Huddled cross-legged on the marble floor of the National Library of Australia, Canberran primary school children were barely able to contain their anticipation, staring eagerly at the makeshift stage awaiting their ‘special guest’.

As Australian singer-songwriter and author Josh Pyke entered the room, he created an instant rapport with the squirming schoolchildren and his seat next to a cardboard cutout tree immediately reduced the kids to a giggling gaggle.

With his audience enthralled, Pyke began to read them his children’s book ‘Family Tree’, alongside the book’s illustrator, Ronojoy Ghosh, for the Australian Library and Information Association’s National Simultaneous Storytime today, 25 May.

Pyke and Ghosh’s picture book was selected as this year’s honourary book, where children across Australia and the globe all read together simultaneously, aiming to foster their excitement for reading.

After the read-a-long, Pyke treated the children to a lively performance of Words Make The World Go Around, and every child joined in the fun.

CW was able to steal a quick moment of Pyke and Ghosh’s time to ask about the inspiration behind their enchanting picture book, and why they choose to write and illustrate children’s books.

Can you tell me what ‘Family Tree’ is about and where the inspiration came from?

Pyke: “The book Family Tree was inspired by my own family.”

Ghosh: “Same for me. I felt the story was quite universal and I could see my family in that book, so it’s just beautiful.”

Pyke: “Yeah, it was beautiful to be teamed up with Ronojoy. The book essentially is about how the roots of a family tree need to have a strong foundation to allow all the diversity of experience, and lived experience, and all the different ways of life needed to influence that tree to make the tree stronger. So, that’s kind of what the book is about but in a less heavy-handed kind of way.”

What is it about children that makes you want to write and illustrate for them?

Pyke: “For me, I always think about this one thing Justine Clarke once said to me about writing kids’ books; ‘it feels like you’re fighting the good fight’. I just always think about that, so for me that’s what it is.”

Ghosh: “For me, it’s about just showing kids different emotions – happiness, sadness – so they can start experiencing them, and seeing them, and letting them know that it’s okay. It’s okay to laugh, it’s okay to cry, and it’s okay to feel that in a book and be open about your emotions. So for me, it’s all about that.”

Pyke: “Yeah, I want to just change my answer to Ronojoy’s answer.”

How did you enjoy performing for these Canberran kids today?

Pyke: “Today was beautiful. I love performing for kids because they’re just so up for anything; they’re so up for interaction, they’re not self-conscious yet, so they’re up for engaging in the performance. For me as a performer, the highlight is absolutely that conversation rather than it being a monologue.”

Can you tell me about the song you sang, Words Make the World Go Around?

Pyke: “The song is written by myself and Justine Clarke, Deborah Cheetham, and kids at the Gawura Indigenous College at St Andrews in Sydney and we wrote it for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation that we are all supporters of, and it’s sort of their theme song. We play it every year on Indigenous Literacy Day, and I really love it.”

Ghosh: “That song was beautiful man, I loved it. It was a really, really beautiful song – you have an amazing voice for a singer, it’s not too bad!”

How did it feel to have your book selected for this year’s National Simultaneous Storytime?

Pyke: “To have our book selected for National Simultaneous Storytime … it’s the greatest gift of all to be honest. It’s like we were saying earlier to each other, I don’t think there’s any other opportunity like this for an author and illustrator in the kids’ book world. To have your book read by so many people, and have it exposed to so many families … it’s an enormous gift.”

Ghosh: “I mean, we are doing this to be in front of kids so when we got this opportunity, I was like this is the best day of my life. So many kids are going to read this book and it’s going to touch so many kids’ lives.”

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