Book Week and Festival of Stories

From costumes to author visits, Book Week (Prep to Year 6) and Festival of Stories (Year 7-12) brought colour and creativity to the fore.

Coordinated by MLC Libraries, the week reminds us how stories spark curiosity, growth and belonging across our community. It was a jam-packed seven days, with the campus coming alive under the theme Book an Adventure.

We were delighted to welcome a line-up of female authors to MLC:

• Lucinda Gifford, author of Too Many Dogs, and Whitney and Britney Chicken Divas, who visited Kindle

• Davina Bell, author of All the Ways to be Smart and the Lemonade Jones series, who met with Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 students

• Ailsa Wild, author of The Naughtiest Pixie and Squishy Taylor books, who visited Years 3 and 4

• Amie Kaufman, co-author of The World between Blinks and The Illuminae Files series, who visited Years 5 and 6

• Lili Wilkinson, author of Unhallowed Halls, Hunger of Thorns, and Deep is the Fen, who addressed Year 7 students

• Miranda Luby, author of The Edge of Everything and Sadie Starr's Guide to Starting Over, who visited Year 8 students

• Kate. J. Armstrong, author of Nightbirds and Fyrebirds, who spoke to Year 9 students

• Maxine Beneba Clarke, author of The Hate Race and It's the Sound of the Thing, who addressed Year 10 students, having studied her memoir.

It was a pleasure to welcome many alumnae to Maxine's insightful presentation, who also joined our Staff Book Club for lunch and an informal Q&A session with Maxine.

_{Maxima Beneba Clarke presenting to Year 10 students and alumnae}

Over 100 parents and students joined us for 'Family Night at the Library', explaining the library programs and resources, chatting over refreshments, and making pom-pom bookmarks.

More than 300 Junior School students took part in the read-a-thon alongside daily craft and storytelling activities; while competitions such as Book as Art and Festival of Stories Trivia, hosted by the Literature Club, engaged secondary students in imaginative ways.

Dress-up Day provided the perfect end to the week. Not just for those in the younger years, with plenty of secondary students and staff taking part alongside Principal Julia Shea, including creative group costumes in a lunchtime parade.

Many thanks to our students, librarians, all staff, visiting authors, alumnae and parents, who together created such a vibrant week.

Research continues to show that reading for pleasure has extraordinary benefits for children and young people. A study released earlier this year by academics from the London School of Economics¹ found that children who enjoy reading not only build stronger vocabulary and imagination, but also improve in areas such as problem-solving and even mathematics!

Reading for pleasure has also been shown to foster empathy, resilience, and wellbeing – all qualities that are essential for success in school and in life. Book Week reminds us that while the world around us is constantly evolving, the simple act of opening a book and sharing a story still has the power to spark imagination, strengthen relationships, and support growth in every sense.

¹ To read more and download the report, which includes recommendations to support parents to foster reading for pleasure at home, visit: https://doorsteplibrary.org.uk/2025/04/22/reading-for-pleasure-what-the-research-reveals/