Book Week is an annual national celebration of children’s literature, authors, and illustrators organised by the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA). Held over one week in August, schools and libraries across the country host themed activities, author visits, and popular character dress-up parades to foster a love of reading.
Every year, Book Week brings a unique buzz to classrooms and libraries. Beyond the costume parades and book displays, Book Week offers an even greater magic: the power to connect students directly with the creators and cultural spaces behind the stories.
Thanks to the rise of free virtual excursions, geographic distance and limited school budgets no longer prevent students from meeting acclaimed authors, learning drawing techniques from celebrated illustrators, or exploring national cultural institutions.
In the past, organising an author visit meant coordinating travel logistics, managing tight budgets, and often competing for limited local calendar dates. Virtual excursions have made this experience so much easier.
- Direct Access to Creators: Students can ask authors where their ideas come from, watch illustrators draw in real-time, and discover the messy, creative process behind finished books.
- Equity for Regional & Remote Schools: A small school in a rural town can log into the exact same live session as a capital city school, giving every student equal front-row access.
- Interactive and Multi-Sensory: Live Q&A sessions, digital draw-alongs, and virtual museum archive tours turn passive reading into active, hands-on learning.