National Simultaneous Storytime this Wednesday

This Wednesday you can join East Gippsland Shire Libraries for this year’s National Simultaneous Storytime event.

At 11am on Wednesday, May 27 Cr Natalie O’Connell will read Whitney and Britney, Chicken Divas written and illustrated by Lucinda Gifford and published by Scholastic Australia.

Cr O’Connell will be one of thousands of people across Australia reading Whitney and Britney, Chicken Divas at the same time. Families can join in from home by heading to council’s You Tube channel, EastGippyTV, or Facebook page, EastGippyShire.

Last year was the most successful National Simultaneous Storytime to date with almost 1.4 million participants at over 11,550 locations, including participants from New Zealand, Thailand, UK, Canada, Singapore, Vietnam and Hong Kong.

Senior Library Programs Officer Jane Wembridge said the COVID-19 restrictions on social gatherings won’t dampen the day.

“We’ve been conducting virtual Rhyme Time and Storytime sessions during the lockdown, so children who would normally come to sessions at our six libraries can still enjoy being read a story. We’ve had good feedback about these sessions so a lot of children are used to online sessions now,” Ms Wembridge said.

“It will be great to have Cr O’Connell read this year’s book; we hope lots of families can join us - just from the comfort of home.”

One of the aims of reading aloud to children is to promote the value of reading and literacy.

Each year National Simultaneous Storytime uses an Australian children's book that explores age-appropriate themes and addresses key learning areas of the National Curriculum for Foundation to Year 6.

You can also find fun craft activities that link in with today’s book at www.alia.org.au/nss