We love books here at The British School in the Netherlands (BSN), and both Junior and Senior School students alike – as well as staff! – have had a fantastic time celebrating the wonderful world of books for UNESCO World Book Day. Our Junior School campuses, Junior School Vlaskamp (JSV) and Junior School Leidschenveen (JSL), celebrated on 22 and 23 April respectively, followed by our Senior Schools, Senior School Leidschenveen (SSL) and Senior School Voorschoten (SSV) on 14 June.
The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.
~ Dr. Seuss
Welcoming a Very Special (Author) Guest!
Our Junior Schools were delighted to welcome published author Timothy Knapman. Timothy has written an impressive 60 books – including many student and staff favourites, such as ‘Dinosaurs Don’t Have Bedtimes’, ‘The Book of Blast Off’ and the ‘Superhero’ series – as well as a musical and an opera. Timothy visited both Junior Schools over their respective Book Days, meeting with students from Foundation 1 through to Year 6, much to the students’ excitement!
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Inspired by Timothy’s books, students enjoyed story time, made their own dinosaurs (‘Dinosaurs in the Supermarket’), hosted ‘book talks’ on their favourite books, designed their own superhero-themed front covers, and much more! Of course, there was plenty of time to have our copies of Timothy’s books personally signed.
Thank you, Timothy, for sharing your love of books with our students!
Which Books Inspire Us?
Our Senior Schools joined in with the book-themed fun on 14 June. There were various activities throughout the day on both campuses, including second hand book sales – with all proceeds donated to the charity Read to Grow, who support projects in developing countries with book donations – and book quizzes. Both students and staff were challenged to dress up or accessorise inspired by their favourite books. We had great fun trying to guess each book! Tutor group doors were jazzed up for the occasion – can you work out which books they were inspired by?
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Following the day’s festivities, each of our Senior School students received a Book Day bookmark with book and author quotes, such as this one:
I look at books as being a form of activism because a lot of times they'll show us a side of the world that we may not have known about.
~ Angie Thomas, author of ‘The Hate You Give’
Our students have had a blast celebrating the joy of reading. Our Book Days were truly special, and we hope they have enabled students to find new books to love, while rediscovering old favourites. Thank you to the BSN staff members involved in making each campus’ Book Day possible!
Bring on next year’s Book Day celebrations!
