We have reached the end of another book week. Apart from my own childhood I have been participating and observing Children's Book Week celebrations sinch 1985.
Components of Book Week here in Australia
- The CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) Awards
Fifteen judges read hundreds of books over about eight months; a long list (or Notables list of up to 125 titles in 5 categories) is announced in February; a short list in six categories (including New Illustrator) is announced and then in August the award winners and honour titles are announced. Hopefully over this time every school library has added many of these books to their library collections and more importantly has shared these books with groups in their libraries and with class teachers and also hopefully they might have shared other books by the nominated authors or illustrators and perhaps even explored the slogan through book choices. By the time Book Week is celebrated young readers in our Primary Schools, preschools, and High Schools should be familiar with many of the notable and short-listed books and also the slogan.
Twelve months before Australian Children's Book Week the CBCA announce the slogan, or some people call it the theme, and reveal the illustrator who will create the associated merchandise such as posters. Some of my favourite slogans from the past are: Sail Away with books 1987 (art by Bob Graham); Imagine if you will…. 1990 (art by Ron Brooks); Anywhere Anytime Anybook 1996 (art by Steven Woolman); Weave the Book Web 1999 (art by Junko Morimoto); Oceans of Stories 2003 (art by Armin Greder); Book Safari 2009 (art by Matt Ottley); Books light up our world 2015; Curious Creatures, Wild Minds 2020 (art by Gwyn Perkins); and Reading is Magic 2024 (art by Jess Racklyeft).
- In NSW we hold a Night of the Notables (longlist)
- In March the Shortlist is announced via a professional video
- August is Australian Children's Book Week
Now onto the topic of this post -
- Costume Parades and dressing up for Book Week
Here are my thoughts organised under the headings - good and no so good.
The Good:
I saw some great ideas this year. In one school the kids and the Teacher-Librarian made simple costumes at school - no pressure on parents, no 'winning' competitive parents, no need for parents to be experts at arts and crafts; everyone can be involved; no 'rich/poor' divide; and this must have been fun. Hopefully also it had the essential BOOK focus.
Or there is this idea where children can borrow a costume (for free).
At Kingston Primary School in Tasmania's south, a book week costume library is open for business in the days leading up to the book week parade. The costumes have been donated and come with a book to match. ... Over the past three years, Ms Briant and Tasmanian independent politician, David O'Byrne, have put together costume libraries for five schools. So far, close to 300 children have borrowed outfits.
Another idea I saw was from a local school near me. The Teacher-Librarian asked the children to come dressed in a way that matched the 2025 Slogan - Book an Adventure - she wanted them to come as adventurers. (As a side note to this I also on Facebook one of our celebrity Teacher-Librarians and her library staff - she is in a private school, so she has actual library staff - all dressed up as travel agents or perhaps flight attendants - a fun way to link with the slogan).
Not so good: Here are some things to think about:
Should the costume relate to a book? My view is a resounding yes, but I did see a lot of television shows; movies; and computer game related costumes.
Should the costume book be Australian? I am not quite so adamant about this one, but I did see way too many teachers dressed up as crayons (The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt) and Alice in Wonderland (which I am going to say I doubt many of the teachers had read); Peter Pan; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Also, as usual there were lots of Where's Wally outfits and of course where would we be without Harry Potter or Snow White - easy costumes you can buy (assuming you are able to afford them) from chain stores.
Should the child carry a book if there is a parade or at least have a copy of the cover perhaps as a lanyard? My view is yes - this is all supposed to be a celebration of books and reading.
Should the costume be for an actual book that has been READ and enjoyed by the child? Again, you know that I am going to say yes. I found it odd when I saw a young child aged 9 or 10 in a costume based on the George Orwell book Animal Farm for example. I recently read the term 'reverse engineering' - find the costume then find a book that somehow matches - I find that sad and completely the wrong way around. I also have an issue with dressing up as pirates - I saw this in a few schools and often as the costume of choice for groups of teachers. Modern day pirates are a real and terrifying. This topic needs to be treated sensitively especially if you have immigrant children in your school. It is also odd to see students in senior primary classes dressed as The Cat in the Hat or Thing One and Thing Two. Surely these are no longer the favourite books of children aged 11 or 12?
Should there be prizes? Absolutely NO in my opinion. Surely this is supposed to be a fun activity not a competition. I despair when things like this create 'winners and losers'. And this is even worse when parents think 'they' need to win!
Does the school need to have a book week dress up day? No - check out my previous posts about this. 2013; 2015; 2016; and 2022.
Thoughts from the CBCA:
Jo Panckridge is the national board chair for the Children's Book Council of Australia. She said the book week parade didn't need to be high stress for parents.
"The idea behind it being that children connect emotionally to a book or to a particular character and want to dress up and emulate them," Ms Panckridge said.
"It's since become a rush on Amazon to buy the best, biggest, blow-up marvel super hero comic outfit."
She said book week shouldn't be a chore. Ms Panckridge said book week is all about celebrating books and Australian writers.
"I would like to see it far more about reading, the love of reading, reading for pleasure and joining in creating this big youth culture where reading matters and reading is important."
The CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) turned 80 this year. The 1945 slogan was "United through Books" - that seems just as relevant today. Every CBCA State Branch organised their own celebration. I adore these images from Western Australia:
For their 80th Celebration the CBCA in South Australia gave their presenters a camellia which echoes the original prize given in 1945.
And finally this writer makes some important points:
