For educator and librarian use, Story Box Library has designed classroom-ready activities for digital and print formats, and designed to be used independently by students. CBCA Book Week offers kids the opportunity to engage with stories at a deeper level of understanding, encouraging creativity, critical thinking and text discussion. 

Story Box Library’s dedicated activities align with the CBCA Book Week 2021 theme ‘Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds’, and use books from our digital collection in Early Childhood and Picture Book of the Year categories. Educators and librarians can use these activities and resources in the lead up to and including CBCA Book Week (21-27 August). All Story Box Library CBCA story reads will also be accompanied by Auslan translations.

Click here to download the activities detailed below, in printable and digital PDF formats.

  1. Early Childhood Book of the Year: A3 printout 

For K-3 students, a printable A3 activity trail through the books, with scannable QR codes to view each story and complete the activity. After watching each story, children can rate the books and choose their favourite. 

  1. Picture Book of the Year: Choose Your Own Adventure

A choose your own adventure style activity using Google Slides. Students travel through the ‘worlds’ of the books from the Picture Book of the Year shortlist, with quiz questions and code cracking along the way. 

  1. Shadow Judging Picture Book of the Year: CBCA Judges Card

For digital or printed use and most suited to upper primary book clubbers, or public library book clubs. CBCA Judges Card are considered questions to promote deep thinking about elements of the picture books, based on the criteria of the CBCA Book of the Year judging panel.

Explore our CBCA story releases

From 8 June to mid July, Story Box Library will be releasing two CBCA shortlisted titles each week from the Early Childhood, Picture Book and New Illustrator categories. Explore more about CBCA Book Week story releases here.

Find these stories here via the ‘CBCA Shortlist 2021’ option under the Awards category in the search filter, as the stories are live on Story Box Library. Each story will come with dedicated Activity Time and Classroom Ideas resources, including CBCA Book Week resources to support the Shadow Judging initiative.

Watch our CBCA Shadow Judging video

Promoting children's literature in Australia and its local creators, we were very excited to partner with CBCA Victoria to create this Short Film, meet with the Shadow Judging panel and find out how kids can get involved. SBL will also be sharing dedicated Shadow Judging resources for all schools to use in the lead up to and during CBCA Book Week 2021.