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21 May 2012 Australia’s biggest storytelling event[ pdf 128KB ] National Simultaneous Storytime, Australia’s biggest single storytelling session, takes place at 11am on Wednesday 23 May 2012. The annual event is organised by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) as part of Library and Information Week 2012 celebrations. National Simultaneous Storytime is celebrated in schools, public libraries, kindergartens, childcare centres, bookshops and homes across Australia. This year, over 170,000 children at over 2,000 locations will take part across the nation reading The Very Cranky Bear, written by Nick Bland and published by Scholastic Australia, together at 11am. 2012 will be the twelfth year of National Simultaneous Storytime. Participation rates are the highest so far and it is expected to be the most successful and most important storytime event to date. ALIA’s President Vanessa Little explained, “The twelfth National Simultaneous Storytime highlights the importance of reading and literacy and aims to foster a lifelong love of reading, books and storytelling in children. 2012 is the National Year of Reading and it’s the perfect chance to shine the spotlight on literacy and the role libraries play in promoting literacy in their communities”. Some of the highlights this year will include a storytime session led by Australian actor Angus Sampson at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne; The Very Cranky Bear author Nick Bland reading at an indigenous school in the Tiwi Islands and Minister for the Arts, Simon Crean as a special guest reader at Parliament House Early Childhood Centre. The Very Cranky Bear was selected as this year’s book because of its themes of friendship and sacrifice and its appeal to children and adults alike as a fun and endearing tale. The book’s author, Nick Bland is a Territory ambassador for the National Year of Reading and has thrown his support behind the goals of National Simultaneous Storytime. “Reading” Nick Says –“is quite simply essential to children’s development”. “And not just reading, but also engaging in story - to be able to share my story with children from all over Australia is extremely rewarding”. The book’s publisher Scholastic Australia is the official National Simultaneous Storytime 2012 sponsor. “Enriching children’s lives through reading is at the very heart of what Scholastic believes” says David Peagram Managing Director Scholastic Australia –“We’re thrilled that The Very Cranky Bear was selected from the many thousands of Australian picture books for this fun event aimed at encouraging a love of reading”. A list of participating locations around Australia can be found at www.alia.org.au/nss/
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