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.

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...

21st March Harmony Day

My school always makes a big effort for Harmony Week and Harmony Day, whereas I do think it should be every day. That aside, our school library has a very diverse collection of picture books suitable for 3 to 8 year olds and when I am purchasing books or planning wish lists I do have specific things I look for. I want the book to be representative of the school population and the population beyond the school. I ensure that things such as the main characters' gender, ethnicity and values are in line with what we want to espouse. I find the website for Inclusive Children's Books for Children  particularly helpful for this. They have put together age appropriate booklists and then for each book on the list they have listed the criteria that pertains to the book. They use great criteria such as, 'own voice'; 'challenges stereotypes'; 'disabled representation' and 'female lead'. 

Another source I use for decision making is the Empathy Lab booklists. The books they list for the year, together with lists from other years means that you will have a very inclusive  and diverse set of books to choose from on days like these.

I have just been putting a bundle of books together for my Preschool and Kindergarten classes. This is what I put in the pile. They all address diversity, empathy, inclusion and harmony.

• Wide Big World by Maxine Beneba Clarke

• I'm  Australian Too by Mem Fox

• Room on Our Rock by Jol and Kate Temple

• Everybody's Welcome and  Everybody's Equal by Patricia Hegarty

• This Love  by Isabel Otter

• Hello by Tony Flowers

• Same, but a Little Bit Diff'rent  by Kylie Dunstan

• Mixed  by Arree Chung

• Hello! A Counting Book of Kindness by Kurman Hollis

• We Are Together by Britta Teckentrup

• There's Room for Everyone  by Anahita Teymorian 

• All Are Welcome and We Are All Neighbours by Alexandra Penfold

Harmony Week, World Poetry Day, World Maths Day, World Folktales and Fables Week.

Why are so many things worth celebrating at school all in the same week? The teachers and children at my school are overwhelmed. The teachers also have Parent Teacher meetings this week too. 

Harmony Week is Monday 21st to Sunday 27th March.

World Poetry Day is Monday 21st March.

World Maths Day is Wednesday 23rd March.

World Folktales and Fables Week is Sunday 20th March to Saturday 26th March.

We celebrated Harmony Day today with a variety of multicultural activities and lots of reading and craft.

We are celebrating Maths Day with another round of rotating activities for each grade. We have had very many successful Poetry days in the past but not this year and Folktales and Fables will get to shine in the library at another time.