Picture book fun at local parks

TRANSPORT your love of reading to the great outdoors this month at StoryWalk events hosted by the Kangaroo Flat and Eaglehawk libraries.

The pages of Central Victorian author Aaron Blabey’s picture book Pig the Pug will be placed around Rotary Gateway Park today until 3 February with help from the community club, while Julia Donaldson’s ever popular The Gruffalo will be at Canterbury Gardens from tomorrow until 4 February.

The outdoor reading idea was first created by American woman Anne Ferguson, and manager of the local libraries Kinta Walker said it allowed young bookworms to also enjoy Bendigo’s open spaces.

“Libraries are all about wellbeing as much as anything nowadays so we’re encouraging healthy activity,” she said.

“It’s partly because of COVID, too. It’s been difficult to run programs in the library because we have limits on numbers so we’re taking the library outside.”

The events add to Goldfields Libraries’ efforts to help kids keep up their reading skills while away for the classroom, including the BIG Summer Read on now until the end of January.

“We’ve always run a summer reading club over summer for that exact reason, so the StoryWalks are an extra thing and something they can do as a family as well,” Ms Walker said.

“We make it on easy places for families to walk so you can have a pram if you need to. They’re not longer than a certain distance that a young child can walk.”

The StoryWalks are accessible at any time of the day and the fun continues with themed craft activities at each library.