National Simultaneous Storytime 2024 Book Announcement
Oh, how I love the sky….
And moving through
The marvellous BLUE
Canberra, 1 September 2023: ALIA is delighted to announce that the National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) book for 2024 is Bowerbird Blues by Aura Parker (Scholastic, 2023).
Bowerbird Blues stars a beautiful bowerbird on the search for (you guessed it) BLUE! It’s a moving story of longing and connection, that unfolds as the bowerbird’s search sends him soaring across the sea, sky and city. He swoops and snatches vibrant treasures for his collection, and soon his bower – a mix of natural and unnatural objects – attracts something greater and more fulfilling than he could ever have imagined.
Upon learning that her book had been selected as this year’s NSS story, author Aura Parker said “National Simultaneous Storytime brings us together and makes us smile, and the shared experience can send imaginations soaring to new heights. I am surprised and blown away with excitement that ‘Bowerbird Blues’ has been chosen as the book for 2024!”
The book was selected by an expert panel formed of members of ALIA’s Children’s and Youth Services group. Panellist and convenor of ALIA’s Children and Youth Services Group, Nicola McGeown, said, “Bowerbird Blues is an outstanding and visually appealing picture book. We all agreed that it was beautiful to read and would be a wonderful book to share across a wide range of age groups.
National Simultaneous Storytime will take place on Wednesday 22 May 2024 at 12:00pm AEST.
In 2023, NSS saw over 2 million kids reading on the day. For 2024, we’ve adjusted the time slightly with the goal of further supporting librarians, teachers, parents, and caregivers to get millions of kids in Australia, New Zealand, and around the world reading together.
“NSS throws an international spotlight on the important work that libraries do every day” said ALIA Acting CEO Trish Hepworth
“When we read together it helps language development, learning and literacy, all while building community. It’s also a lot of fun.”
Registrations for NSS 2024 will open on 1 October 2023 with announcements on the ALIA and LIANZA websites and social media channels. This year, a new hashtag, #LibraryStorytime, can be used to share your storytime events and follow readers across the country. ALIA will also be releasing a range of NSS2024 merchandise in the coming weeks which will be available to purchase.
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