The Children’s Book Council of Australia Book Week 2026 is drawing near. I’ve started to collect resources, links and some ideas for activities and ways to celebrate. The theme for 2026 is Symphony of Stories. The official dates are set for August 22nd – the 28th.
Official Artwork, Merchandise and More
You’ll find everything you need to know about the Book Week 2026 theme, dates and official celebrations on the CBCA website.
That includes a very cute Meet the Characters of the artwork.
There’s also a range of free resources you can download to use*, with conditions , including social media frames, banners and character images from the artwork.
The CBCA also sell a range of themed merchandise, everything from posters and pins to bunting, stickers and planners. You can find it all here.
Book of the Year Shortlist and Notables
A big part of Book Week is celebrating the CBCA Book of the Year Shortlist and Notables. You’ll find the Notables and Shortlist on the CBCA website (along with more information about each book, resources and links to teacher notes).
A fun way to share the CBCA Books of the Year with students is through Shadow Judging. You can access the official Shadow Judging program here.
Links and Resources
As always, one of the best things about Book Week is the generosity of the school library and education community. Teachers, teacher librarians, authors, publishers and organisations across Australia share activities, lesson ideas, displays, teaching resources and inspiration. Below are some of the resources I’ve found so far for Book Week 2026.
Story Box Hub – Book Week Activities and Resources
A collection of book response ideas, videos and activities ideas linked to Book Week and children’s literature, plus it’s a great place to find the read-alouds of the to the CBCA Shortlist books for 2026. Grab the Story Box Hub resources
Ideas and Resources to Help Launch 2026 ‘Symphony of Stories’ Digital Resource Book – Raff Grasso
A beautifully designed digital book packed with videos, ideas and activities to connect to the 2026 Book Week theme. Created and shared by the magnificent Raffaela Grasso. Download it
Primary Libraries Creative Collaboration Book Week Resources
A curated collection of Book Week ideas, activities and links from school library staff across New South Wales. Visit the PLCC Book Week site.
Ipswich District Teacher Librarian Network Book Week book
One of the longest-running collections of Book Week resources, including displays, costumes, activities and inspiration for the theme and each of the shortlist titles. The IDTL Book Week book is a must-have. Available to purchase now.
PETAA Book Week Teaching Units
Curriculum-linked teaching units and learning experiences developed around the 2026 CBCA shortlisted books. Grab the resources here.
Mrs Edgar – Book Week Ideas and Free Resources
A range of practical classroom activities, digital tools, apps and creative ideas to support Book Week celebrations. View them here.
Aussie Book Week Facebook Group
A highly active online community with 12,000+ members who share displays, costumes, activities and Book Week (and other special event) ideas and inspiration. If you’re looking for ideas or want to see what other schools are planning, this is an excellent place to start. Join the Facebook Group
Activity and Display Ideas
Looking for ways to bring Symphony of Stories to life in your library? Here are a few simple ideas that can be adapted for different year levels and budgets.
Story Soundtrack Station
Invite students to choose a favourite book and create a soundtrack for it. They might select songs that match the mood, create playlists for characters, or explain what music would play during key scenes. Set it up with iPads and headphones in a listening station. Or, why not have them create the music itself? We recently had the school music department set up a listening station of students’ work in the library and they so loved listening to each others’ musical creations. It looked amazing.
Reading Playlists
Creating more read-a-like and recommended themed lists has been on my to-do list for a while, so I’m hoping to tie these in to some reading playlists. Top 100 must-reads, (Crediting Karen Eyre from BBC with that idea) which could be voted on like we do for music top 100s. Other lists could include Fantasy Favourites and Graphic Novel Grooves. Each playlist could also become a curated book display.
Poetry
Connect students to poetry through music. Maybe a poetry or verse novel display, with some poetry prompts. Or why not try Blackout poetry, using discarded books, magazines or photocopied pages, students create blackout poetry.
Musical Genre Match
Display books alongside different musical genres. Students could vote on which musical genre best matches literacy genres or individual books or which is their favourite genre.
Library Open mic or busking
Our students love to perform (and I love a microphone). Create a space where students can share a favourite song, poem, short story extract, book review or dramatic reading during lunch breaks. I’d also like to set up a DJ booth, speaker or something else where students can request tracks to be played.
Book Week Bookmark Creation
A classic for a reason. Invite students to design bookmarks inspired by Symphony of Stories. These can be displayed around the library or distributed during Book Week.
Reading Note Wall
Provide paper music notes (easily bulk cut on a Cricut machine if you have one) for students to write:
- a favourite quote,
- a book recommendation,
- a reading goal, or
- a story that has stayed with them.
The aim would be to build a giant musical score across a wall or window as a display.
Community Reading Performance
Invite staff members or students to record short readings that can be played in the library throughout the week. This would take some work, but would have a powerful impact. It could also be done live, but I’ve found that creates a lot of scheduling pressure.
Costumes
Book Week celebrations often have a book character costume parade and while they are loads of fun, pulling together costumes can be stressful. Remember that having fun and promoting reading is the key, not creating stress, and there are hundreds of simple, easy and unique costume ideas that you can create with things you have around your house.
Costume ideas from things in your wardrobe
You’ll also find my costume ideas from the 2025 Notables here and a list for the 2026 Notables is coming soon.
More
You can also check out my Pinterest board, Library – Book Week, which I will be updating to reflect the 2025 theme.
Want more Book Week ideas? Check out these activity and display ideas.