Stuff for Adults

We’ll be filling this space during 2011, but if you’re looking for something in the meantime, these organisations and links may be useful.

Reading to your baby

How we live and work today means that the ability to read has never been so important. It’s a vital life skill and you can’t start too early. From birth to three-years is when 75% of brain development takes place, so if you read to your baby, you are helping them get to grips with words and sounds, making the early connections that will make it easier for them when they get to school.

There are some fantastic early literacy projects around Australia and your local library is a great place to start. Ask for information about baby rhyme-times, storytelling and other pre-school activities.

“Reading for Pleasure” Article by Marj Kirkland, President, The Children’s Book Council of Australia. http://cbca.org.au/ 

Never too late to learn

“You wouldn’t read about it” article by John Bailey, The Age, 9 May 2010
 

“Forging new strategies to tackle workplace illiteracy” article by Heather Ridout, The Australian, 26 May 2010
 

Find a reading and writing class in your area through the Reading and Writing Hotline

Downloads

Free reads
More than 2,000 ebooks to download for free from Project Gutenberg Australia

The National Library of Australia’s online collection has everything from James Cook’s Voyage to the Pacific Ocean to the original version of Blinky Bill

And there’s always your local library for a lifetime’s supply of free books.

Previews
Go to Google Books to preview a book, and then use the National Library's amazing search engine Trove to find a library that stocks it.