Family Reading Night–A Night To Remember!

Wow!  That describes the Family Reading Night at Junaluska Elementary School.

On March 6th, one of the most beloved children’s authors of all time was honored–Dr. Seuss.  Two local authors and an illustrator were invited to the school to be a part of the celebration.  Author Anna Browning and illustrator Josh Crawford shared their book, Tanner Turbeyfill and the Moon Rocks with Kindergarten, first, and second grade students and parents.  They shared their love of reading and drawing with our students.

Third, fourth, and fifth grade students and parents enjoyed listening to Dawn Cusick discuss her nonfiction books Animal Eggs, Animal Names, and Animal Poop (which the children loved).  She has written many other books for children and some for adults.  She spoke to the children about grabbing on to an idea and expanding on it.  That is how she wrote her books.  She showed them about how hard the process of editing is for her and told them not to get upset when their teachers ask them to edit their writing.  Anna, Dawn, and Josh were amazing.  Each author had their books for sale and if a child bought a book, the author personally autographed that copy.

Children came dressed as their favorite book character.  There were children dressed as Harry Potter, Nancy Drew, The Cat in the Hat, among many other amazing costumes.  There was a  Parade of Costumes from each grade level.  There parents loved seeing their children show off their costumes.  After the parade, everyone in attendance enjoyed lemonade and cupcakes in honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday.

The most amazing part of the evening was when each child was able to choose a brand new book of his or her choice to take home.  The smile on the children’s faces lit up the room!  That was sweetest part of the night

There was an estimate of over 300 people in attendance that night.  Over 150 of those were students.  It surely was a night to remember!!!