They picked their favorite book characters, prepared their costumes all week, and practiced their songs for a month. So last Friday afternoon, the East Somerville Community School’s Kindergarten through fourth grade students were ready and excited for their annual character parade. This year their destination was the Capuano Early Childhood Center.

Some students dressed alike, so there were classrooms of elephants and pigs from Mo Willems’ Elephant and Piggie series, crayons from Drew Daywalt’s The Day the Crayons Quit, and a flock of penguins from Helen Lester’s Tacky the Penguin books. There were also several princesses, action heroes, and Harry Potters, and even a miniature third grader dressed as Burt Dow from Burt Dow, Deep-Water Man by Robert McCloskey.

Once they arrived at the Capuano gym, each ESCS grade sang a song to the younger students that they had rehearsed with music teachers Adam Epstein and Kendall Driscoll’s guidance. Favorite tunes included “Harvest Time Is Coming,” a tune adapted from a Hungarian canon set to seasonal lyrics; “Paw Paw Patch,” “Old Brass Wagons,” and Epstein’s own creation, “Pumpkin Vine.” The parade then returned the few blocks back to ESCS in time for dismissal.

— Somerville Public Schools