The magical bus filled with books: Deb Fitzpatrick on Russ the Story Bus
In November 2025, author Deb Fitzpatrick took part in the exciting Sydney Writers Festival. As well as delivering workshops to students, Deb hitched a ride in a very special vehicle …
I’d heard about Russ the Story Bus – a magical bus that visits Greater Western Sydney primary schools every year in Term 4 and is filled with books. It’s quite literally a big old school bus that has been lovingly fitted out into the funkiest mobile bookshop ever.
Except Russ is not a bookshop; its books are not sold to paying customers.
Let me explain.
For each week of the eight weeks Russ is on the road, a different author or illustrator travels with it, sharing an interactive presentation with the children about the stories behind the books they’ve created, inspiring these young minds to dive into the wonder of books. The session engages students to think creatively about stories, reading, writing and creating.
After the session, Russ the Bus invites every single child on board to choose a book to take home, read, enjoy and keep forever. There are books for all ages and reading levels, fiction and non-fiction, novels and graphic novels, covering a huge array of interests. The book is the personal choice of each child. It is a memento of the funnest, biggest-hearted literacy program in Australia. It might run off the smell of an oily rag, but thanks to the generosity of many, the program delivers 13,000 books into the hands of Australia’s hungry young minds every year.
When told they get to choose a book to take home and keep, some of these children have to double-check the offer – ‘You mean, I can keep it? Forever?’ Some of these kids, who are aged anywhere from five to eleven, leave Russ the Story Bus holding the very first book they’ve ever owned.
For those of us with stacks of books by our bedside, it’s a sobering moment.
The books on board Russ are supplied at low or no cost by the Sydney Writers Festival (SWF) and the many Australian publishers – including Fremantle Press – who support this incredible literacy program. This generosity is a wonderful example of the hidden philanthropy that’s part of the fabric of the Australian children’s publishing industry. Put simply, it’s about the kids.
Russ has been working the streets of Sydney in this way since 2014.
Yep, I’d heard about Russ and its special work.
So when the SWF children’s program director Nathan Luff invited me to come on board, I may have let out a small scream of delight.
In late November 2025, I joined the team of professional legends who drop everything to come together and run the Russ program. Over the five days I was on Russ, I worked with 1,350 students from Kindy right through to Year 6, at Carlton South, Chipping Norton, Newbridge Heights and Prestons public schools. The wonderful librarians and teachers at these schools welcomed us with excitement and so much appreciation for what Russ the Story Bus offers the children – an invitation into the joy of books.
Here’s how it works: The bus is driven to the school by Beaver, the Bus Driver–Librarian, the afternoon prior, and positioned in a shady location for its work the next day. The students go on board in small, orderly groups managed by Beaver and the three ‘Russ Librarians’ who guide the students if they need help selecting a book. Some kids are overwhelmed by the number of titles before them and can’t choose; others aren’t confident readers, so Russ’s librarians gently swoop in to assist. After a book is chosen, the students have their book stamped by Russ and signed by the visiting author. While I was on board, I took the opportunity to have a chat with the kids about anything from the book they’d selected to the results of the Ashes test.
Over the eight weeks of the program, dozens of schools were visited by Russ and Australian creative powerhouses Susanne Gervay, Dee White, Freda Chiu and Nick Long, among others. I count my time on Russ as one of the best weeks I’ve ever had as a kids’ writer. Massive thanks to everyone involved and for inviting me along for this most magical of rides!
Photos from Deb Fitzpatrick and Sydney Writers Festival.
