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Hills Shire Mayor ready to read for National Simultaneous Storytime

This Wednesday 24 May at 11am, the children at Big Fat Smile’s Castle Hill Community Preschool in Castle Hill will read the same book at the same time as thousands of other children throughout Australia, for National Simultaneous Storytime.

The 2017 book – ‘The Cow Tripped Over the Moon,’ written by Tony Wilson and illustrated by Laura Wood – will be read to the children by special guest, Mayor Councillor Yvonne Keane, of the Hills Shire. To celebrate, the children will be dressed in costumes reflecting the book, or their favourite book character.

Mayor Councillor Yvonne Keane said the annual campaign, now in its seventeenth year, aims to encourage children to discover great Australian authors while promoting a love of reading.

“This year’s campaign promises an epic title for young people to read, learn about and enjoy,” Mayor Keane said.

“Research has shown that children who read for pleasure have strong literary skills, expand on their worldwide view, have a better understanding of other people’s feelings and have a sense of connectedness.

“National Simultaneous Storytime promotes a love of books, while helping young children to achieve stronger vocabulary and comprehension skills,” Mayor Keane added.

Each of Big Fat Smile’s 26 Community Preschools will participate in National Simultaneous Storytime.

Big Fat Smile CEO, Ms Jenni Hutchins, encourages all early childhood and learning organisations to support this national campaign.

“Big Fat Smile’s vision is for a bigger, braver and more creative world.  To do this and be this, we believe imagination is core.

“Reading amplifies our imagination and is so important to a child’s development. Big Fat Smile believes in the power of children’s books to spark their imagination in a special and memorable way.

“Our ability to positively impact on literacy outcomes is clear. National Simultaneous Story Time gives Big Fat Smile an opportunity to highlight the importance of being read to and reading as an activity, as well as the impact literacy has on quality of life into the future,” Ms. Hutchins comments.

Big Fat Smile invites all local media to attend its flagship National Simultaneous Storytime event at their Castle Hill Community Preschool, located at 35 Walsh Avenue in Castle Hill, NSW 2154.

For more information on National Simultaneous Storytime, visit https://www.alia.org.au/nss.

For more information on Big Fat Smile, visit https://bigfatsmile.com.au/

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