12 Sep 2019
This Australian Reading Hour, encourage your child to discover or rekindle their love of a good book. Take the time to learn, escape and relax on Thursday 19 September and read for one hour.
Get involved at home
Join in at home and read your child a bedtime story. Studies show that reading a bedtime story six days a week can give kids almost a year’s head start when they begin school. Reading has also been shown to develop empathy, promote critical thinking and help children find a sense of self.
Join in from the classroom
Bestselling children’s author and illustrator Matt Stanton will broadcast live to primary school children across the country from the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday 17 September. We invite schools to register for the livestream of this free event.
Stanton’s author talk is among more than 140 events happening across the country involving more than 50 authors.
Take the Book Swap Challenge
We all have favourite books that we come back to again and again.
To help celebrate Reading Hour take our Book Swap Challenge. We want students, teachers, staff and parents to try reading something new on the day. To get involved, simply pair up with someone and swap your favourite books.
Take a photo and tag it with #ReadingHour so we can see how you got involved.
Video – #ReadingHour authors talk about their favourite place to read
Duration: 0:38
Looking for a good spot to open a book? We asked authors Benjamin Law, Morris Gleitzman, Jacqueline Harvey and Mick Elliott about their favourite place to read.