Category: Subjects & themes

Ninni Yabini by Professor Cheryl Kickett-Tucker and Tyrown Waigana has been selected for the IBBY-UNESCO Collection of Remarkable Books for Young Readers in Indigenous and Endangered Languages. Chosen by an international committee of influential experts on children’s books after a global call for submissions, the list was unveiled at the 40th IBBY World Congress in […]

Colour Me is a children’s picture book that uses the rainbow as a metaphor for our diversity and uniqueness. Ezekiel Kwaymullina and Moira Court use screen prints and evocative prose to deliver a strong message of diversity and inclusion. The Colour Me colouring-in activity sheet encourages individuality, creativity and self-awareness. For more teaching activities, download […]

Activity Sheet

'Colour Me Activity'

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Get the classroom thinking creatively, and help Quokka find a friend, with this free teaching activity. Working together or solo, kids can brainstorm the animals that a quokka would encounter on the beach and draw a friend for them.

Activity Sheet

'Draw a Friend for Quokka'

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Old Bertie by Perrella and Osborn is set in a dystopian society where all aspects of life are strictly controlled. In this new teaching activity, students can create their own dystopian society and the main character who lives in it, to help students connect world-building and character. Explore our free teaching notes for more classroom […]

Activity Sheet

'Two Old Bertie activity sheets'

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‘I am a Noongar girl and I live by the sea. This is wardan country. It’s a special place for me.’ I Call the Ocean Wardan is a new picture book by Ebony Froome, and illustrated by Dellas Bennell and Korrine Bennell-Yarran. A young Noongar girl reflects on her favourite things about wardan (the ocean […]

Activity Sheet

'How Is Wardan Special to You?'

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Tim Winton won the first Environment Award for Children’s Literature back in 1994. Now, he and illustrator Cindy Lane are in the running for another award for Ningaloo: Australia’s Wild Wonder. CEO and publisher of the book, Alex Allan, said she was heartened by the recognition. Alex said, ‘This book acknowledges the profound part young […]

Relics from a legendary lost island, or just an elaborate hoax? Whatever the truth is behind the mysterious and legendary crystal skulls featured in The Crystal Skulls by Mark Greenwood, this is a chance for curious students to unleash their imagination. In the first free activity sheet, students can give their skull a name, some […]

Activity Sheet

'Invent a new crystal skull and investigate another ancient wonder activities'

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Bring geography to life with a treasure hunt! In this free activity inspired by The Unlucky Pirate by Mark Greenwood, students will design their own treasure map to a legendary hidden treasure. Don’t forget to draw landmarks and fill in the map legend! Then, after researching flags and their meanings, design your own pirate flag […]

Activity Sheet

'Treasure Island and Pirate Flag Activities'

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Elders, memory, language, hunger, burning, flowering, flight … these are the different cycles around the life of a seed featured in Luisa Mitchell’s collection of poems, Song of the Shadow of a Seed. In this interview, Luisa speaks about writing toward healing, connection and truth-telling, the importance of truth-listening, and the hope that readers might […]

Join popular Palyku author Helen Milroy as she explores and celebrates the creatures you can see at the beach. From pretty starfish to puffed-up blowfish, this fun and educational early reader picture book is filled with brightly illustrated beach buddies. In this new activity sheet, your young reader can colour in each buddy and write […]

Activity Sheet

'Who's your beach buddy?'

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Get to know our worl barna in this free teaching activity sheet! Worl Barna is the third book in a collection of board books by Jayden Boundry and Tyrown Waigana, all about our majestic, native sky creatures. Perfect for little readers, this activity invites them to colour in some winged friends, learn their names in […]

Activity Sheet

'Do you know your worl barna?'

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One Day Soon is a new verse novel by Cristy Burne, a powerful and moving insight into a boy’s emotional journey through the diagnosis and loss of an uncle to motor neurone disease, compounded by his father and family’s own 50% risk of inheriting the causative gene. Alex learns to appreciate the smaller, special moments […]

Activity Sheet

'Practise writing in free verse'

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This creative literacy activity doubles as an art project! Inspired by interactive poems in the poetry collection for children, If I Could Eat the Stars, this activity sheet invites students to play with words, build descriptive vocabulary and turn their writing into a poem shaped like an animal. Download the activity sheet and let students […]

Activity Sheet

'Write your own shape poem'

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A new way to share Milly Meelyu with your little readers (and to learn alongside them!) Milly Meelyu is a new picture book by Dr Holly Bradley, translated into Badimia by Darryl Fogarty, lovingly illustrated by Corinne Fogarty and filled with themes of family, home and caring for Country. To help you bring the book […]

Bring the special anniversary edition of In Flanders Fields by Norman Jorgensen and Brian Harrison-Lever to life with a hands-on activity that explores how soldiers stayed safe in the trenches. Students will use two empty milk cartons and two small mirrors to create their own periscopes and understand how they work. With free teaching notes […]

Activity Sheet

'Make Your Own Periscope Activity'

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Bring the new edition of Lighthouse Girl by Dianne Wolfer (illustrated by Brian Simmonds) to life with a hands-on activity inspired by the way people once communicated across distances: semaphore. In this free activity, students will make their own pair of flags, learn the semaphore alphabet and use it to send messages to a partner. […]

Activity Sheet

'Semaphoric Alphabet - Lighthouse Girl Activity'

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In the picture book Catalpa by Mike Lefroy and Joy Lefroy, a daring rescue mission is set in motion to free a group of Irish political prisoners from Fremantle Prison. Enter the high seas of the 1870s and learn the meaning behind words like ‘scrimshaw’, ‘gaol’ and ‘whaleboat’. Where does each word connect to the […]

Activity Sheet

'Find the Words - Catalpa Activity Sheet'

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Looking for a rich springboard into text types and visual literacy? A New World Rises: Tales of a LEGO® Future is loaded with engaging and interactive text types that invite students to explore how writers shape meaning across different formats. Author Cristy Burne, who wrote the text for A New World Rises based on the […]

Em Readman, an emerging writer and contributor to An Unexpected Party: Queer YA Speculative Fiction, has been longlisted for the prestigious 2025 Richell Prize for Emerging Writers, selected from a competitive field of 775 entries. The recognition marks a significant milestone: Readman credits the confidence gained from contributing their short story in An Unexpected Party […]

Local authors and illustrators are teaming up to deliver a unique and inspiring program that gives primary school students the chance to become real-life published authors. Under the tutelage of WA’s bestselling and award-winning creatives, Year 5 and 6 students from Collier, East Victoria Park, Kensington and Manning Primary Schools will write, illustrate, edit and […]

Hetty Verolme survived a concentration camp during World War II, and went on to live a long and fruitful life. In this teaching activity, have students interview someone close to them and write a biography. You can download the free activity here.

Activity Sheet

'Discover untold histories in this activity inspired by Hetty'

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Congratulations to WA author Holden Sheppard who has received the $50,000 Minderoo Artist Fund Award. The Minderoo Artist Fund Award is presented to the artist who best leveraged their time in the Minderoo Foundation Artist Fund program to innovate, collaborate and broaden their practice, while making meaningful contributions to the sector. Nicola Forrest AO presented […]

Adapted from the award-winning novel by Holden Sheppard, the powerful 10-part Stan Original Series Invisible Boys will premiere on 13 February, only on Stan. To celebrate the series, a new edition of Holden Sheppard’s bestselling novel hits bookstores today. Described by reviewers as a ‘groundbreaking new Aussie drama’ and a ‘powerful, soulful and absolutely bang-on […]

Goldfields Girl by Elaine Forrestal is a historical novel for middle readers featuring real-life nineteenth-century teenager Clara Saunders. In this blog post, Elaine takes us into the exciting, dusty, fly-ridden world of a gold rush.