Staff Picks for Book Week: 10 Ideas to Get You Ready
Photo credit: Briana Melideo
It’s that time of year again. Costume creation for Book Week can instil fear into the hearts of parents and guardians all over Australia. But don’t worry, we’re here to help! Our staff put their heads together and offered up their top costume suggestions from our books. Keep an eye out for some creative solutions to bring fascinating characters to life.
The magpie from Swoop – Jasmine, Business Development Manager at Double Helix
Swoop by Nicole Godwin, illustrated by Susannah Crispe
In Swoop, Magpie has one job: keep the eggs safe! Learn why these clever, cheeky and charming songbirds swoop in this delightful book.
Possibly the most season-appropriate costume to create for Book Week during Spring (a.k.a. swooping season), all you need is a mask and wings made with cardboard and paper over the top of some black clothes and you have a magpie!
A bonus suggestion from our Books Editorial Manager, Tracey: wear a disguise to deter magpie swooping such as an ice cream container hat.
How many different ways can you dress to deter magpies? (Illustration: Susannah Crispe)
The child from Pollination – Tracey, Books Editorial Manager
Pollination by Christopher Cheng, illustrated by Danny Snell
Follow along with a child’s day in the garden with their Gran and Pa as they discover how pollination happens in our gardens and backyards, and the importance it has for our environment. Meet the animals involved in pollination and the plants that depend on pollination to produce our fruit, vegetables and even our clothes!
A nice and easy costume: all you need is a cotton t-shirt, overalls and gumboots for working in the garden and learning about pollination. Bonus points for including a pollinated plant as a prop!
The gardening clothes from Pollination make the perfect easy costume! (Illustration: Danny Snell)
A banana from The Biology of Bananas – Briana, Books Publisher
The Biology of Bananas by Katie Steckles
The Biology of Bananas takes readers through a 22 biology experiments using engaging examples from the kitchen. Become a Kitchen Scientist by dissecting an onion, decorating a cookie to look like a cell and discovering how gross things like mould help to make delicious foods like yoghurt and bread!
If you’ve got a child who loves their bananas, then how could you go past this costume? Dress head-to-toe in yellow, wear a black beanie and voila, you have a banana!
Microlight Milly from A Shorebird Flying Adventure – Claire, Rights and Special Sales
A Shorebird Flying Adventure by Jackie Kerin and Milly Formby
Milly is inspiring children everywhere as she flies in her microlight to the Arctic Tundra and back. Meet birds who travel phenomenal distances every year and explore their precious wetland habitats and breeding grounds. Discover how amazing and awesome migratory shorebirds are!
Don a helmet, some headphones and binoculars and you’re ready to bird watch! Don’t forget to take along a sketchbook and pencil to draw the shorebirds you come across!
Plastic waste from Oceans of Plastic – Briana, Books Publisher
Oceans of Plastic by Tracey Gray
In Oceans of Plastic, explore how amazing our oceans are. They are filled with wonderful sea creatures and are essential for a healthy planet. But it’s now estimated that there are more pieces of plastic in the ocean than visible stars in the Milky Way. Readers can learn how to become ocean change-makers in their community to help protect the future of our oceans.
This is a great one for kids who are passionate about protecting our environment. Dress in blue (for the ocean), with plastic bags, milk containers and food packaging pinned on to represent plastic waste.
A Lord Howe Island Stick Insect from Phasmid – Philippa, Journals Editorial Assistant
Phasmid by Rohan Cleave, illustrated by Coral Tulloch
Phasmid is the amazing true story of the Lord Howe Island Phasmid, or Stick Insect. Believed to be extinct for nearly 80 years, the phasmids were rediscovered on Balls Pyramid, a volcanic outcrop 23 kilometres off the coast of Lord Howe Island, Australia.
Our colleague Philippa finds invertebrates “endlessly fascinating”, and this costume could be exactly that! Craft some antennae on a headband, add stick insect legs to a backpack and your child will be able to camouflage in no time.
Chlamy from The Great Lizard Trek – Jennifer, Senior Marketing and Communications Manager
The Great Lizard Trek by Felicity Bradshaw, illustrated by Norma MacDonald
Trek through country with Rocky, an ornate dragon, and his lizard relatives in search of a cooler habitat. Readers can learn about the local Indigenous and Western understanding of these changing environments and the animals that live in them.
In the book, Rocky introduces his friend Chlamy, a frilled lizard, who uses her frills to appear big and scary to its predators. Jennifer says, “I feel like some cardboard and paint could get that frill happening.” Time to get creating!
Possum from Tiny Possum and the Migrating Moths – Briana, Books Publisher
Tiny Possum and the Migrating Moths by Julie Murphy, illustrated by Ben Clifford
The mountain pygmy-possum is a small possum that lives high in the Australian Alps and survives on a diet of bogong moths. But Possum’s future is at risk as light pollution, habitat loss and climate change threaten her food supply.
If your school showcases Book Week creative ideas rather than costumes, then how’s this for an idea? Briana’s daughter made a batch of Tiny Possum cupcakes to share with friends. Imagine the conversations about conservation that could be had while eating these!
Decorated cupcakes are a great example of an alternative to a costume! (Photo: Briana Melideo)
Still didn’t find what you needed? Explore the rest of our books catalogue to see if there’s something else that gets your imagination going!
Be sure to tag us on social media at @CSIROPublishing if any of our books inspire your children this Book Week. We’d love to see them!