A celebration of Book Week will be the primary focus of the Carey Libraries in Term 3, culminating in the announcement of the award-winning books on Friday 16 August. The theme for this year is Reading is Magic. The Children’s Book Council of Australia has explained the theme in the following words:
With our 2024 Children's Book Week theme, Reading is Magic, we're celebrating reading stories and their amazing power to transport minds. We are encouraging kids to be curious about the wonders in our world. It is a positive and affirming message for our young people. The magic of reading also lies in its power of enticement; a good story provokes conversations. Talking about the stories with others connects the reader with other readers. Wrapped around all of this are the "tricks" and skills of our amazing writers and illustrators, as they use all their powers of language and illustration to engage the reader in this world they are building.
Visit the CBCA website to find out more about this year’s shortlisted books in all categories, written by Australian writers and illustrators, some of whom have been writing for many years and others who are new to publishing for children and young adults.
We have also been marking National Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC Week in our libraries with visual displays, including books written by First Nations writers. Melanie Saward (who visited Carey for the Literature Festival), Gary Lonesborough, Lystera Rose and Amberlin Kwaymullina have all created engaging new stories for teenagers over the last 12 months. See the Library Catalogue for more information about these writers.
At Carey we love to promote books from our diverse collection. At present the Year 8 students are reading books on World Cultures as part of their English learning. These books include fiction and non-fiction stories set in other countries, stories of refugees who have sought shelter in other countries and the stories of First Nations writers. Students, across the cohort, report how worthwhile and engaging this project is.
Year 9s are involved in another wide reading program where small groups of students focus on reading books on a theme of their choice. They then discuss how the writer has addressed the theme.
Year 7s were involved in a similar activity when they were engaged in their Reading Circles task in Term 2. This is of course similar to Book Chat Junior School where students are offered a choice of books but there is some commonality and shared reading experience, something we all tend to love.
Thank you to all those many parents who foster a love of reading in your families. Your enthusiasm and support for reading is an enormous boost to our efforts to encourage reading.
Marg Moran
Head of Carey Libraries
