Fremantle Press 2024 Bookaburras program launches with a new ambassador and a new pilot partnership
Fremantle Press is pleased to announce that the Books for Little Bookaburras 2024 program will be launched by Hon. Sabine Winton MLA, Minister for Early Childhood Education on Wednesday 8 May.
The 2024 Books for Little Bookaburras Ambassador Renae Hayward says every child deserves to have books in their life – not only for all they will learn, but for all the special moments they will share with their grown-ups.
Renae is part of a growing group of sponsors and creatives helping share a mini-library of local books with more than 4,000 Western Australian children.
Chair of Fremantle Press Clair Medhurst said Renae had joined James Foley, Kyle Hughes-Odgers, Norman Jorgensen, Rebecca Mills, Helen Milroy, Chris Nixon and Chris Owen in generously donating royalties back to the program.
Medhurst said the Books for Little Bookaburras program’s founding sponsors – the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation, Wright Burt Foundation, Hesperia Group, Paul Jones in memory of Allan and Wendy Jones, Barton Family Foundation and Hartree and Associates Architects – had been joined by Louise Jones in memory of her sister Beverley, a lifelong passionate reader.
Medhurst said, ‘And now we’re excited to announce that the Premier’s Summer Reading Challenge and KindiLink have committed to a pilot program assisting with distribution and a regional tour that will see Bookaburras Ambassadors visiting KindiLink centres across the state. On behalf of the children of Western Australia and Fremantle Press, I would like to thank the sponsors who came together to make this program happen. It is their passion for making books a part of every child’s life that makes programs like Bookaburras possible.’
Each Little Bookaburras participant will receive a copy of Say Hooray by Renae Hayward and Rebecca Mills, Backyard Birds by Helen Milroy and one of the following picture books by local WA authors and illustrators: Pandamonia by Chris Owen and Chris Nixon, The Two-Hearted Numbat by Ezekiel and Ambelin Kwaymullina, The Last Viking Returns by Norman Jorgensen and James Foley, or One Thousand Trees by Kyle Hughes-Odgers.
This mini-library is designed to encourage a love of stories by including new books by local authors, including First Nations storytellers, which can be shared and enjoyed by families.
Bookaburras Ambassador Renae Hayward said, ‘Sharing a book with a favourite grown-up is one of the best ways to develop literacy in kids. Reading together lets children explore and experiment with language and build an understanding of how sounds, structures and words work. With the Bookaburras book pack, more children will have the chance to experience the many benefits of books, which is something worth celebrating!’
The 2024 Books for Little Bookaburras program will launch at Bentley Primary School KindiLink on Wednesday 8 May 2024. More information about the program is available here.
