ALTAMONT — The red carpet was rolled out as reading got the royal treatment at Altamont Elementary School on Friday.

Teachers wore elegant full-length gowns and the principal presided over the affair wearing a tux.
"This is the real deal, boys and girls," said Principal Peter Brabant from the stage to a sea of upturned faces. Eager students, many of them in finery for the occasion, packed the gym floor.

Kids in kindergarten through fifth grade had voted by computer for their favorite books in different categories and the winners were about to be announced, Academy Awards-style.
"Are you ready"" asked Brabant.
"Yes!" came the loud, chorused reply.
First up was "Best Series" for the primary grades. Daniel Diamond and Melanie Teats walked the red carpet in style and mounted the steps to the podium where Diamond burst into a chorus of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," much to the amusement of the kids.
He feigned surprise that the award wasn’t about the World Series which led Teats to comment, "The Yankees are always in it."
"Yankees! Yankees!" came scattered cheers from the crowd.

But the kids quickly quieted as the nominees for Best Series were read.

Brabant handed over a festive purple envelope. As the winner, Magic Tree House, was announced, huge cheers erupted from the crowd. A clay rainbow statue was presented and the applause continued.

Next up, was Best Series for fourth and fifth grades and Harry Potter was the winner.

The piano played as, pair by pair, teachers in the role of celebrities mounted the stage to announce each winner. The audience’s enthusiasm never flagged as the emcee kept the pace brisk and the patter lively, divulging little-known-tidbits about the celebs.
The cheers became deafening as Carol Preville and Annemarie Farrell walked the red carpet, bearing glittery signs that said, "Girls Rock" and "Girl Power." Several girls raised their fists in the air as a sign of solidarity and many roared their praise.
The duo announced the winner of "Best Female Character" — Junie B. Jones and the applause started all over again.
"Mrs. Farrell gave me a little prick with her girl-power thing," reported Brabant to the crowd as laughter rippled through the hall.
Later, after women bearing armfuls of stuffed animals had named the best animal characters — Wilbur from Charlotte’s Web and Shiloh from the book of the same name — Brabant opined, "It’s difficult, boys and girls, working with famous personalities."
After the "Best Friends" awards were made, during what Brabant termed "a commercial break," the kids sang about reading a book.
Then it was back to the awards as the Grinch, who stole Christmas, beat out even the Big Bad Wolf for the "Best Antagonist" award.
The "Best Pet Owner" award went to the man in the Yellow Hat from the Curious George books and to Marty Preston from Shiloh.
Kindergarten teacher Colleen Ciccarelli and art teacher Trisha Zigrosser gave out the "Best Illustrator" award for the primary grades. Zigrosser told the kids that book illustration originated in the 15th Century and Ciccarelli shared a rakish stick figure she’d drawn of Principal Brabant.
"I loved the art," gushed Brabant. "Remind me to talk about room assignment...next year." The winner was Eric Carle who illustrated The Grouchy Ladybug and The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Diane McDonald and Suzanne Arduini, both in sophisticated black with strappy high heels, gave out the Best Illustrator award for fourth and fifth grades — to Chris VanAllsburg of Polar Express fame.
"Best Author" for the primary grades was announced to wild screams — it was the ever-popular Dr. Seuss. For the upper grades, it was Kate DiCamillo, author of Because of Winn Dixie.
The penultimate award, "Book of the Year," was presented by "two of the biggest readers in the building" — Michelle Rispole and Kathleen Goldberg. "The suspense is killing me," said Brabant. A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon was the winner.
"The accounting firm found a mistake," deadpanned Brabant.
Cries of "Uh-oh!" were heard throughout the crowd.
"Two other presenters had an equal number of hours — 4,365,982 — spent reading — yesterday," said Brabant, introducing Laurie Poelma and Susan Mulé.

They announced the Book of the Year for the upper grades is Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.

Brabant took a deep bow as he accepted the award to waves of applause.
When the crowd quieted, he said in a serious and sincere tone, "Some of us...fly through it, some of us work very hard to read...Keep on reading."

Fourth-grade teacher Nancy Brumer, who organized the event, closed the show.
She described a meeting at the start of the school year. "All the people who care about you got together and asked, ‘How can we make this year extra special"’"
Autumn brought an assembly on the theme "Altamont Celebrates Reading," which ran throughout the year, culminating in Friday’s awards.
"We even read as an entire school this week — out on the field," said Brumer.

She closed with a thought from an author she told the grade-school students they would read in high school or college — Virginia Woolf.
"Literature is no one’s private ground; literature is common ground," quoted Brumer. "Let us trespass freely and fearlessly."