Last week the 20th edition of the Chaumont book fair took place. Around fifty classes were able to benefit from meetings with certain authors.
So we followed Romain Gallissot, who came to present his new book “In Search of the Gold Medal” to a senior class at the Pablo Picasso school in Chaumont. It is a meeting that the children were impatiently awaiting as part of the 20e Chaumont book fair. Working in advance with their teacher, these students, aged between 5 and 6 years old, were able to discover the book in more detail.
From book to life-size experience
“We read the presentation of the characters and we tried to find some. It made it possible to talk about sport around the Olympic Games, it’s a good approach for children,” explains Céline Baehr, professor. After a few minutes of explanation and presentation, Romain invites the children to find the characters hidden in his book together and then live the life-size experience. To do this, the author takes a gold medal from his pocket and begins to hide it in the room. All it took was for the children to have fun finding this precious treasure.
Are any athletes missing?
Once the activity is finished, Romain offers a new and final activity. The children sit at the table when the latter takes out a large sheet of paper and places it on the tables. On this fresco was a page from his book that the children had to draw, but something was missing: the athletes! “How do you have a competition without an athlete and without a champion? “, Romain asks the children. Without a second thought, the children begin creating characters and filling in the fresco.
Collective fresco
“This morning, I was with older kids and we did more things. There was a process of character creation by choosing the sports highlighted. Kindergarten is great, we see that it’s something else. They have this pleasant spontaneity to see that they are entering the book,” exclaims Romain. Obviously, in children in this age group, attention needs to be rapid. After 40 minutes, the children stop drawing and go to recess.
“A pleasant spontaneity”. –
This is the end of the meeting for Romain, but the children will have the opportunity to continue the fresco afterwards. “There will be other coloring sessions, it helps keep them busy and learn less common words for them like gymnasium”, illustrates Céline. Once finished, the mural will join the other works in the hallway for everyone to enjoy.
