Join children all over Australia in schools, hospitals, homes, and wherever they have a device or book, as they come together to listen to Whitney and Britney Chicken Divas being read aloud for National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS).

Lucinda Gifford, author and illustrator of the vibrant and humorous picture book, will do a live-streamed reading on Wednesday 27 May at 11.00am, which The Hospital School and Starlight will participate in.

Children’s book publisher, Scholastic, help sponsor this event for the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), and the Book Bunker in The Children’s Hospital at Westmead will provide books that patients can use to read along with the author in The Hospital School classrooms or in their wards.

This year’s engaging tale tells the story of Whitney and Britney, two gorgeous chooks who live beside Dora von Dooze, who have the perplexing habit of sleeping all day long. Dora decides to snoop and follows the chooks one night as they go to a local jazz club. To her amazement, she discovers Whitney and Britney are not regular chooks but are Chicken Divas!

An annual highlight on the school calendar, the NSS experienced its biggest and most successful year in 2019, when over a million participants joined, with its popularity extending to New Zealand, UK, Canada, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and Hong Kong. 

Now in its 20th year, the NSS has provided a variety of downloads, resources and activities to support virtual events that have replaced many face-to-face ones due to Coronavirus precautions. These resources can provide hours of entertainment for Cancer Centre for Children patients who want to do craft activities, colour in, make a tiara, find out about chicken coops and much more. 

The NSS provides a fun way to encourage reading and promote literacy, along with the socialising aspect of sharing the experience through The Hospital School and Starlight, or at home as an outpatient. Now the NSS is virtual, because of the pandemic, children anywhere and everywhere can join in to find out how two chooks became Chicken Divas!

Update Monday 25 May 2020: All patients can receive a copy of the book Whitney and Britney Chicken Divas. Teachers from The Hospital School will be distributing the books on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Oncology patients can visit the school office to collect a copy.

Visit the National Simultaneous Storytime website here.

Take a look at resources you can download from the NSS website:

Download the Clever Patch eBook filled with Chicken Divas craft ideas.

Download the Colouring in resource pack

Download the Lucinda Gifford Resource Pack (Colouring in, make a tiara, find-a-word etc)

Download the Lucinda Gifford Activity Pack, Caring For Your Chooks (Learn about chickens and design your own coop!)

Can you do the jigsaw puzzle? (Can be made easy or hard)

Check out these teaching notes, and other resources and activities, if you're assisting your child's learning at home.