Books and Beyond – The Mega Book Week Celebration

‘A book is a gift you can open again and again’ – Garrison Keillor

To celebrate the joy of reading books, The Shriram Universal School, Hyderabad celebrated the Annual Book Week, ‘Books and Beyond’, from 8 to 11 November, for grades VI to IX, in an effort to encourage the students to become avid readers and explore the treasure houses of deep knowledge.

The weeklong celebration witnessed many literary activities which provided opportunities for students and teachers to have diverse discussions around the various authors, genres, illustrators and also promote love for literature.

The celebration kick-started with ‘Crack a Book this week’ as a precursor activity where students were encouraged to pick a book of their choice and log their reading time for the entire week.

Since children love to read books suggested by their peers, a ‘Book Recommendation’ activity was conducted where students posted book recommendations of their favourite books on the school soft board and also mentioned their next read. The eye-catching display board adorned with animated post its proved as a motivator for the fanatical readers.

Students, as well as teachers, were encouraged to lend and swap books with others and also share their insights and reviews on their favourite books. There were class discussions conducted wherein students talked about the books that they have read, highlighting characters and events that they particularly liked and students got the opportunity to share their valuable inputs. The style, ease of language, and attitude of writers were also discussed.

The campus was buzzing with various engaging reading activities likes ‘Readathons’, ‘Write a Fan Fiction’, ‘Poem in my pocket’, ‘Ferris Wheel of Words’, ‘Book Reviews’ etc.

In this modern digital age, it is an unfortunate truth that the internet has taken precedence over books and there has been a noticeable decline in reading habits of the young generation as well as the adults.

Interventions like ‘Book Week Celebrations’ help in steering young minds towards the benefits of reading and helping in realising the importance of books in our lives.

Yet again, ‘Books and Beyond’ proved fruitful in driving home the message of ‘Keep reading’ as Sir Francis Bacon has said 'READING MAKETH A FULL MAN'.

- Ms. Ronak Batham
HOD – English Department