Book Week challenges 2026

Image source: CBCA merchandise

This is controversial but I am not a fan of Book Week dress up days or parades.  I think Book Week should be a celebration of books, reading, libraries and creative thinking, so in my school, as an alternate activity, I used to set four Book Week challenges. Sometimes kids worked on these during breaks and sometimes teachers allowed their class to complete a challenge in class time. 

My rules are simple but of course you can set your own:

• the challenge must be completed during the school day (not at home)
• the deadline for entries is 3.25pm each day
• label your work with your name and class
• up to ten winners will be announced each morning and they will each received a small prize bag there are also certificates for highly commended and commended entries
• you can visit a showcase of entries in the library during Book Week and beyond

Here are ten challenges I have created for 2026 around the slogan 'Symphony of Stories'.  Please feel free to use, adapt, adopt etc.  I suggest selecting four challenges that appeal to and you could set one each day over four days of Book Week. It takes a long time (at night) to sift through the hundreds of entries but it is also fun. I think it is important to maintain the excitement by announcing winners each day and then displaying them in your library.

Here are my 2026 ideas:

Your library needs an advertising jingle – write a song using a well-known nursery rhyme tune that encourages the youngest children to read a book or borrow a book or share a book

Books can be other shapes – not just rectangles. Make a three-page book in the shape of a musical instrument – it will need a title, cover, title page, one story page and a back cover with a blurb or for bonus points make a pop-up book that looks like an instrument

Puzzle me a puzzle – use the letters of the 2026 CBCA book week slogan 'Symphony of Stories' to design a puzzle such as a find-a-word, cross word, or a code to solve

Using music staves as your lines write the first line of your story – make it large enough to fill a whole page ready to display in the library

The members of the orchestra have heaps of spare time – make a list of instruments and suggest a great book for each player to read and present your work as a poster to display in their rehearsal room

Write a short story (one page only) that features music or musical instruments (perhaps a musical instrument could be the main character)

Illustrate the book cover for a new book which features a musical instrument or a song and add the title, plus the author and illustrator names (be inventive with these names if you like).

Design a game that includes some of the 2026 short listed picture books – it might be snakes and ladders, or a simple version of monopoly, or a card game perhaps

Choose a book that can be made into a movie – write a proposal in the form of a letter to a famous movie director suggesting which book could be a movie and which music they should use for the movie soundtrack. Did you know the movie Babe uses music by a famous composer Camille Saint-Saëns and his Symphony number 3 and Star Wars uses music from Carmina Burana by Carl Orff and Bluey also has classical music in the episode called Sleepytime from a piece called The Planets. The book you choose for this challenge could be a personal favourite or even one of the 2026 CBCA shortlisted titles.

I penned a post linking classical music and children's books a few months ago. And this post about an elephant and a piano in Thailand might also give you some inspiration. 

Happy Book Week

Book Week Parades - the good and the not so good!

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.

• The Book Week 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:

Book Week 2022 Dreaming with Eyes Open

Book Week is coming - August 20th-26th. 

The poster and merchandise this year is designed by Jasmine Seymour. Her book Baby Business won the 2020 CBCA New Illustrator award. 

You might like to read my previous posts where I share my personal thoughts about book parades and alternate ways to celebrate:

Book Week 2013

Book Week 2015

Book Week 2016 

Book Week 2018

Book Week 2020

Book Week 2021

I went hunting for some books about dreams and found these from previous blog posts:

When the World is Dreaming

Dreams for our Daughters

Dandelion's Dream

Fanny's Dream

Ballerina Dreams

Someday

The other books you want to add to your display would be this splendid series:

I recently completed a post with some companion books to read alongside the shortlisted Picture Books. My friend from Kinderbookswitheverything and I have also added images to a Pinterest collection which might be another way to explore the 2022 slogan with your classes. 

I no longer work in a school library but a friend asked me to create some Book Week challenges as these were greatly enjoyed by her own children when they were in Primary school. Here are a few ideas which you are welcome to use, change, adapt etc. 

My rules are simple but of course you can set your own:

• the challenge must be completed during the school day 
• the deadline for entries bell time each day
• label your work with your name and class
• up to ten winners will be announced each morning and they will each received a small prize bag and certificates for highly commended and commended entries

Thinking challenges

Design and make

A way has been found to share dreams through glasses. You need to design these special glasses, make them extra big and in their large lenses show your favourite dream or daydream.

Creative writing

Your teacher tells you stories must not end with the words “It was all a dream” but you disagree. Write a short (100 word) story that ends with those words and make it such a brilliant story that your teacher will be persuaded to change his or her mind.

Research

The CBCA posters and materials for the Book Week slogan features original artwork by Jasmine Seymour. She has filled her posters with lots of different Australian birds. Your task is to find an unusual Australian bird and draw a picture on a post card. On the other side of the card, you will write a very short greeting to a friend living in another country explaining our Australian Book Week celebration. You should also mention your favourite book from the short list this year.

Puzzle me a puzzle

Using the words of the 2022 CBCA slogan “Dreaming with eyes open” as a starting point design a puzzle such as a find-a-word; a set of cryptic clues; a crossword; or a dot-to-dot.

Make a poster

A local mattress and bed shop would like to promote their business with a new slogan. Use the words of the 2022 CBCA slogan or words that relate to the slogan to design a poster for the shop.

Debate topic

The 2022 slogan is missing a word or two – it should say Dreaming with my eyes open; Dreaming with your eyes open; Dreaming while reading with my eyes open. Pick one of these and write your opening remarks for the debate. (Limit 100 words)

Art

Do you enjoy day dreaming? Draw your self portrait day dreaming with a book you love.

Art

Draw a map showing the land of your dreams

Design and Make

Design an invitation and planning sheet for a pyjama party to celebrate book week. Think about where the party will be held; who to invite; what the children need to bring and wear; and add in other plans such as games to play and food to share all linked to the theme Dreaming with eyes open.

Music

Use one of these lyrics to compose a song. These quotes are from Gathering Dreams and on this site you can find an acknowledgement for each quote:

“Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality.”

“Nothing happens unless first we dream.”

“Follow your dreams, they know the way.”

“Dream it, then make it happen.”

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”

“The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.”

Design and Make

It has been discovered that the dreams of children contain important information about saving our planet. Design and make a small portable machine that can be attached to the heads or hearts of young children to capture their dreams.

Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds - other ideas

 

Image Source: CBCA Colouring Poster (check rules of use)

NOTE: FOR CLASSROOM USE ONLY. NOT FOR RESALE. THE ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY SHAUN TAN CANNOT BE ALTERED OR CROPPED.

Alternate ideas to the Book Week parade

I have mentioned in previous posts that I am not a fan of the Book Week dress up parade. I also think Book Week is a week - not a day. In fact the celebration of books, reading and the experiences we have when we find a fabulous story should go on all year. 

Each year in my school library I set daily challenges for the students in Grades 3-6 during Book Week. These are presented each morning and are due that same day at 3.30pm so they are not homework and they are not completed by enthusiastic adults at home. I try to create challenges which involve reading, problem solving, writing, design and make and art or craft skills. Participation is entirely voluntary. Some teachers give their students time to participate in one or more of the challenges while other students work on their responses during lunch time. I always receive hundreds of entries each day and I offer tiny prizes to ten winners of each challenge each day.

This year I have split the slogan into the three parts. These are just my early plans - I am sure to add other challenges over the coming weeks. For my school Book Week I would only use four of these suggestions - one for each day Monday to Thursday. Please feel free to use or adapt these to suit your school, your students and your library. If you can reference my blog as the source of these ideas that would be great!

My first challenge uses all parts of the slogan:

Make a Time capsule – you can pack three books into your capsule and they must relate to the slogan – one for old worlds, one for new worlds and one for other worlds - invent your own titles and draw their  covers so we can see the books going into your capsule. Your book covers should also include an author and illustrator name. 

OLD WORLDS

Design a puzzle with clues from an Ancient World - this could be a find-a-word; a crossword; a mystery code; or another puzzle form of your own choice. Please put the solution or answers on the back of the puzzle.

Debate topic - Old books are the best.  Choose a side for this debate YES OR NO and write your opening argument (200 words)

Your team of archaeologists have dug under our school. What did they find from the Old World? What should happen to these objects? Write a letter to the school Principal explaining your find and your ideas for displaying or preserving this treasure.

A new discovery. Cavemen from long ago have made a library. Draw a poster with a catchy slogan or library name inviting others to visit.

Knights are well known for their good manners. Make a list of five rules for Knights - try to make this funny. You could do some research about courtly manners and etiquette. 

NEW WORLDS

You know there are children in the world who have very few books and children who find reading is difficult. Design and Make make a device for book reading (such as an audio book) to be used by children in developing countries (no electricity).

Design a robot to read you, or a younger child, a bedtime story. This can be a model of the robot or a drawing/diagram of your robot showing their features.

Make a list of five things that an author might include in a story written in 2021 that will seem old fashioned in 2051. Present your answer with illustrations. 

Debate topic - In the future kids in school won’t read books we will all have chips inserted inside our brains. Choose a side YES OR NO and write your opening argument (200 words)

Write a letter to an astronaut who is planning to spend several months in space. The astronaut can take an unlimited number of books into space because they will read them on a device. Which three books children's  from the 2021 CBCA short list or the CBCA short list from another year of your choice would you recommend the astronaut include in their reading collection and why.

OTHER WORLDS

Maps - Design/ draw a map of a fantasy world either from your imagination or from a book you have enjoyed. Try to add lots of details to make your map interesting and useful. If your map relates to a book you have read be sure to include the title and author.

Explain or draw a portal to another world - how will your book character move to this other place? What will they find there?

Write a short story (300 words) about the food you find in a magical other world. You might like to include a recipe or two.

Shaun Tan

Since the 2021 poster from the CBCA features the work of Shaun Tan why not set up a display of his books. Here is an interview with Shaun about his book Eric which is now available in a larger format making it easier to share with a group. Shaun Tan has won the CBCA Picture book award in previous years - 1999 The Rabbits (John Marsden); 2007 The Arrival; 2014 The Rules of Summer; 2019 Cicada.

Image Source: Reading Time 2014

Read this review of The Rules of Summer by Elizabeth Bird

My own favourite Shaun Tan book is long out of print and fairly obscure but if you can find it this is a wonderful book to read aloud to a group of Grade Six students. I guarantee they will be hooked from the first page. Actually they will be hooked from the start when they look closely at the image on the cover of this book from the After Dark series.

Book Week Challenges 2020

Book Week 17th October - 23rd October, 2020

This is controversial but I am not a fan of Book Week dress up days or parades.  I think Book Week should be a celebration of books, reading, libraries and creative thinking, so in my school, as an alternate activity, I set four Book Week challenges each year. You can read about some past challenges here. My rules are simple but of course you can set your own:

• the challenge must be completed during the school day 
• the deadline for entries is 3.25pm each day
• label your work with your name and class
• up to ten winners will be announced each morning and they will each received a small prize bag. There are also certificates for highly commended and commended entries
• You can visit a showcase of entries in the library during Book Week and beyond

Here are my challenges for 2020. As I have now left my previous school I designed these challenges for a friend who teaches Grade Five (Stage 3). Please feel free to use, adapt, adopt etc.  Here are eight challenges based around the 2020 CBCA slogan/theme Curious Creatures, Wild Minds. When I do this I only do four challenges over four days. It takes a long time (at night) to sift through the hundreds of entries. I think it is important to maintain the excitment by announcing winners each day. The image below is the badge available from the CBCA - just one of the merchandise items designed to celebrate the slogan this year. This honour always goes to the winner of the Picture book of the Year (2 years ago) and this time it is designed by Gwyn Perkins who won with his book A Walk in the Bush.

 

1. Two curious creatures meet – an argument ensues – who is the most curious? Decide which two creatures (animals real or imaginary) have met, and now decide how to present the argument– for example as a cartoon with speech bubbles or as a formal interview with a mediator or another idea. Extension idea: adjudicate the argument and declare a winner.

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 2. NASA will send the details of some animals from earth inside a rocket. They plan to send this rocket well beyond our solar system. The details of the animals from earth will be supplied as digital files, photos and drawings by children. The problem: Because there is limited space in the rocket it has been decided the details of only 100 animals can be included. We know there are 8.7 Million species of animals on earth. You have been asked to select ONE animal to include and then complete brief information for the digital file and, as a child, you also need to include your drawing of this creature. Extension idea: You may be asked to make a short one minute speech to justify your choice.

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3. We know animals see the world in quite different way from humans for example dogs can only see the colours Blue and Yellow. Select one animal, research how they see the world. Now draw or describe your bedroom from the point of view of your animal – it could be your pet or a wild animal or even an insect.  Extension idea add in other senses – what does your room smell like, sound like and/or taste like? 

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4. Our Australian coat of arms was designed in 1908. Other Australian animals are now demanding a change. Why should the emu and kangaroo take centre stage? Your task is to design a new Australian coat of arms with at least two different animals and attach one paragraph to justify your choices. Extension idea: design a new Australian $200 note which must include an animal image. 

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5. Just when we thought all the possible animals in our world had been discovered, an intrepid explorer has found a new, very tiny creature which cannot be seen with a human eye. Design a portable device that this explorer has taken on his trip so this creature can be described. Extension idea: This creature needs a scientific name and this must link to a famous explorer from history. 

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6. Let your mind go wild. It’s time to employ your imagination. You are going to host a party for every pet that lives in your street! You will need to design the invitations, food, decorations and games. Extension idea – prizes and treat bag contents. 

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7. There is a saying "curiosity killed the cat".  Write a very short story that reveals why this is NOT true. 

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8. You have the chance to interview a curious creature. This could be a real animal or an imagined one, it could even be a mythical beast. Think about what you would like to know and write five open-ended questions.  Extension idea - write the answers and consider making this funny.

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Here are some photos of children's work from past years:

If you like this idea or you use some challenges I'd love to hear about your experience.  You might like to write a comment?