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A NEW GENERATION
OF R EADE R S
dress up as characters from their favourite books, either purchasing or TO acknowledge Dubbo’s love of books hand-making costumes. and the new wave of children’s authors The school will be holding a parade that today’s kids are loving, Australia’s today (Thursday) with students disannual Book Week is being celebrated playing their costumes to other year across the country this week. levels and families. Dubbo Public School siblings, Alex Alex was dressed as the Mad Hatter and Evie Hall (pictured), were at The from Alice in Wonderland, and Evie Book Connection last Friday selecting wore a Thelma the Unicorn costume. their favourite books while discovering “I like dressing up; a few years ago I new reading interests. dressed up as Batman for my birthday To celebrate Book Week, students party,” Alex said.
By TIJANA BIRDJAN
Starting kind kindergarten this year, Evie will be participating in her first Book Week. “I’m really excited to see all my friends dress up,” Evie said. The Book Connection senior sales assistant Beverly Fearne said they stock a large collection of children’s books throughout the year. “We often get a lot of panicked parents this time of year needing a book within a day or two, so we do find there is quite a rush,” Ms Fearne said.
PHOTO: DUBBO PHOTO NEWS/KEN SMITH
She said children have fun looking through the collection trying to find their favourite authors or discovering new books. “Especially when there’s a series they love and a new addition to the series is coming out and they see it on the shelf – that’s always exciting to see,” she said. Ms Fearne said there has been a shift in popularity in children’s authors, with Anh Do and David Walliams on the rise.
“Ahn Do has such a wide range of books that children seem to love, and David Walliams is like the new Ronald Dahl,” she said. She noted a lot of children are still picking up older classics from their parents’ influence, saying books are “passed down by generations”. Book Week is designed to celebrate the Australian authors and illustrators who make children’s literature so appealing, while supporting every Aussie child’s love of reading.