We've always believed in the power of books and storytelling, knowing that for kids and adults alike, reading can offer an escape into worlds far from our own. Stories can be a place of imagination, learning and reflection, and they can be a place of safety, too. 

When we filmed with Noni Hazlehurst for Reading Hour and our upcoming Laureate series, we had a long list of things we wanted to talk to her about. We wanted to ask about the importance of books in her life and in her kid's lives, to discuss the power of stories and to understand her role as a storyteller.

So we asked and we learnt as much as we could.



Noni talked about how she read to her kids growing up and the impossibility of a world without books, the power of the stories we all share and what they can offer to kids. 

As she shared her belief that stories help children make sense of the world, we couldn’t help but think back to her plea during her iconic Logies Speech in 2016, when she shared that she’d ‘love a channel that features nothing but stories that inspire us and reassure us and our children that there are good things happening and good people in the world’. 

We were as captivated by the speech as the rest of the world was; inspired by her vision, her honesty and passion for story.

It’s a speech we’re still inspired by and a plea Noni would still like to see come to life. 


We’re proud to have worked alongside Noni, whose message and voice we respect and believe in. We came away from the shoot with her more inspired than ever, and excited to share her words and stories with our subscribers.

We’ll be sharing more ideas and thoughts from Noni on Instagram and Facebook. Her reading of Mr Chicken All Over Australia by Leigh Hobbs will be available on September 19 to Story Box Library subscribers and will be freely available to all Reading Hour participants at https://readinghour.org.au/storyboxlibrary/.