RCH Reads
The Royal Children’s Hospital has signed up as a partner of the 2012 National Year of Reading (NYR), joining state, public and school libraries, and community groups around the country in an initiative that promotes reading and literacy and inspires Australians to become a nation of readers.
The hospital enjoyed a fabulous start to the National Year of Reading with our festive launch on Valentine’s Day, and the celebration of reading continues to be seen in wards, clinics, cafes and staff rooms all through the hospital.
The RCH Reading Hour
24 August 2012
To mark the end of Children’s Book Week celebrations at the RCH, today we invited children and their families to join us for The RCH Reading Hour in the hospital’s Main Street.
With a wonderful array of books from the Children’s Book Awards shortlist, children, babies, parents and friends sunk into comfy beanbags for a leisurely read on a cold, wintry Melbourne afternoon.
The aim of The Reading Hour is to encourage parents and carers to read to their child for at least ten minutes each day, to ensure their child has the best chance of becoming a good reader with all the social and educational benefits that brings.
Official Reading Hour celebrations are being held around Australia this Saturday from 6-7pm. For more details visit The Reading Hour website.
Kids as Publishers
Children’s Book Week is an important celebration at The Royal Children’s Hospital and RCH teachers have been helping children to publish their own picture books throughout the week.
Using self-publishing techniques learned in a recent workshop with Kids’ Own Publishing, teachers helped children to make ‘hot-dog’ books (the pages are folded like a hot-dog), and collaborative books where each child contributes a page that is then laid out on an A3 page then photocopied, folded, stapled and shared.
Children have used fabric, felt, magazines, cellophane and a variety of colourful and textured materials to create collage pages for their books.
Children’s publishing is a community-based approach to developing early literacy and a way of encouraging an early love of reading – particularly pertinent as we celebrate the National Year of Reading in the hospital.
Children's Book Week 18-24 August 2012 - Champions Read!
The Education Institute loves books, especially books for children. One of our favourite celebrations at the RCH is the annual Children’s Book Week, where we celebrate Australian authors and illustrators and explore the fantastic titles that make up the shortlist for the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Book of the Year Awards. In this National Year of Reading we have lots of wonderful activities planned for patients, families and hospital visitors during Children’s Book Week with a focus on making books to share with families and friends.
What’s on?
Monday 20–Friday 24 August
12.00pm–2.00pm
Making Books and Radicool Reading on Main Street
Children are invited to join us for book-making workshops where they can create their own ‘Hot Dog’ book to take home. We’ll also be looking for the most ‘Radicool’ Readers who can take a snapshot of themselves, friends or family reading in an unusual place.
Special events:
Wednesday 22 August
Meerkats Book Launch
2.00pm – 3.00pm
Where: The Meerkat Exhibit, Specialist Clinics, Ground Level
The RCH Education Institute launches The Royal Children’s Hospital Meerkats, a delightful book of stories and artworks created by RCH patients, in which the meerkats enjoy all kinds of adventures.
Friday 24 August
12.00pm–1.00pm
The RCH Reading Hour
Where: Main Street
The hospital will celebrate the RCH Reading Hour during Book Week. The aim of the Reading Hour is to encourage parents and carers to read to their child for at least ten minutes each day, to ensure their child has the best chance of becoming a good reader with all the social and educational benefits that brings.
Pull up a bean bag on Main Street and join us for a leisurely read between 12.00pm and 1.00pm on the Friday.
A visit from children's book legend, Bob Graham
15 August 2012
RCH patients had the pleasure of hearing the charming Bob Graham read from some of his award-winning picture books and talk about the inspiration behind these delightful bestselling books yesterday. Bob shared some of the sketches that have become illustrations in his books, and the visual diary he takes everywhere to record inspiring images and ideas. Bob's message to children was that we all have stories to tell and some of the best stories are the ones that happen right around us in our everyday lives.
RCH patients take the Challenge
More than 100 RCH patients have signed up to the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge in a record effort during this National Year of Reading.
Children and young people throughout the hospital are taking the challenge to read as many books as they can on the Premiers’ Reading Challenge list, along with their personal favourites, joining hundreds of thousands of Victorian school students registered in the Challenge.
Participants who complete the Premiers’ Reading Challenge will receive a certificate from the Victorian Premier and have their name published in The Age newspaper’s Honour Roll for the Challenge. But the prizes don’t stop there. Children will also have the thrill that a fantastic story gives and the opportunity to improve their reading skills.
National Simultaneous Storytime
On Wednesday 23 May, The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) joined organisations from across the country, reading the picture book The Very Cranky Bear to more than 170,000 children nationwide.
Popular actor-comedian Angus Sampson (Where the Wild Things Are) was the guest reader for National Simultaneous Storytime at the RCH, which has joined the 2012 National Year of Reading campaign to help Australians become a nation of readers.
Patients at the RCH joined the storytime with their own copies of The Very Cranky Bear, generously donated by children’s publisher Scholastic Australia, the publishers of Nick Bland’s popular picture book.
"Enriching children’s lives through a love for reading is the very cornerstone of Scholastic’s business. We’re thrilled and delighted that The Very Cranky Bear was selected from the many thousands of Australian picture books, and we’re especially excited to support children at The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne to engage in reading through such a fun event," says David Peagram, Managing Director Scholastic Australia.
Now in its twelfth successful year, National Simultaneous Storytime 2012 aims to celebrate and acknowledge the vital work being done in libraries, schools and communities around Australia to develop young people's literacy and numeracy skills.
The event was organised by the Australian Library and Information Association, to promote the value of reading and literacy, the importance of Australia's book industry and the role of libraries.
For more information on National Simultaneous Storytime around Australia, visit http://www.alia.org.au/nss/ or contact the Australian Library and Information Association, ph 02 6215 8222.
Some very cranky bears wait to be amused
Picture perfect bears
Roaring and stomping is serious business!
Angus with RCH patients Tone and Harley
Angus meets RCH patient Phoebe and her mum
Author visit from Eoin Colfer...
As part of National Year of Reading celebrations at the RCH, bestselling Irish children's author Eoin Colfer met with RCH patients and talked about the inspiration behind his hugely successful Artemis Fowl series.
Eoin Colfer (pronounced Owen) was born in Wexford on the South-East coast of Ireland in 1965, where he and his four brothers were brought up by his father (a primary school teacher, historian and artist of note) and mother (a drama teacher). He first developed an interest in writing in primary school with gripping Viking stories inspired by history he was learning in school at the time!
Eoin shared some hilarious stories of his childhood in Ireland and revealed that the inspiration behind the criminal mastermind of Artemis Fowl was his brother, who routinely amused the Colfer family with his mischievous antics. The final book in the hugely popular Artemis Fowl series is due out in July this year. Don't miss it!
Eoin Colfer chats with RCH patients
More National Year of Reading news...
Highlights of our National Year of Reading program so far have included a visit from Australian Children’s Laureate, Alison Lester, who shared the art of story-telling with patients in a watercolour painting workshop and storytime session; participation in World Read Aloud Day; a special presentation for hospital parents on ‘Reading with your child’ with literacy consultant Anne Hammond; a ‘flash-mob’ of silent readers on the hospital’s Main Street and the establishment of the inaugural RCH Staff Book Group.
Alison Lester with RCH patients Sean and Alex
RCH Education Institute form a 'flash-mob' of readers
Upcoming events
| 27 August - 2 September | National Literacy and Numeracy Week |
| 27 August | Go Away Mr Worrythoughts! - A performance by Frankston Arts Centre based on the book by Nicky Johnston - helping little worriers find happiness |
| 29 August |
RCH Book Group - Book 4 - Smoke and Mirrors by Kel Robertson |
National Year of Reading activities at the RCH are presented with the generous support of the State Library of Victoria.
Get involved
For news and highlights on what is happening around Australia visit love2read website and sign-up to their online newsletter. For further information on activities at the RCH contact us.
Links and resources
Love2read is the official National Year of Reading 2012 website.
The State Library of Victoria is hosting events and programs throughout 2012 to promote the love of reading.
