Interpreting The Theme 2011
This is the year of The Amazing Read! The Summer Reading Club will discover the many different places that you can take your book and read. From the beach to the bush, on a road trip or waiting for the bus, children will be encouraged to share their favourite places to read. It will also look at the many different places books can take you – from the deepest depths of the ocean, into the future and into far outer space.
Based on the concept of children’s favourite places to read, and allowing them space to read, this program will appeal to all areas of Australia, from those in outback to Queensland to metropolitan Sydney. This program will promote reading as an enjoyable experience and encourage children to seek out new places to read, along with celebrating their familiar reading spaces.
This program will capitalise on the current popularity of The Amazing Race television show and tie in with the National Year of Reading book Are We There Yet? by Alison Lester which journeys with a young family around Australia, taking in all the major sites and experiences.
The theme is open to a variety of interpretations and lends itself to engagement with a wide range of activities:-
- storytelling
- songs - rhymes, raps, karaoke
- performance - dance, puppetry, drama
- animation, manga, and cartooning
- cooking
- arts-based activities - drawing, painting, collage, mash-ups
- non-fiction stories - places in Australia, camping, road trips, exploration
Where can you read?
- Lying in a hammock in the middle of the outback;
- Lying under a palm tree on the beach;
- At a family picnic in the park;
- In the back seat of the car;
- At the library;
- Reading a map/program at a zoo or amusement park;
- In a plane, train or bus;
- In a cubby house;
- Waiting in a line/cue;
- In a cave or on a cliff top;
- On a balcony at a high-rise apartment or on a verandah at an outback cattle station;
- Dad on the toilet!
- “Extreme” reading – bungee jumping, sky-diving.
What can you read?
- Books;
- Magazines;
- Comics;
- Newspapers;
- Graphic Novels;
- Maps;
- Program of events;
- Invitation;
- E-books;
- Websites;
- Menus;
- Lists;
- Recipes;
- Letters.
Where can stories take you?
- Deep sea – sea monsters, deep sea divers
- Out to sea – whales, pirates, treasures, mermaids
- Outer space – rockets, astronauts, planets, aliens
- Back in time – Vikings, Samurai warriors, knights
- On top of the world – up a mountain, top of a tree
- The jungle – lions, monkeys, bears, elephants
- Into the desert – pyramids, camels
Classic tales with fantastical locations
- Hogwarts – Harry Potter
- Never Never Land – Peter Pan
- Willie Wonka’s chocolate factory
- Alice in Wonderland
- The Chronicles of Narnia
- The Jungle Book
- The Spiderwick Chronicles
- Worlds of Chrestomanci
- The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings
- Eragon
- James and the Giant Peach
- The Jolly Postman
- Where the Wild Things Are
- Moby Dick
- Pinocchio
- Jack and the beanstalk