Oh The Places You'll Go

A few weeks ago, the lovely school librarian, Mrs Andrea Bear, called me and asked if I would like to judge this year’s school book parade. ‘Me?’ I thought, looking around. ‘what a gr

and honour for a simple civilian such as myself!’. “Of course” I answered without a second thought. I was given the run down and sent off to find a partner in crime to judge with me. It didn’t take long to convince my sister, Julie, to join me (I simply left out the fact that we would be seated on stage for the morning). I did however tell her that we too had to dress as our favourite book characters but chickened out of the prank at the last minute and told her I was joking. It turned out the joke was on me because we were somewhat underdressed even in the adult category. The teachers were rocking witches hats, cloaks, fairy wings and fantastic attitudes.

The annual book parade coincides with the scholastic book fair that comes to Wongan Hills District High school in the last term of each year. All students are invited to dress as their favourite book character and participate in a morning spectacle where parents and teachers can enjoy the fruits of some creative labour and my, what juicy fruits they were.

Jules and I a

rrived at the school on Wednesday 18th November ready for the challenge that lay ahead. We had no idea what we were in for as the teachers proudly bought each class into the assembly area and sat them in long rows. My shoulders slumped and my soul rang out for a very strong cup of coffee. How were we to judge such talent and imagination. Thank goodness we had taken our job very seriously and had formulated a plan before hand. We were looking for ingenuity, originality and hard work but Lordy all of those aspects were there in the bucket loads. This was going to be no easy task!

The parade kicked off with a story by principal Pam Boase (dressed as a witch) and Andrea Bear (dressed as Clifford the Dog). I was left speechless (not a common occurrence for one’s self). These two ladies put on such an entertaining show. The children and adults alike were in stiches of laughter with the Oscar winning performance. For a day that was focussed on promoting the love of books, it was off to a great start.

Each class was then called to the stage where each child introduced themselves and explained what character they were. There is a new theme every year and Wednesday’s theme was Under the Sea althoug

h any character from any book was welcomed so we were graced by the presence of Harry Potter, Matilda, David Warner from The Kaboom Kid, Katniss from The Hunger Games and the list goes on. By far the hardest job I have ever had to do was choose 2 winners from each class. Each and every child deserved a medal and judging by the looks on their faces they believed that too! Such pride and excitement came with each class that stood tall in front of the school. The teachers would work their way down

the line allowing each character their moment to shine and then it was off for a victory lap around all the seated children before they took their seats again. This was done to some great dance tunes by DJ Mrs Simpson. At the end of the procession, Mrs Bear jumped back on stage and congratulated everyone for their efforts, explaining that everyone there was a winner. That made me feel a little better but there was no more prolonging the inevitable - it was time to pick the best dressed. Two children from each class were called up, congratulated and given a great big round of applause. Later in the day they were each awarded with a voucher to spend at the book fair. On the morning of the 18th, in a small country town school, a little magic was created. There was such great deal of time, effort and passion put into the morning by teachers, parents and children alike. Books came alive and imaginations ran wild. It was the perfect way to remind us all about the joy of reading and the worlds that can be entered through books. Both Julie and I are already planning our costumes for next year!