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By Andrew Rowan ’19, Marketing and Communications Student Intern

Moorestown Friends School will hold the first ever Edible Book Festival on Tuesday, March 6. An edible book festival is a baking and cooking competition with a literary twist.

Entries can range from edible creations of book covers, scenes from books, play on words in the title, or anything that brings some aspect of the book to life.

Those who entered the festival were asked to choose any book, and design an edible creation around it. “We hope that the Edible Book Festival will be a cross-divisional event and one that faculty and staff get involved in,” said Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications Stephanie Huie, one of the organizers of the event.

The entries will be judged by a small panel of judges in five categories: Most Creative, Most Edible, Funniest/Punniest, People’s Choice, and Best in Show. Lower School Students will vote as a class for the people’s choice, but Middle and Upper School students will vote individually and get to try samples of each project during their lunch period.

“We chose to have [the People’s Choice award] because every student will have the opportunity to try every entry, which gets everyone involved regardless of whether or not they entered,” said Teaching Intern Vashti Williams, who is organizing the festival along with Ms. Huie, Head Librarian Martha Reilly, and Lower School Librarian Deborah Alterman.

Both Ms. Huie and Ms. Williams participated in an Edible Book Festival in college and decided to bring one to MFS. “I thought it would be a great opportunity for the community to do it,said Ms. Williams.

“I’m always thrilled to encourage reading,” said Mrs. Reilly, “I’m looking forward to seeing the creativity of our students, faculty, and staff. This project allows books to feed students, faculty, and staff with their own creativity.” She cited a recent study which found that people who read for pleasure have increased test scores and greater comprehension of material in school or work.

Mrs. Alterman said she was excited for the Edible Book Festival. She said that despite her average cooking skills, the event is building community as she sought help from other teachers on how to build her project.

“I love anything that makes people think or talk about books,” said English Department Chair Deb Galler, who is also participating. “I also love puns more than most, and our problem as a department was narrowing down the list of puns we want to make with our submissions.” Entries from the English department will be based on books that are in the Middle and Upper School curriculum.

Over 50 people have entered the Edible Book Festival, and competition will be fierce. “We really can’t wait to see all the entries,” said Ms. Huie.