Attend our face to face storytime reading of Family Tree by Josh Pyke and Ronojoy Ghosh at the Gawler Civic Centre at 10:30am on May 25th and then enjoy our Totem Tree activity.

Please arrive 5 - 10 minutes prior so that we can read simultaneously with children around Australia at 10.30am (11am AEST).

National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) is held annually by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country. Now in its 22nd successful year, it is a colourful, vibrant, fun event that aims to promote the value of reading and literacy, using an Australian children's book that explores age-appropriate themes, and addresses key learning areas of the National Curriculum for Foundation to Year 6.

We will be creating Totem Trees after the Storytime on the day.

Activity Kits are available to school, kindy and child care classes. Classes are also welcome to book in to attend on the day. Please contact Melina on 8522 0132 for additional information.

A Leafs Worth of Words Receive an activity kit for your classroom that ties into the themes of this year’s NSS book, Family Tree. This activity involves going outside and jotting ‘noticings’ about a tree or shrub in the yard. The ideas are then transformed, using prompts, into a phrase that fits onto the leaf templates. Leaves are picked collected and added to our library tree. We will send a photo back to the class. These kits would be delivered Fri 20th May and collected Friday 27th May and are aimed at R – 7 and can be adapted to younger groups by drawing the 'noticings'.

Totem Trees This kit makes use of the Natureplay SA’s lesson plan (with curriculum links) to further develop the themes from this year’s NSS book, Family Tree. Children are invited to find a stick branch and decorate it to tell “a story about the person who made it, their family and their traditions.” These totem trees are planted into sustainable newspaper pots to which a sweet pea seed is added. The totem trees should be planted once germinated (pot and all). Instructions and materials are provided in the class kit. These kits would be delivered Fri 20th May. Kindy + R - 3, and younger children with assistance.