August is here and in a few weeks children will gather together for Book Week  parades and the celebration of Children’s Book Week. This year’s theme is Reading is my Secret Power. It’s a hectic time for librarians, teachers, book stores and authors as they prepare to boost their sales, deliver wonderful displays to promote literacy and read. READ!

Do you have a secret power? Can you time travel? Perhaps you are invisible ( when it suits) or like Wolverine, you boast of night vision. I wonder if like Spiderman, you have mind control. Maybe this is the year for you breathing underwater or in space. Would you like to be Captain America? or Peter Pan who can fly? Or a lie detector like Pinocchio? A communication Master like Mowgli or a mermaid that can live on water and land.

Secret powers are just that – secret. Shhh! Don’t tell anyone. But from 17-23 August, everyone wants to know what books win in the categories from Picture Books, Younger grades to Older Readers. Announcements will be 16 August. Have you picked your winners?

Secret powers involve Harriet the Spy, Matilda, Zac Power and Captain Underpants.

Once I dressed as Wonder Woman. Now a days I am Super grandma! with my ability to read 10 stories in one sitting. Use voices. Play roles and perform in front of live audiences.

Some fun things to do during Book week for your family.

Lay a secret trap and watch dad tumble.

Make a bad guy cubbie and read the villain scene from a book.

Try a new karate skill or learn to box.

Time travel with Shaun Tan – Visit another world.

Use puppets to hypnotise your audience. Chant a spell.

Make a super hero costume from magazines and newspapers.

Design a secret power poster – use fluro colours!

Have you read a Ninja book?

Read The Feather by Margaret Wild.

Explore the pages of His Name is Walter by Emily Rodda – mystery, adventure and a thrilling story for children ages 7+ It’s a haunting story about 5 people who will remember an old house for a long time. ” He cried out as the lid of the window seat was flung back. A jeering, wrinkled face looked down on him. Amber eyes glared through a tangle of brindled grey hair. A gold locket hanging from a thin black ribbon gleamed on a scrawny neck.” (p57)

Whether you are a child or animal, find a book that suits you and start reading! Celebrate the love of story, words and pictures in Book week. Can you switch bodies like the Matrix? or act like a Super dad who masters the Universe?

Challenge yourself! Don’t under estimate your secret powers! Try reading 5 new books in different genres that you would never normally read. Go on.You can do it!

Here are some other titles to read – Cicada by Shaun Tan, Tricky’s Bad Day by Alison Lester, Leave Taking by Lorraine Marwood, Dingo ( Tannya Harricks – new illustrator award), The Act of Taxidermy – Sharon Kernot ( Older Readers) The Happiness Box : A Wartime Book of Hope by Mark Greenwood, ( Eve Pownall Award)  Girl on a Wire by Elise Hurst ( Picture Book), Rainbow Bear by Stephen Michael- King ( Early Childhood) Do check out the Shortlist for 2019 and enjoy CBCA Book Week coming up.