Showcase: The Second Annual Festival of Australian Children’s Literature

The Festival celebrates writers, illustrators and publishers connected with Canberra and the ACT who create children’s books.

When?

1 October – 15 November 2013

Where?

Various Canberra venues, including the University of Canberra, ACT Writers Centre, Libraries ACT, ALIA House and the National Library of Australia.

Who?

Just a sample, from many: Garth Nix, Morris Gleitzman, Jackie French, Nina Rycroft, Nick Bland and Emma Allen.

Funded by the ACT Government's Festival Fund.

Find out more

Indigenous Literacy Day: September 4th

One school excited about Indigenous Literacy Day is travelling over 3,000km from the Spinifex Country to Sydney to be part of the national celebration. A small group of students and teachers from Tjuntjuntjara Remote Community School have a lengthy journey ahead of them on Sunday, a 700km drive through the desert to Uluru before boarding a plane and then a 3-hour flight to Sydney.  The Indigenous children from Tjuntjuntjara are eagerly anticipating their week long stay in Sydney. For many of them, this will be their first experience of a big city.
The highlight of the trip will be on 4 September when the students take part in the Indigenous Literacy Day event at the Opera House. They will be performing a song they wrote about the book How Does Your Garden Grow? which was published by our Foundation at the start of this year. With the support of our ambassadors, the children will also share stories of their experiences, knowledge, interest and love of their community garden. Please visit the site to see more: Indigenous Literacy Foundation

Image and article from Indigenous Literacy Foundation

Children's Book Council of Australia winners for 2013 announced

 

Congratulations to all the authors and illustrators in this years categories.
Early Childhood Book of the Year 2013 is The Terrible Suitcase by Emma Allen and Freya Blackwood.
Picture Book of the Year 2013 is The Coat by Ron Brooks and Julie Hunt.
See all the winning books in all the categories.
We can't wait to read all these great books.

You might also like to visit our Literacy Resources page.

Not hundreds but thousands of free play ideas

 

 

I wanted to share some great play ideas from some friend's sites.
Right here you can get so many play ideas for young children from so many great Aussie bloggers. On their sites you will find a multitude of play ideas.
Just click on the links below to get you started:

• ABC
• Australian Animal crafts
• Baby water tray
• Baking a cake
• Bath Play 
• Bush walk with the family
• Butterfly painting
• Collage: easter egg shapes
• Dinosaurs - 10 activities
• Excursion planning
• Finger plays
• Garden Journal
• Labrynth Maths
• Matching game with aboriginal theme
• Memory games
• Mud pies
• Musical Instrument Making
• Music outside
• Nature play - 18 ideas
• outdoor play 
• Papier Mache
• Parachute Games
• Peg doll craft
• Playing Libraries
• Play with conkers
• Pretend Play
• Reading Tent
• Snap painting
• Science experiment with food colouring
• Scoop ball - DIY
• Slimy spaghetti
• Spray painting
• Toy free play - 15 tips

All of these wonderful blogs are on EARLY PLAY AUSTRALIA on facebook

MORE PLAY IDEAS AND THEORY 

Free performance for kids in Sydney

Floating on a Sea of Stories
School holiday performance: Free at Art Gallery of NSW
Dynamic Japanese stories full of wise characters, puppetry, music and song.
Tue 10 – Fri 13 July 2012, 1.30pm daily

Stories by children from remote Indigenous communities

This Christmas please consider a gift that gives twice:
The Naked Boy and the Crocodile edited by Andy Griffiths

All proceeds from each book buy literacy resources for over 200 remote Indigenous communities across Australia.
The Indigenous Literacy Foundation aims to raise literacy levels and improve the lives and opportunities of Indigenous children living in remote and isolated regions.

You can order your copies from The Indigenous Literacy Foundation PO Box 3227, Redfern NSW 2016 PH: 02 9319 2883  Fax: 02 9319 1884  info@indigenousliteracyfoundation.org.au

The cost is $16.99 plus postage or you can  purchase it from bookshops across Australia.

Read2Remember 11.11.11

In Australia Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November.  Services are held at 11 a.m. at war memorials and schools across the country The "Last Post" is played by a bugler and a one-minute silence is observed.
This year on 11th of the 11th, 2011 many children will read "Pledge of Remembrance" by Rupert McCall as part of  Read2Remember. Teachers will help children understand the significance of the day and the resilience of those who have fought for their country. Through  Read 2 Remember, children will learn to be resilient when facing difficult times.

A THOUSAND WORDS FESTIVAL September 23-24, 2011

Venue  Northcote Town Hall,  189 High St, Northcote, VICTORIA

A Thousand Words is an Australian literature festival that celebrates children’s stories, brings books out of the classroom and helps to develop a wide-reaching network for readers and writers.

Friday September 23, 2011 The first day will see the launch of the schools program. With a focus on encouraging reluctant readers, the day will close with a professional development session that will give teachers tools to cultivate a love of reading in the classroom.
Saturday September 24, 2011 The second day is open to everyone who has ever loved a book until the cover fell off. Come and meet your favourite author, be inspired to write and hear our competition winners announced and the winning stories read at our closing gala.

Thanks to Australian Picture Books for this post
Illustration: Mary Cassatt : Nurse Reading to a Little Girl 1895