Tuesday, March 3, 2026

16th - 22nd Harmony Week 21st March Harmony Day


Harmony Day is celebrated annually in Australia on 21st March to coincide with the 
UN's International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. It celebrates Australia's cultural diversity under the theme "Everyone Belongs," promoting inclusiveness, respect, and a sense of belonging for all, often marked by wearing orange. In 2026, the week-long celebration, Harmony Week, runs from 16-22 March.

At school I am often asked to set up a display of books in the school foyer that focus on diversity, inclusion and racism, but this year I thought I might do an 'orange' display in the library. Last week while browsing in the art gallery bookshop I saw this new book by a favourite illustrator, Julie Morstad.
Harmony Week


I stood there and skim read it. I was not disappointed. Everything 'orange' is included here. Here's the blurb:

Look closely. The color orange is all around you, not only in the natural world—from fruit and foxes to minerals and mushrooms—but in the human-engineered world, too, from works of art to religious ceremonies to astronaut survival suits. Ranging through time and circumnavigating the globe, witty stream-of-consciousness text and jaunty illustrations explore color through surprising social, historical, cultural, and artistic lenses. With more than thirty vivid examples and a gentle introduction to color theory, this eye-opening voyage into the heart of orange is a clever appeal to experience other colors—and the world at large—with an open and expansive mind.

I immediately started to think about where it would fit in the library. I thought about how we had had displays before that focus on colours ...green in time for St Patrick's Day; purple to coincide with wearing purple for Epilepsy Day etc and then thought about how Harmony Day is coming up and how the students are sometimes asked to wear orange coloured clothes.

A quick look in the catalogue told me we had these books:
































And then I will add to it by collecting 'orange' books because there are so many...just an example...







































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