By Eliza Hallabeck

Hawley Elementary School students were treated to live story telling on Friday, March 20, when Andrea Wright of Books Alive! came to the school to perform stories as theater, for the school’s celebration of Connecticut Loves To Read Day.

“I love quilts and I love this book,” Ms Wright said while holding up a copy of the first book she would be performing for the students, The Quilt Maker’s Gift, by Jeff Brumbeau and Gail De Marcken.

The story, as the students heard, followed a gifted quilt maker as she creates quilts for the poor and destitute. There was also a greedy king who loved to receive presents, and had people search out all of the people in his kingdom who had not given him a present yet.

When he learned of the magical quilt maker, he sent for a horse and 1,000 soldiers to help him make the quilt maker create a quilt for him.

The magic quilt maker told the king that her quilts were only for the poor. Eventually in the story, the king is told to give away all of his belongings.

During the presentations for the different grades, Ms Wright also showed other books as theater. For the kindergarten through second grade students Ms Wright presented Lily and the Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, King Bidgood’s In the Bathtub by Audrey Wood, and Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. For the third through fourth grade students at the school Ms Wright presented The Quilt Maker’s Gift, Where The Wild Things Are, and The Unicorn And The Garden by James Thurber.