Mallett School’s Prime Time Reading, aka Jammie Night, is my favorite event of the year. Obviously. After all it has some of the best ingredients an event could have: a shared love of reading, widespread community support and partnerships, great authors, a great crowd, amazing decorations, and pajamas.
Author Elizabeth Bluemle thrills the crowd of a Jammie Night from years past!
Here’s how it works: The Mallett community comes back to school at 6:00 in the evening – parents, kids, teachers, librarian, principal, all dressed in pajamas for an evening of read-alouds. I produce a children’s book author. The evening starts with that author reading her book to the assembled throng in the gymnasium, which has been lavishly decorated around the book’s theme. Afterwards, families can either go listen to one of five different community readers in five different classrooms, read together in the gym, or purchase a book and have the guest author sign it. The evening ends with the author reading a second book to the whole audience and then concludes with goodnights and more book signing.
The headliner of the 2015 event was the great and wonderful author Cynthia Lord. Since Mallet is a K-2 early elementary the focus of the evening was on Cynthias Hot Rod Hamster picture books and early readers. First let’s take a tour of the gym to see the decorations before any of the families had arrived.
These amazing decorations were the work of a team spearheaded by Mallet’s fab librarian Amanda Paradis Roberts.
Not only had Amanda, pictured here in her hamster pajamas, carried out the gym decorations, she had planned to bring in a big surprise out front….
Actual Hot Rod Monster Trucks!
Here’s Cynthia making the scene and greeting some early attendees!
Before everyone piled into the gymnasium, book sales and signing were positively frenetic.
Everything was ready. Now to introduce Cynthia!
And did she deliver?
That would be yes! Hot Rod books are all about helping the hamster choose from sets of things, tires, popsicles, helmets, and balloons. The kids chose and cheered!
And their parents had a big time too.
Afterwards, it was time to sign more books and say good night. As Cynthia said, “What a wonderful and fun evening. It’s incredibly cute to see all the kids in their pajamas!” It really was a great night. Thanks, everybody!