writing and illustrating process. His newest book, Waiting, had been an idea nearly a decade in the making! He was working on clay creations when the idea (literally) took shape, but he decided to switch to watercolors and colored pencils for the illustrations in the book. It was so wonderful to hear about the book making process - from start to finish and with all of the inspirations and revisions along the way. Kevin even read Waiting aloud to us, accompanied by a projected version of the illustrations - how neat to see them blown up so large!

To end our author visit, Kevin took several questions from students. During his talk, Kevin had mentioned that he carries around a writer's notebook everywhere with him so that he can jot down ideas when they come to him. One student asked if Kevin had his notebook with him - and sure enough, he did! 

This author visit was generously made possible in collaboration with Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill. Kevin also spoke at Flyleaf last night and signed books - I may have purchased one for myself too. :) 



Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Book Fair + Kevin Henkes = more info!

The Bedford Falls Book Fair will be held in the Lower School Library 
Monday, September 21 - Friday, September 25!
    • All are welcome! Early and Middle School families, this means you too! (Upper School - feel free to attend, but the focus of the fair is preK-6th grade.)
    • It will be open at 8am (parents should stay with children until 8:20) and close around 3:30pm each day. The book fair will re-open at 6:30pm on Thursday, September 24 for Back-to-School night!
    • This is a great opportunity to both purchase books for your children and support the library! I chose the Bedford Falls company since they are a local, family-owned small business with a real passion for connecting kids to great literature.
    • If you would like to volunteer to help “work” the book fair, please sign up here: http://ww.SignUpGenius.com/go/20F094BA5AF2BA4FF2-bedford



Kevin Henkes Mouse BooksAuthor and illustrator Kevin Henkes will visit the Lower School on Wednesday, September 23rd! 
We are so excited for this author visit so early in the school year! Because Kevin Henkes will be visiting Flyleaf Books that evening, we were able to partner with the bookstore to bring him to our school.


If you plan on purchasing his new picture book, Waiting, or any of his others, please do so at Flyleaf Books since they are supporting our author visit. Here’s the direct link for our school: http://www.flyleafbooks.com/carolina-friends-school

Saturday, September 5, 2015

Hello, September!

With the school year fully in swing, the library is going to be a happening place this month! I'd like to save space for a future post about the amazing renovation that happened to the Lower School Library over the past few months (pictures coming soon!) and fast forward to the events we have scheduled for the next few weeks, starting with...

Library checkout with River and Sky begins next week! River will check out on Tuesday, September 8th and Sky on Wednesday, September 9th. Forest and Mountain class students have been informally checking out books since the second week of school, as they were using the library space as their temporary classroom. Being displaced has its perks! For detailed checkout policies, please see this document


Celebrate International Dot Day on Tuesday, September 15th! Inspired by the picture book The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds, this is a day to celebrate creativity and courage and to "make your mark" on the world. 

We’re having a book fair! The Bedford Falls Book Fair will be open from Monday, September 21st - Friday, September 25th. The book fair will take place in the library and will be open all week long before, during, and after school hours and on Thursday evening, which is Back-to-School Night. More details to come!

Author and illustrator Kevin Henkes will visit Lower School on Wednesday, September 23rd! We are very excited to be hosting Kevin Henkes in conjunction with Flyleaf Books, as he promotes his newest picture book, Waiting. Pre-sale info coming soon.

Phew! That's a quick overview of what's happening this month. Check back soon for updates!






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