The theme for 2021 Children’s Book Week is Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds.
I love this idea. It does what books are supposed to do and transports me to other places, other worlds. It makes me ponder where we’ve come from and where we might be headed. It’s also something I’ve been thinking about a lot over the past couple of years in the writing of Ginger Meggs – capturing the essence of a character created 100 years ago, but in contemporary stories written for kids right now.
What does the theme mean to you?
I’ve compiled a list of resources to mark this year’s Book Week, which runs from 21-27 August. Here are 10 ideas and links to help students, teachers and librarians to make 2021 Children’s Book Week the best Book Week ever!
1) FREE RESOURCES
The Children’s Book Council of Australia has listed a heap of great resources here. You can find CBCA shortlisted books, as well as some colourful, crafty, creative ideas for Book Week 2021.
2) BOOK PARADE
Ginger Meggs, star of my new book, ticks the box for old and new worlds! If you love Meggsy, why not turn up to your book parade as Australia’s favourite boy. All you need is red hair spray, or better still red hair! Add a few freckles, shorts, a t-shirt and some sneakers and transform yourself into Australia’s longest-running comic strip character, star of movies, coins, stamps and books! (Lots of ideas over at gingermeggs.com, too.)
3) HELP OTHER KIDS LEARN TO READ
To leave your mark on the world this Book Week, why not consider a school-based fundraiser for our Room to Read World Change Challenge. Slime a Teacher, hold a book swap or a sausage sizzle, or create a coin trail and donate to this incredible organisation’s local language publishing program, aimed at funding beautiful picture books for children in Asia and Africa. You’ll find a bunch of fundraising ideas here. Help make illiteracy and gender inequality problems of the past.
4) OLD WORLDS, NEW WORLDS, OTHER WORLDS COSTUME IDEAS
Be your own character. Dress up as the protagonist from one of your own amazing stories. If you don’t feel you can pull a whole costume together, you could just grab a blonde wig, scratch your head a lot and tell everyone you have the worst case of nits in world history like Lewis Snow from Nit Boy!
5) WRITE YOUR OWN BOOK!
Jump-start writing and creativity in the classroom with Young Writers’ StorySchool. In it you’ll find pictures, video, music, maps and other tools to bring your writing to life. Find inspiration, explore the online videos, indulge in an active, outdoor, visual, aural, tech-infused writing adventure. Develop characters and a storyline that fits with this year’s theme, Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds, and present your masterpiece to the rest of the class!
6) BUILD A BOOK CLUB TO CELEBRATE 2021 CHILDREN’S BOOK WEEK
Teacher-Librarian and blogger / Instagrammer extraordinaire, Megan Daley, has a new online course called Build a Book Club to help guide you through the process of setting up a book club in your school. It’s a step-by-step process to help you avoid the pitfalls.
7) MAKE A BOOK TRAILER
Have you considered making your own book trailer? I explain how to do that right here. Why not make a trailer about your favourite book and screen it in your classroom or the school library? If you’re after some inspiration, check out the Video page on my site. AND, if you’re in NSW, there’s the opportunity to submit your book trailer to the Collide Book Trailer Comp run by CBCA NSW and win prizes!
8) FAVOURITE READS
If you’re looking for your next great read (or your child / student’s next great read), I highly recommend listening to three podcasts – Words and Nerds, Your Kid’s Next Read and One More Page. And joining the Your Kid’s Next Read Facebook group. Also, connect with me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Youtube to talk books, writing and big ideas.
9) AUTHOR TALKS FOR CHILDREN’S BOOK WEEK
You could book an author (or ask your teacher-librarian to book an author) to come and chat about their latest book, at your school. Many authors are already booked for Book Week but if your celebration falls outside the official Book Week dates, you might get lucky. (I’m booked for Book Week but next year or other times of year can be booked through Speakers Ink (QLD), The Children’s Bookshop Speakers Agency (NSW) or Booked Out (VIC and other States).
10) WIN YOUR FAVOURITE BOOKS!
If you get in quick and vote for your favourite book, you could win 50 books for yourself or your school, in this Better Reading competition. If you’re stuck for ideas on which book to vote for, you could always choose Ginger Meggs, Two Wolves, The Fall or Detention! 😉
