This week was Library Week, and while it was much quieter than last year's Grand Opening Week, we still had a great week of celebrating books and readers. Our theme this year was "Once Upon a Time," featuring the tried and true tales that have inspired so many books and stories over the years.
On Day 1, we featured tales from "All Around the World," with stories from Russia, West Africa (various countries!), China, India, and more! Some were original to a particular country or region (such as the Anansi tales), and others were cultural twists on popular stories (La Princesa and the Pea!)
Day 2 honored "Brave Girls and Strong Women." It's a common misconception that fairy tale heroines are represented only as helpless "damsels in distress," but this is actually far from true! Gerda from The Snow Queen
and the "fair lass" in East of the Sun and West of the Moon, for instance, go to great lengths and endure many hardships in order to rescue their beloveds. Most of their counterparts in other such tales are also courageous, determined, and fierce.
On Day 3, we showcased "Heroes and Adventures," with clever boys and gallant men. And in chapel we shared the story of a real-life hero, Brother Andrew, who had many great adventures and saw God's miraculous provision in his years of delivering Bibles to countries behind the Iron Curtain. His story is told in God's Smuggler, and the students were encouraged to check it out from the library to read it for themselves! As it was, hearing some of them retell it the next day was such a blessing. If your student was present for Wednesday's chapel, have them tell you what they learned about Brother Andrew!
We concluded Library Week on Day 4, with "Animal Tales," displaying many of the wonderful stories the younger students have already been enjoying in storytimes throughout the year. We also shared pictures of the "Stuffed Animal Sleepover" of the previous night, when students dropped off their stuffed animals to roam CHESS and explore the library before settling down for the night.
Each day we offered prize drawings for both Upper and Lower School students, and that proved to be a fun part of our week. I loved seeing so many of our students stop by the library, even for brief moments. I hope that they were inspired in those moments by the wonderful stories and ideas housed in just our small corner.
Happy reading to all our CHESS students. Join us for Library Week again next week!
