Once Upon a Time, Fairy Tales Come to Life

The city of Colton recently hosted a fairy tale event at their local library for the community, of which many people came out to support. Event organizers and volunteers dressed as various fairy tale characters such as Little Red Riding Hood, wizards, princesses. The library was decorated with streamers, balloons piled up to look like castle towers and a throne placed in the center of the room. An employee, Sara Philips, dressed as Snow White and read the story of Snow White out loud to a group of children sitting on the carpet in front of her while the parents sat in chairs behind them. Afterwards, Prince Charming brought the story to life as he read the story of Cinderella and he was animated as he. The Colton Public Library puts this event on to encourage reading, stimulate the imagination, and bring the community together. These library events are held every season and this fairy tale event is one of many events put on for the community. “It’s for the summer reading program,” said Julia Arriola, a librarian at Colton Public Library. "This event sets out to involve everyone, even the parents. It’s for the community." Arriola said Colton Community Services also has a partnership with the Colton Public Library and partners to put these events together. She said the hope for the fairy tale event is that people will see all that the library has to offer, including computer usage, reading programs, story time for the kids and a homework center. The purpose is to prompt summer reading and library services and to contribute to the community. The summer reading program focuses on children 12 and under and for every five books that they read, they get a prize. "Anything from a library holder, to coupons, to a pass for the local swimming pool and many more,” said Christine Jude, head librarian. Near the storyteller’s area was a table lined up with cups filled with markers and crayons. Alongside the cup, yellow construction paper was laid out. The children did arts and crafts and made paper crowns, which they decorated to their imagination’s content. There was also a ‘Pin the Crown on the Princess’ game on the other side of the room where the children lined up and took their best shot. “My favorite part is the story time reading for the kids,” said Mayra Garcia, a parent who attended. The last item of the fairy tale event was a sing-along by Fin Ryder (Thomas Robles) of the song “Let it Go” from the movie, Frozen. There was an immediate audience participation and soon the whole room joined in the chorus, their voices ringing and echoing to the melody. The children participated the most, filling in the words without hesitation. It was a very lively moment. Fin, as an encore, also sang “Love’s an Open Door,” from Frozen, which received the same enthusiastic welcome. Afterwards, everyone had a chance to take pictures with Snow White, Fin Ryder and Prince Charming. “It was so much fun," said Brandon Ortega, who played Prince Charming. "I loved learning what the kid’s favorite princesses and characters are." Philips said she loves kids. “I enjoyed interacting and reading to the kids," she said. "It’s definitely fun." The fairy tale event wrapped up with a table set up outside, full of snacks, cookies and Capri Suns.