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a space for those who value children’s and YA literature and reading with children.

Children’s Books Daily is a guide for parents and a resource for educators, curated by Megan Daley.

Photo credit: Mark Cranitch

Photo credit:
Mark Cranitch

Get on the list for reviews, tips and bookish news!

The official bio

Megan Daley is passionate about children's literature and sharing it with young and old alike. In daylight hours, Megan is a teacher librarian at St Aidan's Anglican Girls School and was recently awarded the Queensland Teacher Librarian of the Year by the School Library Association of Queensland, as well as the national Dromken Librarians Award, presented by the State Library of Victoria. A former national vice-president of the Children's Book Council of Australia, she is on the Queensland chapter of the board of the Australian Children's Laureate and on the Publications Committee of the National Library of Australia. She also thinks sleep is overrated.

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Qualifications

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Bachelor of Early Childhood Education

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Graduate Diploma in Teacher Librarianship

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Masters of Innovative Teaching and Learning

The unofficial bio

Once upon a time, many moons ago, I studied early childhood teaching, always with the intention of completing further studies in teacher librarianship and children’s literature. My mum is also a teacher-librarian, and she absolutely inspired my choice of career. When mum started studying teacher librarianship, I vividly recall the influx of astonishingly good books into our home. Books like ‘Dicey's Song’, ‘Came Back to Show You I Could Fly’ and John Marsden’s iconic ‘So Much to Tell You’ blew my teenage angsty brain, and I still consider these books among my top 10 favourites. My ‘apprenticeship’ was in the school libraries my mum managed, and it was a wonderful apprenticeship indeed.

After several years of classroom teaching, I was put in charge of my first school library: a one-room demountable building in a carpark at the back of the primary school. It doesn’t sound ideal, and yet I deeply loved that library and the students and staff I worked with; we had enormous fun.

When I had my first child I quickly realised that I was not cut out to be a stay-at-home parent, though I greatly admire any parent who chooses this path. My colleagues gave my newborn a jumpsuit that had ‘Future Librarian’ emblazoned across it, and she has certainly been immersed in the world of children’s literature since birth. She spent many evenings as a newborn sleeping under the table at Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) meetings (Queensland and then national), flew to a CBCA conference in Melbourne at six weeks old and had attended two official functions at Government House by 12 weeks old.

A second child followed, and it was around this time that I began my blog, Children’s Books Daily. My brother had just passed away and my blog filled the long night-time hours when I couldn’t sleep.

Photo Credit: Ruby Olive

Children’s Books Daily is my own little space on the interwebs where I connect with other parents, educators, readers and creators of books about all things children’s and YA literature. It is my creative outlet, my passion and more recently I would describe it as my therapy, after the unexpected and tragic death of my husband. In what has been the darkest of times, books, libraries, colleagues, family and friends have provided shimmering and stable light.

My current library, a Junior School Library in Brisbane, is a wonderful place to be. To me, a school library is at the very centre of creative school communities. Our library welcomes staff, students and families; it offers overworked little minds refuge from a crowded curriculum, a cool escape from a bustling playground, a place to inquire and wonder, and a place to connect with quality literature and engage with like-minded readers.

The worth of a teacher librarian is not easily quantifiable, and schools must make tough business decisions sometimes. However, there is a plethora of academic and anecdotal evidence to support the importance of libraries and teacher-librarians, and the impact they can have on an entire school community.

Receiving the Queensland Teacher Librarian of the Year and the National Dromkeen Librarian’s Award in 2017 was a completely humbling experience. All I do differently to any of the other quality teacher-librarians I know is squawk a little louder about the importance of introducing young people to the wonder of literature and...

the joy of libraries
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is proud to be a small business and now has a small team…
meet Justine Frkovic and Mel Kroeger!

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Justine Frkovic

Hi! I'm Justine, Megan's VA (Virtual Assistant) and righthand gal. After years of managing projects and events in the film industry, it's wonderful to now indulge my other passion...books! Every day with Children's Books Daily is a challenge to my budget with SO many beautiful books to discover.

With two young kids (aged 3 and 19 months) I'm right at the beginning of my 'Raising Readers' journey and feel so lucky to have Megan and ALL her wisdom so close at hand. Plus she makes me laugh. And doesn't mind getting emails at all sorts of strange hours #youngchildren.

My part in the team is to manage our growing social media schedule, add the finishing touches (like images and affiliate links) to blog posts, design key images for content, compile reports and lots of other random tasks. But mostly I just try to keep up with Megan and her 'larger than life' life.

Mel Kroeger

Hi there. I'm Mel. Mum to two gorgeous primary school aged kiddies (one who is an avid reader and one who is not so...eeek!), wife to a fabulous, supportive husband and an all round literary freak.

Most days I fight Crohn's disease and consider myself a Crohn's butt-kicking warrior. I first met Megan many, many moons ago (about 20 years *insert deer in the headlights look) when I was teaching in the Primary School of Megan's first ever Teacher Librarian role.

Having majored in Children's Literature at University, I was in awe of Megan's knowledge of children's books and I shared her passion. I'm currently in the Teacher Librarian role at a local primary school with Education Queensland where the students most of the time think I'm a little over the top with my excitement over books.

Within CBD I write the current Teacher's Notes (and use them in my teaching too - so they are tried and tested), write the occasional book review, publish the CBD email each week and help to run book give-aways and competitions. Teaching and reading are my passions and being part of CBD is the icing on the cake.

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