On this Thursday morning in April the Primary library is noisy! Even our head librarian, Damien Renon, likes it that way.
Students from CM2 C, MSA and their parents and teachers are gathered for a special celebration of books, surrealism and metamorphosis timed for the school’s annual book festival, La Fête de la Rose. It’s the culmination of a year-long project that brought together students from fifth grade and pre-K, the bookends of the Primary School…
Some of the surrealist animals imagined by the students from both classes.
With inspiration from surrealist painter Salvadore Dali and Sans le A, a book about transformation and metamorphosis by Michael Escoffier and Kris Di Giacomo, students in these two classes worked together all year long to create imaginary surrealist animals and write stories that combine poetry, photography, collage, sculpture and origami.
“Immersed in a magical world”
“It really pulls up the level of our pre-K students in terms of vocabulary and motricity, when they do projects with fifth graders,” says pre-K teacher Annaig Herzig, who created the project with her co-teacher Sarah Dufour and fifth-grade teacher Marion Iglesias. “There’s a real sense of community that it creates, because the students are getting to know each other, and then they see each other in the hallway.”
The fifth graders (some of their self-portraits here on the left) gain much, too, especially on a topic like surrealism. “Surrealism is about what you have in your head, and for a pre-K student, most things come from the imagination. Even the books they read are often immersed in a magical world,” adds Annaig. “As students grow up, they develop an understanding about what does and doesn’t exist, and so the illogic of surrealism may be harder for them to grasp.” In this case, the pre-K had something to teach the fifth graders.
Books for Roses
Throughout the day on Thursday, members of the LFNY community were able to come to school and exchange books for roses for La Fête de la Rose, a Catalan tradition and annual celebration at the LFNY that coincides with World Book Day. Legend has it that Saint George slayed a dragon to save a princess. From the dragon’s blood a rose bush grew, and Saint George offered one to his love. In return, she gave him a book to show him her love.
Some pre-K students created poetry booklets that they exchanged for rose on Thursday, April 23, in the Primary Library.
In addition, the Library team introduced a special “Bookface” project, inviting everyone in the community to choose a book they love from either library and integrate themselves into the cover. Photos are exhibited in the Primary and Secondary libraries. You can see selects right on the LFNY Facebook page.
Happy reading (and viewing)!
About the Author :
Elisabeth King joined the Lycée team in November 2011 as the school’s first director of communications. A francophile at heart, Elisabeth spent her junior year of college in Paris, and held her first job at the French Trade Office here in New York. She brings to the Lycée over 15 years of experience in media and communications in non-profits, government, news and business. She was previously executive vice president and director of strategy at ABI, Inc., a boutique public relations agency, and she worked as associate editor on two books co-authored by Todd Brewster and the late ABC News anchor Peter Jennings.