Since 1945, the Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has held a Book Week aimed at bringing children and books together. This year, the Book Week theme is 'Curious Creatures, Wild Minds', held from Saturday 17 October to Friday 23 October 2020.
Throughout the week we will be updating this page and sharing information and resources relating to children's literature, including a behind-the-scenes glimpse at storybook illustration, the publishing process, and a guide to finding children's books within our 10-million-items-and-counting collection.
Image at top: A selection of sea creatures from Fauna: Australia's most curious creatures by Tania McCartney.
Inspire
Need help with your child or grandchild's Book Week costume? Take a look at the characters on the covers of this selection of books from the NLA Bookshop for inspiration!
Arthur William Emmerton, 1915, Child posing in Pierrot costume, nla.cat-vn4225749
Read
Among our collection is NLA Publishing book Hello!, a book about 12 children from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds.
A page from NLA Publishing book Hello! by Tony Flowers
CBCA Book Week can be a great time to rediscover your love for children's literature. As Dr Grace Blakeley-Carroll explains,
‘Adults don't necessarily need to be reading storybooks to children, nor do they have to have children in their lives to benefit from these stories. Essentially, they belong to everyone.'
Enter the magical, exciting and diverse world of a child's imagination and rediscover children's books as an adult.
Deborah and Kilmeny Niland, Title Page of Mulga Bill’s Bicycle, Written by A.B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson, (Sydney: Collins, 1973), nla.cat-vn1715723
In our reading rooms, we often hear the question, 'Where are the children's books?'. The answer is, 'Everywhere'. To discover some of the ways you can find children's literature resources in our collection, refer to our Guide to Children's Literature.
Curious creatures for a wild mind from 1786: Histoire des Animaux, a l'Usage des Jeunes Gens, Et de Ceux ont du Goút pour l'Histoire Naturelle (Berlin: Chez Samuel Pitra, 1786), nla.cat-vn781770
Watch
Learn about the creative process, see beautiful book art and maybe even get started on a masterpiece of your own after watching leading illustrators Alison Lester, Leigh Hobbs and Freya Blackwood discuss the Art of Storybook Illustration.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for our latest #BookWeek updates.
CBCA Book Week 2020
Learn more about what is on offer for CBCA Book Week 2020 at The Children's Book Council of Australia.
