You can find more ideas for celebrating book week on my current post for 2011 here – Book Week Activities 2011 – Ideas for CBCA Shortlisted Book.
It is only a month away until Book Week starts here in Australia. Book Week is the longest running children’s festival in Australia, celebrating its 65th birthday in 2010. This year Book Week runs from the Saturday August 21st until Friday August 27th and the theme for 2010 is across the story bridge.
Each year, many schools and public libraries from all over Australia spend a week celebrating books and Australian authors and illustrators. Classroom teachers, teacher librarians and public librarians develop activities, offer competitions and tell stories relating to a theme to highlight the importance of reading.
The CBCA awards for books of the year are announced just prior to Book Week on Friday 20th August. The short listed books provide great opportunities for activities with children during book week. Before I start on some ideas for Book Week 2010, here are the short listed books for each category:
Book of the Year – Picture Book Short List 2010
Intended for an audience ranging from birth to 18 years range (Some books may be for mature readers).
| Illustrator | Title |
|---|---|
| COOL, Rebecca Text: MILLARD, Glenda | Isabella's Garden |
| DANALIS, Stella Text: DANALIS, John | Schumann the Shoeman |
| HARVEY, Roland | To the Top End: Our Trip Across Australia |
| HOBBS, Leigh | Mr Chicken Goes to Paris |
| OLIVER, Narelle | Fox and Fine Feathers |
| ROGERS, Gregory | The Hero of Little Street |
Book of the Year – Younger Readers Short List 2010
Intended for independent younger readers.
| Author | Title |
|---|---|
| FENSHAM, Elizabeth | Matty Forever |
| HIRSCH, Odo | Darius Bell and the Glitter Pool |
| LESTER, Alison | Running with the Horses |
| MCINTOSH, Fiona | The Whisperer |
| MURPHY, Sally Illus. POTTER, Heather | Pearl Verses the World |
| STORER, Jen | Tensy Farlow and the Home for Mislaid Children |
Book of the Year – Older Readers Short List 2010
These books are for mature readers.
| Author | Title |
|---|---|
| CHRISTOPHER, Lucy | Stolen |
| CLARKE, Judith | The Winds of Heaven |
| LARBALESTIER, Justine | Liar |
| METZENTHEN, David | Jarvis 24 |
| MILLARD, Glenda | A Small Free Kiss in the Dark |
| TANGEY, Penny | Loving Richard Feynman |
Book of the Year – Early Childhood Short List 2010
Intended for children in the pre-reading to early reading stages.
| Author | Title |
|---|---|
| BLAND, Nick | The Wrong Book |
| BOOTH, Christina | Kip |
| DUBOSARSKY, Ursula Illus. JOYNER, Andrew | The Terrible Plop |
| GLEESON, Libby Illus. BLACKWOOD, Freya | Clancy & Millie and the Very Fine House |
| SHANAHAN, Lisa Illus. QUAY, Emma | Bear & Chook by the Sea |
| THOMPSON, Colin Illus. DAVIS, Sarah | Fearless |
Book of the Year – Eve Pownall Award Short List 2010
Intended for an audience ranging from birth to 18 years. (Some books may be for mature readers).
| Author | Title |
|---|---|
| CLODE, Danielle | Prehistoric Giants: The Megafauna of Australia |
| M is for Mates: Animals in Wartime from Ajax to Zep | |
| MACINNIS, Peter | Australian Backyard Explorer |
| PATRICK, TanyaIllus: HUTCHESON, Nicholas | Polar Eyes: A Journey to Antarctica |
| REEDER, Stephanie Owen | Lost! A True Tale from the Bush |
| YALATA & OAK COMMUNITIES with MATTINGLEY, Christobel | Maralinga: The Anangu Story |
Book Week Ideas
Reserve Shortlisted Books
Now is the perfect time to reserve the short listed books from your local library. As it gets closer to the announcement date, it is much harder to get your hands on copies of the books from the library.
Review Shortlisted Books
Running parallel to the official judging for the children’s books of the year is the
Junior Judges Project:
The Junior Judges’ Project (JJP), was developed as a project that offers an online national framework for these activities within schools and libraries, commencing with the Children’s Book of the Year Short List Announcement in Melbourne on Tuesday 1st April. Once the Short List is announced, students guided by their teachers, are encouraged to read the shortlisted books and, based on the judging criteria, select their Winner and two Honour Books in one or more categories and cast their votes online either through their teachers or individually.
The CBCA Junior Judges’ Project encourages children to do their own judging of the shortlisted books. If your children are yet to attend school or if your school is not participating you can use these suggested judging criteria to discuss the books on the shortlist:
Questions to ask:
- Do the title and the cover give a good clue as to the type of book?
- Do the endpapers enhance the book, or at least harmonise with it?
- Did the book ‘grab’ me from the start?
- Are the characters believable (even imaginary ceatures and animals)?
- For fiction, is it a good story?
- For information books, is the topic presented in an interesting way?
- For information books, is it easy to find information?
- Are the language and style suitable for the implied reader*?
- Ask yourself: can I think of any way this book could be improved? If not, it’s probably a very good book!
*The term “implied reader” means the type of reader for whom the book is intended. For example, if the ‘implied reader’ is a pre-school child you would expect fairly simple language, not too many words, helpful illustrations, and a topic of interest to this age group. (Source: Junior Judges Project.)
Determine what your winner for 2010 will be for each category and see how it compares to the CBCA judges.
Investigate Authors
The shortlists this year will have many authors names that children will recognise. Have them choose a favourite author and research information on them like:
- Where they are from?
- When did they write their first book?
- How many books have they written?
- What books did they read as a child?
- Have they won a CBCA award before?
- What inspires their writing?
Short Listed Book Inspired Activities
Many of the books on the list have teachers notes which can be found on the publishers website. These resource notes have so many fabulous ideas that you can use to celebrate Book Week. Here is a short selection. (If you click on the title of each, you can download the PDF of the teachers notes for that book)
The Terrible Plop by Ursula Dubosarsky – Coluring Sheet
How to draw a bear (from The Terrible Plop) from Andy Joyner on Vimeo.
Fearlessby Colin Thompson and Sarah Davis – Teacher’s Notes
- Photocopy and enlarge the page showing the dogs in the shop window, and invite the class to name all of the dogs.
- Vote to determine which names best match each dog.
- Why do you think the Claybourne-Willments should have been called the Smiths? What do the two surnames suggest to you?
- If he was your dog, what would you call him? Why?
The Hero Of Little Street by Gregory Rogers – Teacher’s Notes
- Create another storyboard for the possible outcomes of the boy’s chase through the square. What else might have happened?
Mr Chcken Goes To Paris by Leigh Hobbs – Teacher’s Notes
- Choose another country or city for Mr Chicken to visit and write a new story following the style of Mr Chicken Goes to Paris.
- Think about what famous landmarks Mr Chicken might see. What foods will he eat?
- If he’s in a non-English-speaking country, what common words or phrases will he need to know?
Bear and Chook By The Sea by Lisa Shanahan and Emma Quay – Teacher’s Notes
- Discuss the nature of friendship. What qualities does a good friend have? Is Bear a good friend to Chook, and Chook to Bear?
- Write an acrostic poem using the letters in the word ‘Friendship’.
Fox and Fine Feathers by Narelle Oliver – Teacher’s Notes
- Using paper and crayon, create a rubbing from a natural object you find in the schoolyard. Look for objects that have interesting texture, like bark or leaves.
- Hold your paper over the object, and using the side of your crayon or pencil rub across the bumpy section.
Celebrate Books!
Most importantly enjoy and celebrate books! Take your child’s lead, they may have some fabulous ways to celebrate book week and give you insight into the short listed books that you may have never thought of.
How do you celebrate book week?