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Karen Fleischer

@readingforkidsandteens

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📚🦋 A LITTLE HAPPENSTANCE, A MAGICAL READING CAPE & A MYSTERY GUEST! ✨

Sometimes the best bookish connections happen by chance!

After meeting Australian author Katie Whitfield at the Schoolworks Love Your Bookshop Day pre-event dinner, little did we know we'd be neighbouring stallholders at the Big Bairnsdale Book Bazaar the very next day! 💛

Katie's delightful book, When I Am at Kindergarten, is beautifully illustrated by Maia Batumashvili.

🌟 The day brought more wonderful connections! I introduced Katie to East Gippsland Mayor Jodie Ashworth, and she met the fabulous Carol, whose magnificent handcrafted reading cape celebrated the magic of children's books and storytelling! 🦋

🎁 Katie generously gifted RFKaT TWO copies of her book — one to treasure and another heading off on a special adventure!

🤫 A MYSTERY REVIEWER awaits!

Who will help us explore this lovely story about starting kindergarten, building confidence, making friends and embracing new experiences?

👀 WATCH THIS SPACE!

A huge thank you to Katie and Schoolworks Bairnsdale for celebrating Australian creators and bringing our book-loving community together! 📚❤️ by @readingforkidsandteens

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5 days ago

🎤📚 FROM LOVE YOUR BOOKSHOP DAY TO THE BAIRNSDALE SHOW! 🎡❤️

A big shout-out to Simon Ellis, who did a fantastic job as MC at Schoolworks Bairnsdale's Big Bairnsdale Book Bazaar!

Simon interviewed Australian authors and illustrators, showcased local stallholders and the food van, and generously promoted Reading for Kids and Teens (RFKaT) Gippsland. Thank you, Simon! 👏

🎡 DID YOU KNOW? Simon is also President of the Bairnsdale and District Agricultural Society, organisers of the 144th Bairnsdale Show!

📅 6–7 November 2026
📍 Bairnsdale Racecourse

❤️ VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

The Show Committee is looking for community-minded people who can spare a few hours before or during the event. Every helping hand makes a difference!

🌟 From Love Your Bookshop Day to the Bairnsdale Show, it's wonderful to see our community coming together to celebrate local talent, creativity and tradition!

🌐 www.bairnsdaleshow.com.au by @readingforkidsandteens

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5 days ago

Instagram
🚒📚 IT’S A FIRE STATION CELEBRATION!
A wonderful book to share with children! ❤️

Written by Davina Bell, with bright, expressive illustrations by Jenny Løvlie, this joyful story celebrates firefighters, community and teamwork.

Davina's dedication beautifully captures its heart:
“For the firefighters everywhere, with a truck’s worth of thanks for what you do.” – DB

Published by Little Hare, an imprint of Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing.

📚 Look for IT’S A FIRE STATION CELEBRATIOInstagram
🚒📚 IT’S A FIRE STATION CELEBRATION!
A wonderful book to share with children! ❤️
Written by Davina Bell, with bright, expressive illustrations by Jenny Løvlie, this joyful story celebrates firefighters, community and teamwork.
Davina's dedication beautifully captures its heart:
“For the firefighters everywhere, with a truck’s worth of thanks for what you do.” – DB
Published by Little Hare, an imprint of Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing.

📚 Look for IT’S A FIRE STATION CELEBRATION! at your school or public library.
N! at your school or public library. by @readingforkidsandteens

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8 days ago

💙🐦 AURA PARKER’S BOWERBIRD SERIES — LITERACY, STEM & ART!

Written and illustrated by Australian creator Aura Parker, Bowerbird Blues, Bowerbird Brood, Bowerbird Bloom and Bowerbird Brave beautifully combine storytelling, nature, STEM learning and art. 📚✨

🔎 My granddaughters and I especially love the “Can You Find?” challenges in the detailed endpapers — searching together adds another layer of fun, observation and discovery to reading.

🐺 And coming in November — Wolf Baby! Another beautifully illustrated story with wonderful details to discover that left us feeling warm and fuzzy.

🎄 A wonderful Australian series to consider for Christmas, or borrow from your school or public library.

📚 For more information, contact Charlotte at Schoolworks Bairnsdale.
Text & illustrations © Aura Parker
Published by Scholastic Australia by @readingforkidsandteens

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9 days ago

📚✨ THE GOOD DECISION — A VERY GOOD DECISION!

From the award-winning creative team behind Dear Broccoli comes another wonderful Australian picture book!
🥦 Dear Broccoli, written by Jo Dabrowski and illustrated by Cate James, was the 2026 CBCA Shadow Judging Picture Book of the Year winner — chosen by young readers who read, discuss and judge the shortlisted books before selecting their winner. 👏📚

Now Jo and Cate are back with The Good Decision — an engaging story that gives young readers plenty to think about, notice and discuss.

I recently read this beautiful book with my granddaughters, and seeing the story through their eyes made me appreciate even more the wonderful detail and humour within Cate’s illustrations. ❤️

📖 It would be a GOOD DECISION to contact Charlotte at Schoolworks Bairnsdale to find out more — and remember to shop local and support independent bookshops.

📚 Or borrow a copy from your school or public library. Libraries Change Lives. by @readingforkidsandteens

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16 days ago

📚☀️ PLAN EARLY FOR SUMMER READING!

Planning ahead for Christmas and the summer holidays? 🎄📚 It’s a wonderful time to discover new stories and encourage children to keep reading over summer.

🏆📓 And speaking of notebooks… congratulations to Nick Daicos on his Brownlow Medal win! Nick has spoken about journalling every night since around age 16. Perhaps there really is something in putting your thoughts, goals and dreams down on paper! 🖤🤍✍️

Our latest Reading for Kids and Teens (RFKaT) video features:

🌿 On a Bushwalk — Andrea Rowe & Hannah Sommerville
Published by Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing

📖 A Bigger Book — written & illustrated by Hannah Sommerville
Published by Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing (Bright Light)

Plus a little extra bookish fun with colourful May Gibbs and Hello Kitty and Friends notebooks! ✏️📚

As we look ahead to Public Libraries Victoria’s Big Summer Read:

📚 Borrow from your school or public library
🛍️ Support your local bookshops
📖 Contact Schoolworks Bairnsdale for more information, books and reading recommendations.

Celebrating Australian books, authors, illustrators and publishers. 💛

Because stories are meant to be shared.

🏆📓 And speaking of notebooks… congratulations to Nick Daicos on his Brownlow Medal win! Nick has spoken about journalling every night since around age 16. Perhaps there really is something in putting your thoughts, goals and dreams down on paper! 🖤🤍✍️ by @readingforkidsandteens

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22 days ago

🎄📚 A VERY CRANKY CHRISTMAS — A JOYFUL CHRISTMAS READ!

I absolutely loved reading A Very Cranky Christmas with young children. ❤️

When Santa gets the sniffles, Zebra, Lion, Reindeer and Sheep think Bear would make a wonderful replacement.

There’s just one problem… 🐻
Bear would rather be left alone to read his book! 📖

But his clever friends know exactly how to appeal to Bear’s favourite pastime — reading! 📖 They cleverly turn each part of his Santa outfit into something just for him: a reading hat, a cosy red reading suit, a lovely reading beard and shiny reading gumboots. Before Bear quite knows what has happened, his quiet day with a book has turned into a Christmas adventure.

As the rhyming story unfolds, Bear discovers something rather lovely — the unexpected joy that can come from giving to others. 🎁

And joyful is exactly how I felt when I finished this book.

My granddaughter and I even tried to choose our favourite page — not an easy task! Nick Bland’s bright, expressive illustrations bring so much humour, colour and personality to the story.

🎅🐻 A cranky Bear, some very clever friends and a wonderfully happy Christmas ending.

📚 A Very Cranky Christmas
✍️🎨 Text & illustrations: Nick Bland
📖 Publisher: Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Australia

📚 Look for it at your local library. by @readingforkidsandteens

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a month ago

📚💛 DOLLY, BOOKMARKS & MAKING A DIFFERENCE

What a lovely way to close our 2026 CBCA Book Week bookmark initiative across East Gippsland.

The feedback from our schools tells us it’s making a difference.

We’ve heard that more books were being borrowed from school libraries in the weeks leading up to Book Week, with students using the titles on their CBCA bookmarks to discover more books to read. 📚

That is exactly what we hoped might happen.

The extraordinary contribution Dolly Parton has made to children’s literacy through her Imagination Library is a wonderful reminder of what can happen when we connect children with books.

Here in East Gippsland, Reading for Kids and Teens is simply trying to make a difference in our own small way — one bookmark, one book, one library visit and one young reader at a time. 💛

A special thank you to Charlotte Tiffin and Schoolworks Bairnsdale, and to Paynesville Community Opp Shop, Johnno’s Opp Shop, Office Choice Bairnsdale and Grinter Transport Services for helping make this regional initiative possible.

And thank you to our East Gippsland schools, teachers and library staff for sharing your photographs and feedback.

Thank you to everyone across our community who helped make this possible.

Because stories are meant to be shared. 📚💛

🎵 Video includes an excerpt from the Buckingham Palace tribute to Dolly Parton, acknowledging her remarkable contribution to children’s literacy. by @readingforkidsandteens

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a month ago

🐶🐾 SAGITTARIUS RISING 🐾🐶
noun:
1️⃣ One of twelve zodiac signs. ♐️
2️⃣ A very cheeky puppy named Sag. 🐶

And that’s where the fun begins!

Tip wants a puppy. Dad says no.
Mum, however, has other ideas… 😂

Told in six parts and packed with bouncy rhyming couplets, Sagittarius
Rising follows the arrival of Sag — and the way one very cheeky fur baby gradually becomes part of the family.

And perhaps the biggest surprise? Dad, who wasn't keen on a puppy at all, becomes rather fond of Sag. ❤️🐾

📖 Published by Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing

From multi-award-winning Australian author and poet Maxine Beneba Clarke, with illustrations by Jade Goodwin, this is a quirky chapter book full of family life, puppy mischief, delicious rhyme and plenty of doggy goodness!

📚 Borrow it from your local library. by @readingforkidsandteens

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a month ago

📚🐸🦎 BOOK WEEK + SCIENCE WEEK – EAST GIPPSLAND!

Celebrating books, science, nature and community with East Gippsland Mayor Jodie Ashworth and three fantastic Australian books:

🥦 Dear Broccoli — Jo Dabrowski & Cate James
Published by Affirm Kids / Affirm Press

🐸 Frogs Are Our Friends — Toni D’Alia & Madeline White
Published by Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing

🦎 Caution! This Book Contains Deadly Reptiles — Corey Tutt & Ben Williams
Published by Allen & Unwin

Three very different books inspiring curiosity, conversation and a love of reading.

📚 Discover them through your local public library.

📰 A big thank you to the Bairnsdale Advertiser and Lakes Post for helping share our celebration of Australian children’s books across East Gippsland.

Because stories are meant to be shared. by @readingforkidsandteens

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a month ago

💛 R U OK? Day – Thursday 10 September 2026
Sometimes starting a conversation can make all the difference.

For R U OK? Day, Reading for Kids and Teens Gippsland is highlighting some great resources that can help children and young people build confidence, resilience and skills for navigating the ups and downs of growing up.

📚 You Are Awesome by Matthew Syed encourages young people to believe in themselves, learn from mistakes and discover what they are capable of.

✏️ The Everyday Resilience Journal by Michelle Mitchell is a practical pre-teen guide to friendships, schoolwork and growing up, with activities that encourage reflection and resilience.
Books and journals can be wonderful conversation starters — not just on R U OK? Day, but throughout the year.

💛 Ask R U OK? Listen. Encourage action. Check in.

For more information about these resources, contact Charlotte at Schoolworks Bairnsdale. by @readingforkidsandteens

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a month ago

👑 HOW TO GET RID OF A PRINCESS 👑
What if the younger sibling you’re trying to get rid of turns out to be a pretty wonderful playmate? 💛

How to Get Rid of a Princess by Alison McLennan, illustrated by Mel Pearce, is a funny and warm story about learning to play together, accepting that siblings may do things differently — and discovering the joy of sibling friendship.

Published by Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing. 📚

Look for it at your school or local public library. by @readingforkidsandteens

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a month ago