Hilltop school book fair

By Rose Sgarlato
SPARTA — Hilltop Country Day School kicked off its book fair last Thursday with a reading of “Is Your Mama a Llama?” by author Deborah Guarino.
Presented by the Hilltop Parents Association, this is the first time the school is partnering with publisher Scholastic.
“Is Your Mama a Llama?” is considered an Scholastic classic. With her book in print for over 25 years and available in many media formats, author Guarino lives locally in Wantage and is always happy to meet new readers.
“The book was originally written for audiences 3 to 7 years old, but I have seen all ages enjoy it,” she said. “ I have been signing books for three generations of readers: children, their parents and then their grandparents.”
A single mother of two children, Guarino was working in a daycare center years ago when she met a real llama. But her true inspiration for writing the popular rhyming picture book, the author said, was her now 30-year-old son Josh. Translated into many languages, and recently in Arabic, the work has been acknowledged in many ways. It was an “Oprah’s Book Club for Kids” pick and also named one of the 25 “ Must Have Books” by Parenting Magazine. “Is Your Mama a Llama?” was also featured as a clue on the television game show “Jeopardy” as well as in the New York Times crossword puzzle.
In addition to spotlighting “Is Your Mama a Llama?”, 7th graders paid tribute to Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are “ with a special appearance by one of the characters.
Students enjoyed the festivities and administrators deemed it a successful event.
"The Scholastic Book Fair is a phenomenal event for our school and to have Ms. Guarino do a private reading and sign autographs was truly a special experience for our community," said Peter Gordon, Head of School. "Events like this are just another example of how Hilltop enhances the curriculum with projects, special events, and connections to the real world."