Page 47 - 2020

The Dot, by Peter H. Reynolds, an author and illustrator of children’s books, starts with a little
girl named Vashti, who believes that she can’t draw. Her teacher encourages her and asks her to sign the
International Dot drawing when she makes a simple dot on the paper out of frustration. The next day, when Vashti sees
her dot framed and displayed in her teacher’s office, she is motivated to draw a better dot and soon, she
grows up with confidence and realizes that she is, indeed, a creative artist. Reynolds had dedicated the
Day - A Special Online book to his fifth grade math teacher, who encouraged him to “make a mark and see where it takes you”,
which was later turned into the famous slogan of International Dot Day.

Holiday Lesson book called “The Library’s Secret”, written by Jia Tong. Through a video with narration, it tells the story
After the eye-opening introduction on International Dot Day, she introduced a Chinese picture

of a girl who stumbled upon a library’s secret when she noticed someone following her. This shows us
what the future of books and libraries might become in this modern age of technology.

The second picture book she showed us was “The Gift of Nothing”, written by Patrick McDonnell.
This is a story about Mooch the cat and Earl the dog who are best friends. Mooch wants to give Earl
a present but his friend already has everything he needs. Hence, Mooch decides to give him nothing
s part of the special holiday classes held by Kuen when he realises the true priceless value of friendship. Both picture books have simple illustrations and
Cheng High School, all Junior 2 students were invited narratives that are easy to understand.
Ato participate in the online Art lesson conducted on
June 1st , 3rd, 5th 2020, held by Art teacher, Miss Ong Sook
Wan. It fired off excitingly with an inspiring introduction
to the globally celebrated International Dot Day and its
founder. After that, she shared interesting picture books
through videos as well as its making process.

International Dot Day, observed annually on
September 15 since 2009, is described as a holiday in which
people of all ages are encouraged to harness their creativity
and embrace their own confidence to “make your mark and
see where it takes you,” as said by founder Peter H. Reynolds.
He singlehandedly wrote and illustrated The Dot, the very
book that inspired the birth of International Dot Day, and
claims that said holiday was a day to think about ways in
which we could use our special talents to make the world a
better place. This particular holiday is celebrated by millions
of teachers and students across the globe as they rediscover
the power of creativity and explore limitless, diverse areas of
confidence as they too make their own mark. So what story
was it that began as a simple picture book, but turned out
into something so much more?

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