National Simultaneous Storytime is an exciting annual event that brings children together through the magic of reading. In 2025, the event celebrated its 25th anniversary, with over 2 million children in Australia and New Zealand participating by reading and listening to “The Truck Cat” by Deborah Frenkel, at the same time.
The event creates a unique shared experience where children across different schools and regions simultaneously engage with the same story. At Owairoa Primary School we all sat and listened to this great book. We got to see and hear the author and also the illustrator of the book Danny Snell. It was great to listen to them explain how they got their ideas and the process they went through to make this cat come alive on the page.
In M14, we all sat like in a cinema to enjoy the reading. We all then followed Danny’s instructions on “how to draw a cat”. The fun of this was not one cat looked the same! It was great fun and thoroughly enjoyed by all of us.
The students at Owairoa Primary were so inspired that they’re already looking forward to next year’s National Simultaneous Storytime. We realise that reading is not just about consuming words, but about experiencing stories, understanding creativity, and connecting with others.
