January 2011 Vasvári Pál Primary School, Hungary C.I.A. – Could I Ask?

Our students regularly attend the local library of our town that has a great collection of different kind of books. The building has a separate section especially for children. The librarians working here are very kind and helpful. They teach how to use the library, read tales and arrange different kind of interesting activities and competitions for children. Our pupils can also borrow books from the library of our school.

Children who like reading can join the so-called Cimbora Club. They regularly get together in the library. The librarians even take them to a camp at lake Balaton in the summer where they read books, make puppets or marionettes, play drama games and have a lot of fun together. (Youtube: cimbora/2010/Balatonalmadi.)

In these photos our children have a debate on how to choose a good book. They tell their opinion to each other and collect the criteria of good books.

László Darvasi Writer of the successful children’s book titled Trapiti The Best Children’s Book of The Year in Hungary in 2002.

Judit Berg Writer of children’s books. Rumini received the Children’s Book of the Year Award by IBBY in

Panna Vukovári Translator of the famous Moomin books of the Finn writer Tove Jansson

Our children regularly attend the local theatre. In these photos they see a fairy play called Hangout. The story is based on famous Hungarian folk-tales.

Children don’t only see theatre performances, but they also produce them. In these photos they perform a Hungarian folk-tale titled The Old Fisherman And His Ambitious Wife.

Here our children perform the famous German fairy tale Mother Hulda that was collected by the Brothers Grimm.

At the end of January the local theatre organized an open day. Our students participated in the programmes during which they glanced into the work hehind the scenes. They were able to see an open rehearsal, and looked at the costume sewing, scenery making and dressing rooms. They were also led into the studio and the directing room. The organizers also showed the participants how the prap-door and the revolving stage work. Children were even allowed to try on some costumes and take part in plays. They had a chat with actors and actresses about slips, props and scenes. In the great hall there was also an exhibition on the history of the theatre.

The costume sewing and scenery making room. The trap-door.The studio and the directing room.

Every year our town organizes competitions where children coming from different schools tell stories and recite poems. Reciting poetry

Telling stories

Our children made drawings, illustrations of famous children’s books of the partner countries literature.