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York Avenue Preschool will hold its annual Book Fair November 11-13, 2014. The school’s lobby will be transformed into a wonderful children’s bookstore featuring a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction books, as well as sticker and other activity books, and educational gifts and toys perfect for birthday and holiday giving. Titles have been hand-selected by YAPs librarian Ms. Katherine with the York Avenue Preschool, Early Learning Foundations Preschool and Gymtime communities in mind. Below, Ms. Katherine reveals more details and shares her thoughts about this special event.

What is your favorite part about the bookfair?
I love watching families get so excited about the new books they have purchased at the bookfair that they sit right down on the floor and start to read those books together without even waiting to take them home.

How do students and teachers benefit from bookfair sales?
A percentage of all sales come back to the library. We use these funds to purchase new and replacement books, repair damaged books, and sponsor author readings.  YAP is very fortunate to have a dedicated library space outside of the classroom, and it is one of the few preschools in the city that has a circulating library where books are regularly brought home by students to be shared by families.  YAP and ELF and PEP teachers also withdraw books to enhance specific lessons and art or cooking projects.

Anything else?
Students and teachers all benefit from the purchase and sale of gift certificates. The children love presenting these certificates to their teachers to show their appreciation and each certificate that is given directly helps support and enhance the school’s curriculum.

What is the book selection like this year?
In a word—Great! A diverse selection of beautifully illustrated and smartly written books from a wide variety of outstanding authors will be available. I spent many hours selecting books for ages 1 to 10 in all formats from board book to hardcover and paperback. There are new and classic picture books, early readers, chapter and series books, and interesting non-fiction works in science, sports, math, history and more. Parents and children who eagerly await new installments from best-selling authors will be excited to see recently published books chronicling the latest adventures of their favorite characters, including Mo Willems’ Elephant & Piggie (“My New Friend is So Fun” and “Waiting is Not Easy”), Peppa Pig (“Peppa Pig and the Muddy Puddles”), Otis the Tractor (“Otis and the Scarecrow”), and Pete the Cat (“Pete the Cat and the New Guy”). We also have many titles from the current New York Times Picture Book Best Seller List, including “Mix It Up” by Herve Tulet (the author of Press Here), “The Day the Crayaons Quit” by Drew Daywalt,  and “Sam and Dave Dig a Hole” by Mac Barnett. I am so excited about the inventory that it is taking a lot of will power not to spoil it and list all of the titles here!!

What is new at the bookfair this year?
This year we have a few new twists. The bookfair will stay open later on Wednesday in order to allow working parents and Gymtime families to attend this wonderful event. We will also be holding a prize drawing each day. Anyone who spends $25 or more will have their name entered to win one of three (3) 2015 “Frozen” wall calendars. I understand from Allbook (our bookfair supplier) that demand is so high for these calendars that they are number 230,000 on the waiting list for more! Finally, we will have two convenient checkout stations, with “square” technology for faster credit card processing. The square will permit us to accept all credit cards, including American Express, and will allow us to be paperless, as well.  Receipts still can be emailed to customers if they wish. Once again, we will be selling gift certificates that your child can present to his or her classroom teacher or the library.

When will the bookfair take place?
Thanks to our tireless bookfair chairpersons and Parent Association Board Members and our wonderful parent volunteers, the bookfair will be open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday November 11, 12 and 13, before, during and after all YAP and ELF classes. We also will have a late closing on Wednesday, November 12^th (approximately 6:45pm) for working parents and Gymtime families. I hope to see everyone there.