On Tuesday, characters from different stories came to life at Monash Children’s Hospital as employees and our young people across our wards, units and departments celebrated Book Week.
We had appearances from many characters including from the wonderful worlds of Harry Potter, the Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, the Mr. Men and Little Miss series, Gangsta Granny and many more.
The theme this year was ‘Dreaming with eyes open…’, an opportunity for everyone to dress up as their favourite book character, step into their own story, and spread some joy throughout the hospital.
Monash Children’s Hospital School also hosted author and illustrator, Alison Lester, who read some of her books to our young patients and worked on a group canvas together in the Starlight Room.
Colin Dobson, Principal, Monash Children’s Hospital School shared that ‘curiosity and imagination were definitely alive and well’ during Book Week and our young patients enjoyed getting involved in the week’s activities.
The Book Week celebrations have continued over the week, with dress-up days organised at Dandenong Hospital on Thursday and Casey Hospital on Friday.
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Grandfather’s generous donation keeps pages turning
The Monash Children’s Hospital School is grateful for the donation of over one hundred children and adolescent picture storybooks and novels, just in time for Book Week.
The storybooks and novels were donated by John Mason, the grandfather of a long-term patient at Monash Children’s Hospital, as a gesture of appreciation for the many hospital teams who care for his family at MCH.
When asked about the importance of reading and books to him, John shared that he is a strong believer that children of all ages should be able to read and immerse themselves in stories while they are in our care.
John expressed how reading can offer our young patients and their families a welcomed respite into new worlds and help foster their imagination. Children can take a moment to read by themselves, bring their families together to read a story or share a story with our MCH care teams too.
This is not the first time John has made a generous donation to the MCH School, having made another donation of books in 2021 and continuing to donate to his grandchildren’s local school as well as other organisations.
Thank you John for your generous spirit and for keeping the pages turning at MCH!
Approved by Kym Forrest.