And so this is Book Week

 

"A good children's book is like a poem; its meaning won't reveal itself immediately. You can return to it throughout your life, and it will always whisper new messages." Cherie Gilmour Sydney Morning Herald 23rd August, 2023

The Sydney Morning Herald yesterday had an opinion piece about Book Week and dressing for parades. The piece covered a range of topics from books and quality literature to reading but as is always the case with pieces like this the author tried to cover too many issues including television franchise books such as Bluey, Disney characters and all the dress up merchandise available everywhere. The author, Cherie Gilmour, did make some good points which are worth deeper thought and I will quote them here but in her world every school has a Teacher-Librarian and here in Australia, in NSW and in Sydney this is not always true or if there is a Teacher-Librarian he or she may not be trained or the library staffing might be so reduced that children cannot visit the school library each week so I have also quoted an important letter sent to the Sydney Morning Herald today. 

Here are some quotes from "An Elsa outfit for Book Week? It's time to let it go".

"The commercialisation of stories across mediums leads to a vicious cycle of never-ending reuse. TV shows become books and multi-installment movie franchises. ... video games, books, cartoon series, ... toys, T-shirts and costumes."

"In the same way that we have a varied diet in what we eat, we should encourage our children to consume a wide range of literature ..."

"a beautifully crafted story that's been purpose made to be read has the power to inspire kids to fall in love with language and the joys of the imagination."

Cherie Gilmour concludes - If your child wants to wear the Disney outfit such as Elsa for the Book Week parade that might be okay but make sure you flood (my word) their world with the best books so they can really go on a reading adventure in Book Week and beyond. 

Perhaps next year your child might have a different idea for their dressing up or better yet (my opinion) the school might think of a much better way to celebrate books and reading and libraries and the CBCA winners - meaningful ways that link back to books not competitions and costumes.

Take a look at this letter from advocate and retired Teacher-Librarian Sharon McGuinness:

Lagging libraries

Another Book Week again sees my social media feed awash with dress-ups and I lament the lost opportunities that children have missed in truly experiencing the real Book Week (“An Elsa outfit for Book Week? It’s time to let it go”, August 23). Is there a correlation between this reliance on the dress-up as the main celebration of Book Week in schools and the decreasing numbers of professional teacher librarians and resourcing of school libraries? In the past, I’ll bet your kids could tell you the titles of many of the books shortlisted for a Book Week award. How familiar are they with this year’s list? 

Cherie Gilmour states we should be encouraging kids to engage with quality children’s literature but that main point of contact, the teacher/librarian, is often missing in their lives. No weekly visits to the school library where the resources have been selected especially for them, no engaging library-focused activities. The need to maintain this profession in all schools is paramount to introduce, engage and foster lifelong reading. Book Week can provide kids with rich experiences of engaging with the best of Australian children’s writing and illustrating. It should be jam-packed with author and illustrator visits and fun, engaging, stimulating activities. Sadly, the annual dress-up parade reflects none of that. Sharon McGuinness, Thirroul