Cranky Bear a national focus
ON WEDNESDAY at 11am, the children of Australia got reading.
As part of the National Simultaneous Storytime initiative, every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read aloud to children simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other public places right around the country.
The kids at Rosella Park School were no exception, enjoying a reading of The Very Cranky Bear, by Nick Bland.
Class teacher Janice Buckle said the morning was a huge hit.
"The kids were absolutely enthralled by the reading," she said.
"The teacher who read to them had such expression, it was like a performance. The kids loved it. They were in awe."
Ms Buckle praised the initiative as a way for children to reconnect to reading in a technological age.
"There's so much TV and electronic media these days, it's great for children to remember how much joy you can get from a book," she said.
"It's a fun way to promote literacy and to do so very early in a child's life."
Ms Buckle also said it was nice to imagine so many other children around Australia reading the same book at the same time.
