Reading Club: Children's Book (7-9 years old) | Schaible’s Once Upon a Time There Was and Will Be So Much More

In January, the Children’s Book Club for our young booklovers resumes facilitated by Sofianna Theofanous. Actress and writer Sofianna Theofanous has written operas and picture books for children, and has been honored with the Greek National Award for a Theatrical Play for Children and Teenagers for her play Merry Christmas, My Dear Charlie.

This month’s Book Club will be discussing Johanna Schaible’s Once Upon a Time There Was and Will Be So Much More.

On Sunday, January 22, our young readers will meet to share impressions, feelings and thoughts, and to embark on an imaginary journey, sparked by the book of the month, into the fascinating worlds emerging from its pages.
 

The book

Take a journey from the distant past into a future to be imagined with this gorgeous debut picture book, whose gradated pages reflect the passage of time. 

Hundreds of millions of years ago, land took shape. Millions of years ago, dinosaurs lived on Earth. But you knew that, right?

Thousands of years ago, people built towering pyramids. You knew that too, didn’t you?

Now come a little closer and take a better look! A minute ago, the light was turned off. Now! Make a wish! What will you be doing in a week? How will you celebrate your birthday next year? What will you discover when you are older? All this, you don’t know yet, right?

With this beautiful collage book as our vehicle, January brings us closer to exploring time in a way that combines deeper meaning with the simplicity of moments.

With each page turn, the pages gradually become smaller — clearly demarcating the borders separating us from the past — until they reach the present moment, and then they start growing larger again as time expands into a future full of possibilities.

And it is up to us to discover these possibilities together.

The author
Johanna Schaible is an artist and illustrator based in Switzerland. Her book Once Upon a Time There Was and Will Be So Much More was awarded in the competition dPICTUS Unpublished Picturebook Showcase at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2019. 

The facilitator
Sofianna Theofanous was born in Athens and graduated with honors from the Department of Communication, Media and Culture of Panteion University, and the Greek Art Theatre Karolos Koun. She was a member of the Experimental Stage of the National Theater of Greece, to then serve as an actor for 12 years at the National Theater and later the Free Theater. She has written two operas for children, commissioned by the Greek National Opera and the Municipal and Regional Theatre of Patras, two children’s picture books, and step outlines for television. Among other things, when she is not acting in theater, she illustrates and organizes productions of the Athens Festival. In 2022, she was honored with the Greek National Award for a Theatrical Play for Children and Teenagers for her play Merry Christmas, My Dear Charlie.
 

Activities for the children before the Book Club meeting

1.    If you had a time machine that can take you back and forth in time, what would it look like? You can draw it, or construct it out of simple everyday materials.
2.    Let’s assume that you are a time traveler and can travel to the past. To which historical period would you go, and what would you change?
3.    Your magic time capsule and you get accidentally stuck at some point in the future. Send us a letter about how things are there. A letter from the future.

Κυριακή 22/1
17.00-18.15 

NLG KIDS LAB 

Up to 22 participants 
Free admission with online pre-registration

Pre-registration starts on 04/01, at 12.00

The book Once Upon a Time There Was and Will Be So Much More by Johanna Schaible is available in Greek from Martis Publishing. 

As part of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center's collaboration with the National Library of Greece, the book for the Reading Club has been chosen by NLG staff members.