It's Book Fair Season
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
Email Adele
Tuesday was the first day of the Bedford Falls book fair at Hugh Mercer Elementary and one fourth grader was already preparing her list for next year.
“Next year, I’m going to get this one and this one,” she said, pointing to the fifth and sixth books in the Dog Man series by Dav Pilkey.
This year, she’s hoping to get the third and fourth—Dog Man and the Tale of Two Kitties and Dog Man and Cat Kid. She wrote down the titles and the price carefully in pencil on her wish list to take home to her parents.
It only takes a visit to a school book fair to see that, for at least this one week, kids do get excited about books.
At Hugh Mercer, homeroom classes visit the library as part of their regular rotation among the special-area classes. Since Tuesday was the first day of the book fair, many of the students hadn’t yet brought money from home to spend at the fair, so librarian Christine Garman gave them wish lists to fill out.
The list has slots for four books.
“Can we put down more than four?” some of the students asked. Many decided to use the back of the page to extend their lists.
Book fairs offer kids a break from assigned reading and their familiar library collection and let them choose what interests them. For many, that’s the next book in a series they like, such as Dog Man or The Babysitter’s Club; or a book featuring TV personalities they follow, like the Wild Kratts; or a book about something they enjoy doing, like playing Minecraft or building with Legos.
One fifth grader who said she likes to cook planned to buy a cookbook published by Taste of Home featuring 350+ recipes to bring to parties, picnics, and potlucks.
A fourth grader who uses sign language was looking forward to returning to buy Chester and Gus by Cammie McGovern—a book about a service dog who is a companion for a 10-year-old boy with autism.
The Bedford Falls book fair at Hugh Mercer features picture books, chapter books, Early Readers, activity books, graphic novels, fiction, nonfiction, and a table of bargain books—most of them $5 and under.
A kindergartener came into the library with $20 to spend at the book fair. She walked directly to the shelves featuring chapter books for older readers, selected one, and reported, “My mom will read this to me.”
She also picked out a Bluey book and a small Rubik’s cube. The total came to more than $20.
“You’ll need to put something back, sweetie,” a volunteer told her.
The girl didn’t hesitate. She held on to her books and handed back the Rubik’s cube.
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Oh my heart!! I used to love book fair season.