For Queanbeyan Library, Book Week holds a special place in the year. 

It wasn’t just Australian athletes receiving medals for excellence this August. The Australian Children’s Book Council of Australia were busy judging the best Australian written/illustrated books for children up to the age of 18. Across five different categories there were five first prize books chosen and 10 honour awards chosen.

This year the Australian Children’s Book Council is also celebrating 70 years of Children’s Book Week which promotes reading, literacy and quality children’s books in libraries and schools throughout Australia.

To celebrate Children’s Book Week, the Queanbeyan-Palerang  Library created a Australian landscape backdrop based on the national theme of “Australia! Story Country” complete with Australian plants, hay bales and a billy on a campfire. Each participating school was invited to create a banner or diorama depicting the national theme which have all been hung throughout our Community Room and Children’s Library. They are innovative, creative and showcase our talented teachers and their children.

The students (and teachers) always look forward to the annual Book Week parade, and enjoy sharing their love of reading which has become a strong culture within the school with many literature enrichment programs.  

Another highlight of the week’s activities included a group of Library Monitors performing Mem Fox’s ‘Possum Magic’ which was adapted by Mia Scrivener (Year 6) into a children’s play.  

Students were also encouraged to participate in a variety of activities including Quote of the Day, a colour in competition and a class door poster competition.  

There was a great buzz of excitement each day and students have already started asking what the theme will be for next year! 

“They’re going to lose their heads,

For painting the roses red

It serves them right

They planted white

They should have planted red.”

And so the characters from Alice in Wonderland sprang to life during the Children’s Book Week celebrations in Bungendore, with the Queen of Hearts (principal Narelle Lloyd) becoming very cross to discover reading happening in her kingdom.

Alice (teacher’s aide and local singer/songwriter, Libby Doyle) picked up her guitar and sang the merits of all things books, persuading the Queen to lift her ban on reading and the Book Week parade and activities began.

The Year 6s led art and craft activities, linked to Australian literature, in each of the school’s classrooms with children creating pipe cleaner bicycles to paper plate piranhas.

Teacher librarian Melisa Donaldson said she was thrilled with the participation of the students and staff in the Book Week celebrations this week.

“All the planning is worth it when you hear the screams of excitement from the children on the day. We were able to top last year’s ‘Where’s Wally’ with ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and a big part of that was due to Libby Doyle’s literacy-inspired lyrics,” she said.