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Book Week — a delight for children but a series of late nights for many parents as they push their sewing, fancy dress and creative skills to the limit.
This week primary school students across the country are celebrating children's literature with costume parades, diorama displays and reading activities.
This year's theme, Escape To Everywhere, is all about getting "your head in a book and going off to visit amazing places", said Gail Erskine, committee member and former president of the Children's Book Council of Australia's (CBCA) NSW branch.
The CBCA is now in its 71st year and was formed to celebrate Australian literature.
"Books allow children to read about other places in the world ... and escape their own world and learn empathy about another character," Ms Erskine said.
Stretching the imagination
And while books stretch the imaginations of children, it does so equally for parents who often feel pressure to come up with the most elaborate book character costume in the playground.
Canberra Times journalist Karen Page, who penned a "cheat sheet" for Book Week costumes, said it was useful to keep a healthy stock of paper plates and tin foil in the cupboard.
"You go to Book Week parade ... there's always that parent who wants to outdo everybody else and it might be an elaborate costume or they've obviously paid a bit of money before," she said.
"Two pieces of cardboard can turn into many things.
"I think it's a trade off to send the kid in a Spiderman costume; it's an easy option but I think we should pay more homage to books."
That sentiment though didn't sit well with one ABC Radio Sydney caller, while others offered their own ideas:
"I work in a comic shop and I think superheroes count as books. We have so many struggling to read who gain huge advantages from comics. Not to mention the DC superhero girls series are actually novels." — Kate
"Daughter in kindy — Pearlie the Park Fairy — raided the dress-up box for fairy dress and old costume jewellery." — Megan
"I did Dogs Don't Do Ballet a few years ago. You just get their ballet costume, dress them up in brown, use a bit of makeup and then you've got a dog dressed up as a ballerina." — Amanda
Back to basics
Book Week is a good reminder to get kids away from screens and back to the basics of a good page turner, according to Greg Whitby, educator and executive director of schools in the Catholic diocese of Parramatta.
Tips to get kids to read
- Let kids choose the book they want to read.
- Find a book where the illustrations go with the text.
- Find a story that will match the child: e.g. if your child is shy, find a book with a character about a shy child.
- Make it fun when you read it to them: Have squeaky voices and funny sounds and let the child join in.
- Don't dismiss a good picture book.
"Reading is such a key to literacy and numeracy," he told ABC Radio Sydney.
"Even finding that one book, one that young people are interested in, that's half the battle."
With the growing dominance of computer learning, educational activities and games on tablet screens and reliance on smartphones, Mr Whitby said it was more difficult than ever to encourage children to pick up an old-fashioned book, particularly at home.
"It's definitely more challenging," he said.
"The issue of reading now on the Kindle and those sorts of things, books are now just so readily available than they were before.
"It's having parents to encourage and not see reading as wasting time, and making sure kids have that option or have times where the digital devices are turned off and say, 'Why don't you do some reading'."
Don't dismiss pictures
Ms Erskine said the basics of reading started from "age zero" and that the key was finding a good picture book with illustrations and accompanying text.
While schools teach the basics using reading tools with simple illustrations, a picture book offers a level of complexity that engages young readers.
"When parents value books and buy books for children before they go to school, those kids love to read," Ms Erskine said.
"Parents often rush their kids into chapter books.
"But a good picture book lays the foundation of a good reader."
Topics: education, books-literature, human-interest, children, family-and-children, sydney-2000