Book Week at Kangaroo Valley Public School

This year’s Book Week parade at Kangaroo Valley Public School was nothing short of magical, as students, staff and families gathered for the parade down Moss Vale Road. The street was transformed into a vibrant sea of creativity, with children dressed as their favourite book characters.

Published 1st October 2024 By Paige
Share

The parade, a beloved annual tradition, showcased the students’ love for reading and storytelling. The children proudly displayed their costumes, bringing their favourite literary figures to life. Teachers joined in the fun, donning costumes in this year’s staff theme of Harry Potter characters!

As the parade wound its way through the heart of Kangaroo Valley, it served as a reminder of the joy that books bring to our lives and the importance of fostering a love for reading from an early age. The event concluded with a gathering at the school, where students shared their book characters and enjoyed a week full of book-themed activities.

A big thank you to everyone who participated and supported this wonderful celebration of literature!

 

What makes Book week special at Kangaroo Valley Public School? 

The kids are at the heart of book week- the enthusiasm and excitement here that everyone gets involved- not just for dressing up but through a real passion for reading! It’s not unusual to see kids sitting in the playground under a tree reading. I am pleased we have not lost that love of reading when there are so many other things to keep us occupied! There have been a few times when I have been on playground duty and actually had to tell students who are really enthralled in a new book that the bell has gone – it’s possible that it was maths after lunch but I like to think it’s because we have kids that really do love reading! 

 

Our parade is unique in that we parade along Moss Vale Road, giving the kids an opportunity to showcase their costumes. It means mum, dads, grandparents, shopkeepers and community members all get involved in watching the parade and enjoy seeing all the creative costumes! 

 

Each year our staff all decide on a theme and this year we chose to dress as characters from the Harry Potter series, in line with this year’s theme Reading is Magic! I chose Professor McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor, which I thought was symbolic and aligned to my role as Principal here. 

 

Last year we all dressed as Roald Dahl characters and I was the Principal of Crunchem Hall, the Trunchbull. The kids thought I really suited the character so we had lots of fun with that! They were disappointed I didn’t make Bruce eat chocolate cake and no one had to face any outrageous disciplinary action, but the kids made lots of jokes about my character for weeks after the dress up day! 

 

In 2022, my first year at Kangaroo Valley, I was quite surprised at how all the staff got onboard with the one theme. As principal, I needed to play a leading role in Alice in Wonderland, so of course I was Alice. I remember being joined by one of our preschool students at the time (now in Kindergarten), named Alice. As she was also dressed as Alice in Wonderland, she joined me at the front of the line, leading the school for a lap of the parade. I thought this was a really special moment, having our preschool kids feel connected to our event as well.

 

What makes Book Week Special for you? 

I have really fond memories of Book Week and just a general love of reading when I attended primary school at Bomaderry Public School. I have really fond memories of my Year 6 teacher, Mrs Morris, reading to us each day from a class novel. I remember my favourite book was “Bridge to Terabithia”, just because it had such vivid descriptions and I felt like I was in the story. I also remember reading “Playing Beatie Bow” in the same year, which scared me a little! 

 

I remember being a library monitor during Book Week. I had lots of important jobs and we had a really great librarian, Mrs Cowlishaw, who made Book Week special. The library always looked great and it was a place I wanted to spend time in.

 

Tell us about Kangaroo Valley Public School’s library? 

We have a great librarian here at Kangaroo Valley Public School, Jane Gripper, who puts on a wonderful Book Fair in Education Week which we have just celebrated.  Students are now all receiving their ordered books in time for Book Week! 

 

We have a really well stocked library thanks to our P&C. They raise funds through community events to buy all of the shortlisted Children’s Book Council of Australia books each year, keeping our library fresh with new titles for students to borrow. I think this is really important to keep kids interested in reading. Thank you to all the mums, dads, grandparents and community members who volunteer their time fundraising or making donations at our fundraising events.  

 

What is popular amongst the kids now?

Graphic novels are pretty popular and I like seeing some of the classics like “The Witches” by Roald Dahl come back as a graphic novel. I also like seeing the younger students enjoying classics like “Clifford (The Big Red Dog”), a book I really enjoyed when I started school. 

Written by

Jen Arnott

Principal

Kangaroo Valley PS

 

We love Book week at KVPS. It is an excellent opportunity to not only celebrate Australian authors, but it also encourages reading for pleasure. 

 

In our busy lives where ‘reading time’ is often the casualty, there has been a steady decline in ‘reading stamina’ – the amount of time children spend reading for pleasure. At KVPS, one of the ways we encourage a culture of reading is by making  time several times each week for sustained silent reading of self selected books during class. We are also incredibly lucky to have  wonderful  parents and carers who recognise the importance of reading and encourage reading for pleasure at home. 

 

Term three is all about looking at the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) shortlisted  books. Many of these books deal with current issues such as in the shortlisted book “When you’re a Boy” by Blake Nuto which deals with issues of gender stereotyping. This book uses impactful language such as:

 

 “When you’re a boy you are told how to be like the swift-sweeping rivers. But I’ve learned the wisdom of waiting, the courage of patience and the strength of contentment.” 

 

Books like this encourage great discussions about seeing the world through different eyes, thus fostering empathy.

 

Another book – TimeLess, by Kelly Canby, is a clever, humorous book about Emit (time backwards), who is desperate for his family to spend time with him but they are all too busy. He tries to ‘buy time’, ‘turn back time’ and in the end realises he has to ‘make time’. This book also sensitively touches on the problem of time wasted on electronic devices, another great discussion point.

 

The Kindergarten and Year 1 class were delighted to hear that the book “Gymnastica Fantastica” by Briony Stewart won the Book of the Year: Early Childhood category. The children enjoyed the playful use of colour and movement in this book. Gymnastics Fantastica is a book about the joy of being yourself, persistence and imperfection. In the words of Gymnastica Fantastica, the main character in the book:

 

“Quick! Come and see! Something fabulous, it’s . . . me!”

 

I love the theme of book week this year – Reading is Magic because reading and books really are magic, or in the words of the author Stephen King – “Books are a uniquely portable magic.” Stephen King

Written by

Jane Gripper

Librarian

Kangaroo Valley Public School

 

Student Interviews

This year I have decided to dress up as Annie from the book “Runt” because I really like how she wears a tool belt and loves to fix things. I like the book parade and the fact that we get to walk around town and our parents get to see us. 

By Hazel 

 

This year I decided to be Luna Lovegood from “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.” The reason I dressed up as Luna is because she is the nicest and quirkiest character out of the Harry Potter franchise. The thing I absolutely love about book week is that all the students get to dress up as their favorite characters from books. 

By Juliet

 

This year I have decided to dress up as Violet Beauregarde from the book “Charlie And The Chocolate Factory” because she has an interesting and hilarious personality. Although she is not the main character (or even a nice person) I like her a lot. It also ties in with the theme “Reading is Magic” really well.

By Claudia

 

This year I have decided to dress up as Frodo Baggins from the book “The Lord Of The Rings” because he is a Hobbit and “The Lord Of The Rings” is the best book ever! I like Book Week because my classroom looks like Hogwarts when book week is on! 

By William

 

This year I dressed up as Elrond from Lord of the Rings because I thought he would be an easy but cool person to dress up as. I really like parading around the street, showing off our costumes and telling the crowd who we are.

By Samson

 

This year I have decided to dress up as Evonne Goolagong Crawley from the book “Evonne Goolagong” because she is a female and Aboriginal superstar who has inspired me and is an amazing person. The best and most fun part of Book Week is everything! I like the parade, the activities and everyone gets to dress up.

By Maya

 

This year I decided to dress up as Astro chimp from the book  “Astro Chimp” because I like space and Astro Chimp is a chimp that can talk and he wears a cool orange suit. I like book week because everybody dresses up and has fun!

By Elijah

 

This year I dressed up as Robin Hood from the book Robin of Sherwood because Robin was an outlaw plus he was the best archer in England. I like Book Week because you get to dress up as a character of our choosing.

By Ruben

 

This year I have decided to dress up as Owl from the book “A Girl Called Owl” because she is a curious and clever character who is determined to find her lost father. Also she can cry icey tears of ice and has strange frost patterns on her skin! What I love about book week is that the teachers book theme is always so cool! To be honest I love EVERYTHING about Book Week!

By Estelle Frenay

 

This year I have decided to dress up as the Wolf Girl from the book “Wolf Girl 5” because I really love Wolf Girl. I like book week because the activities and parading around the street only happens once a year!

 By Stella

 

This year I dressed up as Olivia from D&D Dungeon Club because she is kind and imaginative and is a great mentor. I like the creativity everyone puts into their dress ups which shows that they care. I also like seeing the teachers dress up.

By Elsie

Share