Read at least three stories a day; it may be the same story three times. Children need to hear a thousand stories before they can begin to learn to read. Or the same story a thousand times! —
Mem Fox
The 1000 Books Before School campaign is designed to influence the home learning environment by encouraging families and pre-school children to develop a reading habit. Research shows that “home literacy”, or engaging with language and reading at home, increases reading readiness and prepares children to enter school with the skills they need to do well and thrive.
By reading just one book each evening, the 1000-book target can be achieved in less than three years and your child will be set for a lifelong love of books and learning.
The concept is simple:
Customers register and receive a reading record in which they track the books that they read to their children. This program is specifically for children who have not yet started school. Children can be registered from as young as newborns up until they commence school. The idea is complete the program before commencing school.
Congratulations to children and parents who have reached the 1000 BBS milestone.
Register your pre-school child now at your closest Monash Public Library branch.
Are you worried about how your children are being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and need some resources? Try these specially selected links by Youth Services Librarian Wendy.
From the library catalogue books on COVD-19 and resilience
Everybody worries by Jon Burgerman
Hi. This is coronavirus by South Australia Health
Rainbows in Windows by Yumi
My hero is You by Inter Agency Standing Committee (available in other languages)
Coronavirus: a book for children by Axel Scheffler
Birdie and the virus by Children by Children Health’s Queensland Hospital and Health Service
Be a Coronavirus fighter! by Songju Mae Daemicke
For Parents:
Coronavirus: A guide for parents featured by Monash Childrens Hospital from School TV.
The eSafety Commissioner's COVID-19 tips for parents video. For more esafety tips visit https://www.esafety.gov.au/
Early Learning Stem Booklist
Early childhood is the natural starting point for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) learning, as young children are curious and want to explore their environments
Picture books are a great way to engage children’s interest in STEM. Picture books can act as hooks to explore and learn about new things. Picture books introduce new vocabulary, concepts and ways of thinking and doing.
This booklist is reproduced with permission from the Early Learning STEM Australia initiative by the University of Canberra and includes links to our library catalogue.
The Most Magnificent Thing/ Ashley Spires
The girl has a wonderful idea. She is going to make the most MAGNIFICENT thing! She knows just how it will look. But making her magnificent thing is anything but easy, and the girl tries and fails, repeatedly.
What do you do with an idea?/ Kobi Yamada
This is the story of one brilliant idea and the child who helps to bring it into the world. As the child’s confidence grows, so does the idea itself.
When Papa takes his family fishing on Lake Michigan, his daughter Virena asks, 'Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a fish?’—and Papa is off to his workshop.
Eugenie Clark fell in love with sharks from the first moment she saw them at the aquarium. But Eugenie quickly discovered that many people believed sharks to be ugly and scary—and they didn’t think women should be scientists.
The story of a young Jane Goodall and her special childhood toy chimpanzee named Jubilee. As the young Jane observes the natural world around her with wonder, until one day she finds that her dream has come true.
Min is a microbe. She is small. Very small. In fact so small that you’d need to look through a microscope to see her. Or you can simply open this book and take Min on an adventure.
The cat walked through the world, with its whiskers, ears, and paws... In this glorious celebration of observation, curiosity, and imagination, when you see a cat, what do you see?
In One is Not a Pair, each patterned page contains a set of pairs... but one thing does not match any of the others. Can you find it?
Which One Doesn’t Belong? contains a thoughtfully designed set of four shapes. Each of the shapes can be a correct answer to the question, ‘Which one doesn’t belong?’
Two fuzzy creatures can’t agree on who is small and who is big, until a couple of surprise guests show up, settling it once and for all!
Gus’s workshop is chockful of useless odds and ends. But when his friend Rico comes over with a problem (his scooter seat is way too small for a rhino), Gus finds just the thing to solve it.
It’s time for this year’s Going Places contest! Finally. Time to build a go-cart, race it—and win. Each kid grabs an identical kit, and scrambles to build. Everyone but Maya. But who said it had to be a go-cart?
These books all have an underlying theme: Dream Big. The fun part is each story is told from a different child in Ms. Lila Greer’s classroom.
Is it possible to eat snowballs doused in ketchup and nothing else all winter? Can a washing machine wash dishes? By reading the step-by-step instructions, kids can discover the answers to such all-important questions along with the book’s curious narrator.
Charlotte is a serious scientist. She solves important problems by following the scientific method. What she doesn’t have is space.
Tapping into the desire for organisation and the insanity of uber-order, Wehrli humorously categorises everyday objects and situations by colour, size, and shape.
This clever picture book introduces the concept of animal characteristics by highlighting how there can be both differences and similarities within a group.
Meet Robyn Boid—a small, dedicated bird who loves to build nests and dreams of becoming an architect. Eager to learn, Robyn practises building all the important architectural shapes, but all the while, she seeks the perfect design for her very own nest.
Young Jack is giving an eye-opening tour of the car he’d like to build. With Jack’s soaring imagination in the driver’s seat, we’re deep-sea diving one minute and flying high above traffic the next in this whimsical, tantalising take on the car of the future.
For more information contact : https://elsa.edu.au
1800 931 042
A list of VCE English resources including study guides and eResources that students can access easily on our catalogue.
VCE English List 1
VCE English List 2
We also have some excellent research tools on our website,
The State Library of Victoria VCE research guides.
State Library of Victoria online membership allows access to a huge range of e-resources from home. Become a free Access Member.
Trove is also a great place to research anything Australian and find resources.
Children’s Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service have a number of Birdie Stories available online in a variety of languages. Enables parents of young children to explain and help recover from natural disasters including bushfires. Information and resource PDFs available.
Go to the Birdie Stories