"
I'm maaaaar enough of the lentils, fed up, fed up, more than fed up
," declaims Lola, from the height of her nine and a half years, in one of the Empire rooms of the Palace of Versailles.
Under the gilding, the student in class of CM1 in Muzy in the Eure faces Napoleon first consul, conqueror on his white horse.
But, this Thursday, January 20, it is not a battle like the others that is being played out.
The weapons are not swords but children's books.
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For two days, on the occasion of the first round of the "Little reading champions", a competition organized by Gallimard editions, nine classes of CM1/CM2, from Ile-de-France and Eure, follow one another on the ancestral floor of the royal palace.
Their challenge: to seduce the jury by reading aloud a text they have chosen.
Standing, firmly holding a slightly dog-eared book with both hands, their voices sometimes a little shaky, the children rush off.
In a few lines, the magic happens.
The stories of ghosts, noodles, family or even the house with 36 keys follow one another.
Matteo rushes in turn to read his text aloud.
MLM / Le Figaro
Opposite them are another class of the same age, as well as a jury made up of members of the team from the Palace of Versailles and the Ministry of Culture, partner of the event.
Together, they are responsible for electing the representative of each class who will then compete against the other winners.
In five months, of the 100,000 students registered throughout France, only one will be crowned little reading champion 2022, and will win the privilege of going on stage at the Comédie-Française.
Reading pleasure, champion training and team spirit
For now, everyone dreams of it. When Lola steps towards the microphone, her little legs falter slightly but she clings to her text.
“It's super mega stressful
, says the little girl, impressed to read in front of an audience she does not know.
But we want to show that CM1 can also win.
To get there, no secret. The children have followed since the beginning of the year a training of champion. "
They worked in small groups of six, in class
," says their schoolteacher, Mr. Méhault.
Then they practiced at home.
For Eva, the rehearsals even extended into the playground. Surrounded by "
her great friends
", she adds,"
obviously
".
Dynamic, assured, the schoolgirl launches into reading the
Diary of a big noodle
, written by Rachel Renée Russell in 2012. In a few seconds, she monopolizes the attention of her audience.
And makes him laugh.
Eva reads The Diary of a Big Noodle,
by Rachel Renée Russell (2012) , in
front of her classmates .
MLM / Le Figaro
"
The level is very good
," rejoices Magali Fourmaintraux, secretary general of the Little Reading Champions.
We feel that some have it in their blood and want to convey the emotion they received by choosing this book
. Behind what looks like a game for children, there are many educational objectives.
"We look at three important elements: technique, posture and transmission capacity
", specifies Thierry Claerr, head of the public reading office for the Ministry of Culture and member of the jury. Thus children must learn to hold their voice, articulate well, not read too quickly, set the tone, leave moments of silence so that the emotion seizes the audience.
The students deliberate to elect the best readers of the other class MLM / Le Figaro
But that's not all.
The organizers also insist on team cohesion.
“It's a class project,
adds Magali Fourmaintraux.
They support each other and train together.”
Not only by lining up behind the winner but also by evaluating another class, children learn the humility of defeat and competition.
After deliberation by the jury, Eva is crowned champion of the class.
Applauded by all her comrades, the little girl, moved by her victory, struggles to project herself into the next stage of the competition, which will take her to the Pantheon next March to face the other winners of the Ile-de-France classes.
In the meantime, she's going to celebrate with her friends, more determined than ever to make Eva their new champion.
