15th October White Cane Safety Day

The white cane is a mobility tool that gives independence by making it possible for blind and visually impaired people to safely move around on their own. In addition to allowing people with vision impairments to move around safely, a white cane (sometimes with a red tip or marking) is an indication for those nearby that the person may need some extra space and appropriate care.  

Only around 2-8% of people who are visually impaired actually use a white cane. Instead, they either rely on their own remaining vision, a guide dog or a sighted guide.

The white cane got its start as a symbol for vision impairment in the decades between the two world wars. Beginning in Europe, the indicator of the long white cane then spread to North America and other places as well. Today, the National Federation of the Blind supplies a long white cane free of charge to everyone in the USA with low vision or blindness to help them navigate and also act as a safety indication to others.

It has also become a day on which the achievements of the blind and visually impaired are celebrated and offers the chance to educate and raise awareness of the blind and visually impaired.

How fitting that this new book will be published on the 13th October.

All the Ways I See is a joyful, lyrical story about a day at the beach from a blind child's perspective as she experiences the baking heat, the sticky sand, the hum of the ocean, the smell of hot chips and the splash of the waves.

This Australian picture book is a groundbreaking collaboration between Nas Campanella, the National Disability Affairs Reporter for ABC News, and writer, musician and disability advocate, Eliza Hull OAM, gorgeously illustrated by the award-winning Sophie Beer. 

This book has been designed with blind, low vision, Deaf and/or hard of hearing audiences in mind, as well as families who are looking for stories about mindfulness and living in the moment. Innovative accessibility features include easy-to-turn pages with rounded corners, textured elements for a tactile experience, a link to access audio and sign language interpreted readings and a link to order a braille translation produced by Braille House.

Your library might also have this book.

15th October World Mushroom Day

I have written about Mushroom Day before, here and here, but while I was in Canada I finally read Kallie George's book,  Mushrooms Know

and once again I was fascinated by how much our world depends upon mushrooms (and or fungi). Then when I got home, Sally Soweol Han's new book The Mushroom and the Flower was in all the bookshops and here was an excuse to buy another mushroom book.

And here's some that have been published in the last few years:

For more books see Pinterest.

10th October Love Your Bookshop Day

 

The 2026 theme: Ask a bookseller. Shake up your shelf.

Booksellers know that finding your next great read isn’t always about what’s trending or what everyone else is reading. A conversation with a bookseller can introduce you to a new author, an unexpected favourite or exactly the right book at exactly the right time.

Yes, bookshops help to create and keep readers.

Every time a customer purchases a book in a bookshop they are contributing to the survival of a shop, the availability of skilled staff and the ability to talk about books and share impressions, enriching the booksellers and the customers.

When buying online, especially through monolithic book clearing houses, or department stores there is no investment in the local literary culture. There is not the opportunity to talk about books and reading, so this Saturday visit a bookshop, explore a new genre or buy something for a booklover.

Next best thing, read about the joys of a bookshop.

At The I Wonder Bookstore, customers come in and ask the owner countless variations on its namesake question ("I wonder if you have any books about  and he is happy to fill their requests in enchanting ways.

There's a mysterious bookshop, tucked away fromthe world, with a rather unusual bookseller... Mr Leopard!

Not only does Mr Leopard sell the most exciting
books, he also has a whole team of animals creating
the very best stories for children

A loveletter to bookshops and the space they provide for discovery and delight. A little boy adores visiting the old bookshop down Lemon Tree Lane with his grandpa – its nooks and crannies, its endless stories, and even the bookshop dog at the back. That is, until the day the owners box up the books, take down the shelves and lock the doors, and the bookshop is no more. 

Astrid's family has just moved in to the mouse hole in the bookshop on Maple Street, and none of her new classmates believes the incredible adventures she has with her family. But when she invites each of them to the bookshop, they'll see that there is a big, exciting world of possibilities there, just waiting to be discovered.

Milly loves going to story time at her local bookshop. Mrs Minty is an encyclopedia of books and knows the perfect story for every occasion ... tales of mischievous children and faraway lands, magical beasts and daring adventures. But the bookshop is old and creaky, just like Mrs Minty herself. And then one day Milly arrives to find the shop gone. What has happened to Mrs Minty and her irreplaceable bookshop?

And just in time for Halloween

Books are magic! Bookshops are spectacular! Don't believe us? Join Henry as he helps Griselda Snook on the opening day of her spooky bookshop! From hunting down runaway jack-o'-lanterns to banishing dragons, Henry loves his day spent in Griselda's bookshop, and he especially likes helping booklovers to find their next read. But can Henry find the perfect book for him?

7th October World Cotton Day

On October 7 across the globe, millions of people - from farmers in the field to manufacturers and shoppers – will  celebrate World Cotton Day.

In its fourth year, World Cotton Day celebrates the world’s most important natural fibre from field to garment and every step in between.

In Australia, up to 1500 farmers each year produce cotton for export, which not only goes into clothing, but a range of other products including coffee filters, book bindings and tents – yes, tents.

After the cotton has been ginned and shipped to market, Cotton Australia works with spinners, fabric mills and textile manufactures in the supply chain to promote and enhance Australian-grown cotton across the globe.

I haven't written about this day before, but given there is a cotton industry in Australia, I should look to see what books can bring that to life for my city-dwelling students.

 

Farmer Jack's Cotton  by Mitch Robinson is an educational storybook and learning resource from the Enviro-Stories Program that follows a cotton farmer named Jack outside of Narrabri.

Cotton Australia has a website with educational videos and suggested resources.

Video  Cotton to Clothes.

Video: Cotton With George the Farmer

Video: Farmer Joe: 5 Things You Didn't Know About Cotton

Curriculum Aligned Teacher's Guide

October Coming up

There is so many celebrations coming up! If you want to celebrate any of these days that are coming up this week, click on the link and you will see picture books for the topic and things I have written in the past.

7th October is World Smile Day! This year it was on 2nd October because it is celebrated on the first Friday in October

7th October is World Architecture Day. This year it was on the 5th October because it is celebrated on the first Monday in October.

7th October is Bathtub Day, but Bathtub Party Day is on 5th December.

8th October is World Sight Day observed on the second Thursday in October.

8th October is World Octopus Day which is part of Cephalopod Awareness Week. 5th -9th in 2026 

9th October is Ageism Awareness Day.

9th October is World Egg Day. It is on the 9th this year because it is celebrated on the second Friday in October.

10th October is World Mental Health Day.

10th October is I Love Yarn Day. It is celebrated on the second Saturday in October.

11th October is International Day of the Girl Child and here.

14th October is Ride2Work Day. 2026 theme Cycling for a Greener Future.

As well we are bang smack in the middle of World Space Week (4th - 10th) Here are several ways to celebrate this.

Here 2022 Here 2023 Here 2025

The theme for this year is "Rocket Revolution," which highlights commercial spaceflight, reusable rockets, and startups making space more accessible. The students who use the school library love reading about space and rockets is an oft-requested topic.

10th - 18th October Nature Book Week

 

Nature Book Week is a free series of exciting nature-themed events for story-lovers of all ages. As part of the program, the Wilderness Society announces the winners of their annual Karajia and Environment Awards for Children's Literature, which has been running since 1994.

Browse the shortlists for the Karajia and Environment Awards for Children's Literature, here wilderness.org.au/bookawards. The school library has most of these books and it will be fun to reread the winners in the first week back at school. 

Perhaps you could go outside to read books sometime this week too. There are suggestions for lessons and activities that celebrate nature on the website too.

Here's some of the shortlisted books:

11th - 17th Earth Science Week

 

As the nation's trusted source of geoscience data and insights, Geoscience Australia is proud to champion Earth Science Week – a global celebration that highlights how Earth science shapes our everyday lives.

This year's theme, Critical Minerals for a Thriving Society, spotlights the minerals behind the technology we use every day – from smartphones and solar panels to electric vehicles and renewable energy. These minerals are essential to Australia's prosperity and the transition to a sustainable future, and Geoscience Australia plays a central role in finding and understanding them.

Earth science is beneath our feet. The Earth sciences that focus on what’s below our feet include fields such as geology, geophysics, geochemistry, and palaeontology. These fields examine rocks, landscapes, and resources to allow us to see how the planet's systems work, how they evolved over time, and how humans interact with them. Basically, all research and investigations that observes, explores, or explains Earth's composition and evolution falls under Earth sciences.

We live in an amazing world with phones, computers, advanced medicine, and electric cars. To create this modern technology, we rely on a wide variety of elements (like aluminium) and minerals (such as bauxite) that come from rocks in the Earth.

Elements like lithium, cobalt, and rare earths are vital for clean energy technologies—like solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries. We identify these minerals and elements as Critical Minerals and Strategic Materials, due to their importance and the risk that their supply chains could become disrupted. Without them we would not be able to enjoy any of these advanced technologies that we use in our daily lives.

Geoscience Australia provides resources to help us celebrate Earth Science Week, including lesson plans for teachers.

The library I work in caters for three to eight year olds, their teachers and their parents and while I might not be looking for books on critical minerals, I am constantly asked for books about rocks, gems, fossils, volcanoes and caves.

Recently I bought Stalactite & Stalagmite  by Drew Beckmeyer, sight unseen because it was a Caldecott Honor Book and on a topic my students are fascinated by. It was too expensive, but I trusted the reviews. I do like the art and the talking rock formations and animals, but I am often confused about who is talking as there are no speech bubbles. I thought the speech text was coded, mustard yellow for the trilobite, red for the triceratops, capital letters for the giant ground sloth, upside-down brown text for the bat, and pink and blue text for the stalactite and stalagmite, but it is inconsistent when they are speaking. I'm sure my students won't be fazed. I love the very small white timeline along the bottom of the pages and the information at the back about the creatures and features written about in the story. This is a book that spans a wide-age readership because of all the unusual features and the myriad of ways it could be read.

Books about caves are not easy to find for this age group. Here's some easy nonfiction:

Here's some that also provide a historic view of caves:

The library has these books about volcanoes. The first two are always on loan. My students love the oversized books by Claire Saxby and Jess Rackleft.

And of course this is the time to display books on rocks, gems and fossils too. See here.