Over the last few months, Reading Australia has been working on a special teaching resource with the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). We are pleased to announce that this resource is now live, and can be used to support your preparations for National Simultaneous Storytime 2025!
National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) is an annual event that aims to promote the value of reading and literacy in libraries, classrooms, and communities around the country. The NSS book for 2025 is The Truck Cat, written by Deborah Frenkel and illustrated by Danny Snell. This is a heartwarming story about cats and humans, immigration and identity, and homes lost and found.
We have created a special teaching resource for The Truck Cat with activities for lower and upper primary teachers, PLUS a special set of activities for parents and caregivers. These are freely available on the NSS event page in dedicated PDFs: one each for upper primary, lower primary, and home use.
‘Reading Australia and ALIA are united in our goals to encourage reading and help people discover new books by Australian writers,’ says Copyright Agency CEO Josephine Johnston. ‘We hope this is the first of many opportunities to support National Simultaneous Storytime with quality and curriculum-linked teaching resources.’
You can find the complete Truck Cat resource on Reading Australia, where all activities and worksheets will be available for posterity.
We also recommend checking out the official colouring sheets, based on Danny Snell’s illustrations, from Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing.
The Truck Cat will be read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, bookshops, and homes around the country on Wednesday 21 May. The big day will soon be upon us, so make sure you register to participate!
Thank you to ALIA and Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing for partnering with us on this resource. We hope the activities enhance your NSS celebrations, and that you enjoy reading The Truck Cat with the little cat and book lovers in your life.