Hundreds gather at Goyder Square, Palmerston, for National Simultaneous Storytime on May 21
The idea of bringing together hundreds of people, let alone millions, to read a single book at the same time seems a far reach — but not for the City of Palmerston. SEE THE PHOTOS.
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The idea of bringing together hundreds of people, let alone millions, to read a single book at the same time seems a far reach.
But that’s exactly what the City of Palmerston, along with thousands of schools and libraries around the country, were able to achieve on Wednesday at Goyder Square, Palmerston.
The event, held annually by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), sees schools, libraries, bookshops and childcare centres from all around Australia simultaneously read the same book.
The book changes annually and must be both written and illustrated by Australians.
In 2024, the event celebrated its most successful year with more than 2.3 million participants in more than 21,000 locations.
This year’s story, The Truck Cat by Deborah Frenkel, was enjoyed by more than 100 children and parents in Palmerston.
Matching the theme of this year’s event, there were plenty of heavy vehicle displays such as fire trucks, ambulances, garbage trucks and more from local emergency services.
There was even a free BBQ, jumping castle, petting zoo, face painting and crafts.
Humaira — who has attended the event with her son, Noah, two years in a row — said it had improved on last year’s.
“I attended last year, but it was just inside and normal story time,” she said.
“And today we are celebrating it as an event, so it is making a big difference and I like it a lot.”
Humaira said Noah loved the petting zoo the most.
“He’s having so much fun,” she said.
Micko and his daughter Bonnie were first-timers to the event.
In fact, Micko says he and his daughter just happened to stumble upon it together.
“We didn’t know it was on … but it’s very friendly and open,” he said.
Micko said he enjoyed the crowd the most, while Bonnie loved the jumping castle.
Libby Vozzo, a spokeswoman for Journey Early Learning, a childcare and learning group for children under six years old, said the event was special.
“It’s just something so close to home,” she said.
“It’s a free and open event, so it makes it so much more inviting for everyone to just feel welcomed.
“We’re just very excited to be here; the children are very excited to get out and about and do some things.”
Ms Vozzo said the children were most excited about the jumping castle, but she noted “once they saw the sausages, that’s all they wanted”.
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Originally published as Hundreds gather at Goyder Square, Palmerston, for National Simultaneous Storytime on May 21
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