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:

14th Ada Lovelace Day

Ada Lovelace Day (ALD) is an international celebration of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). It aims to increase the profile of women in STEM and, in doing so, create new role models who will encourage more girls into STEM careers and support women already working in STEM. It is celebrated on the second Tuesday in October. It is not on Ada's birthday which is 10th December.

This is an all encompassing topic and any female scientist, mathematician, engineer or architect or budding female STEM star could be the focus of your display or reading for this day.

Ada Lovelace is a popular choice for students who enjoy biographies and there are several in the library.

And then there are short novels and picture books about characters named Ada as a result of Ada Lovelace.

 

10th October Jumping Spider Day

International Jumping Spider Day celebrates a group of spiders that constitute the family Salticidae, the largest family of spiders. They’re amazing hunters, stalking their insect prey like a cat stalks a bird. They can calculate distances eerily well, and leap flawlessly from one perch to the next. Jumping spiders are the most numerous group of spiders on the planet, with a couple hundred different species. Salticids are known for their flashy colors, courtship rituals, and expressive, forward-facing eyes.

We have jumping spiders in Australia.

Key characteristics:

• Appearance: 

  Small in size, with large, expressive eyes and excellent vision. 
• Habitat: 

  Found in gardens, wet forests, urban areas, and on vegetation across Australia. 
• Behaviour: 

  Active during the day, they stalk prey, use their strong legs to leap, and do not build webs to catch food. 
• Mating: 

  Males often perform elaborate, colourful mating dances to attract females, as seen in the famous peacock spiders.

  Danger to humans: 

  Jumping spiders are non-aggressive, and any bites are minor, with symptoms limited to the bite site. 

  
  

  Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider by Jessica Lanan is a beautiful nonfiction book that 

  explores the tiny, secret world of backyard jumping spiders, but also includes robust back matter sure to delight young readers and educators alike. It has won several awards for children's publishing.

  
  

  If you are looking for less or simpler text and photographs, look for these:

  
  

  
  

  

  
  
  
  

4th - 10th October World Space Week

World Space Week is an international celebration of science and technology, and their contribution to the betterment of the human condition. The United Nations General Assembly declared in 1999 that World Space Week will be held each year from October 4-10. These dates commemorate two events:

• October 4, 1957: Launch of the first human-made Earth satellite, Sputnik 1, thus opening the way for space exploration
• October 10, 1967: The signing of the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activites of States in the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies.    

For World Space Week (WSW) 2025, the chosen theme is “Living in Space.” This theme explores humanity’s journey toward making space a habitat, emphasizing the innovative technologies, challenges, and collaborative efforts that make this vision a reality.

The students I teach like to read about space, especially astronauts, so I would make a display that includes nonfiction and fiction as well as some easy chapter book series.