Students read at Walnut Grove Elementary School's Book Fair in January

     A buzz about books has earned Walnut Grove Elementary some big bucks.  The school recently earned 2nd place in Scholastic's "Make Your Book Fair Buzz" contest.  The school had to creatively describe how the word was spread about their Book Fair and what effect it had on the school and community.  For their efforts, Walnut Grove received a $1,000 shopping spree from the Scholastic Book Fair's Instructional Resource Catalog.

     The 2006 Book Fair, "Camp Read-a-Book"  was held on January 23 through 27 and was the most successful fair in Walnut Grove's history, exceeding all goals and increasing sales more than 20 percent over last year.  The school's library was transformed into the great outdoors featuring trees, a fishing pond, and fire pit.  The 2007 Book Fair theme will be "Book Fair Beach, Catch the Reading Wave!"  It will be held in January.

Students check out the merchandise at Walnut Grove Elementary School's Book Fair in January

     Walnut Grove also had great success with its teacher Wish List program.  Teachers were able to select books they would like for their classroom, and their wish lists were displayed at the Book Fair for parents and students to browse.  People were then encouraged to purchase an item for their child's teacher. This year many teachers received all their selections, and each donated book contained a bookplate with the child's name and year.