Book Week is an annual event held in Victorian schools to foster and encourage the love of reading. It’s facilitated by the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA), and it even introduces well-known published authors to students.
‘Reading is magic’ was this year’s Book Week theme for teachers to use to inspire students’ love of reading, with many transforming corridors and classroom doorways into magical scenes from classic picture books, and organising magical and literature-based activities.
Activities at Broadford Secondary College included a game of Spotify Shuffle and an ‘author talk.’ Librarian Michelle Dixon said Year 12 students were treated to a preview of a book in production by author Glenden Hickson.
“He had us all hanging on every word, it was dead silent in here and he stopped it on the cliffhanger,” she said.
Kilmore Primary School welcomed David Gullan, author of Life in a Hollow to read to the children, and Michael Wagner, author of over 70 children’s books visited St Patrick’s Primary School.
“I visit schools, all over Melbourne, all over the map. I like to entertain the kids and inspire the kids, that’s what I try to do, and it’s just really nice to get a room full of kids laughing,” he said.
The Book Week parade featured many children dressing up as their favourite storybook characters and teachers joined in too. At St Patrick’s Primary School, the students even wrote and bound their own stories to truly experience the magical world of literature.
