Andy Griffiths launches ILF Great Book Swap with fun bag of tricks

“Naughty” kids and a “bad baby” stole the show when superstar children’s author Andy Griffiths launched this year’s Indigenous Literacy Foundation’s (ILF) annual Great Book Swap at the Australian Museum in Sydney on Tuesday.

Speaking to First Nations students from several local primary schools, Griffiths looked like an ordinary adult but was a big child at heart.

“Are there any naughty children here today?” he asked.

The room erupted* in loud laughter as multiple students immediately raised their hands.

“(My books) are not just about naughty children,” Griffiths said.

“In a book, you can go anywhere. You can be naughty and not get into trouble.

“You can have a life-threatening adventure and not lose your life. That’s what I like to do – I like to have wild adventures.”

Every adventure naturally needs a main character and Griffiths had come prepared to show the kids how to “make up a story ourselves”.

Reaching into his suitcase, the author of such classics as The Day My Bum Went Psycho and the Treehouse series pulled out a small baby doll.

“Should we write a story about a good baby or a bad baby?” he asked, holding up the doll and giving it a cheeky waggle.

A show of hands revealed just three children were in favour of a “good baby” storyline.

With the overwhelming majority preferring the alternative, Griffiths asked why it was better to write about a “bad baby”.

“It’s funnier if the baby is bad,” one of the students said.

The renowned* best-selling author agreed, joining the kids in brainstorming* a fun, crazy story about “Bad Baby” and Godzilla*, represented by a toy dinosaur Griffiths also pulled from his bag of tricks.

“Reading opens doors to new worlds, new experiences and new ideas,” he said. “So don’t be shy — share, swap or just grab a book today and discover a whole new world.”

Australian Museum CEO* and director Kim McKay AO welcomed students and said participating in the Great Book Swap was “one of the most important things we do”.

“I love reading,” she told the school groups. “Reading gives us power. If you learn to read well, and you can comprehend and understand what you’re reading, it can set you up for the rest of your life.

“We love the Great Book Swap. We want to try and foster* that love of reading … it transports you to another world and evokes* your imagination, and that’s what we all need.”

Ms McKay challenged the kids to read a book a week, telling them, “you can change things” by making reading part of everything they do.

“I remember the day when I really learned to read well,” she said. “It clicked in my mind when I was little, just like you guys … and it was one of the best days of my life.”

After the fun of taking part in the museum’s Great Book Swap, students enjoyed an immersive* journey through the interactive* Burra (eel) learning space and activities by First Nations educators that included scat* and animal matching with Gundungarra language.

This year’s Great Book Swap aims to raise $300,000 to gift 30,000 culturally relevant books to remote First Nations Communities across Australia.

ILF CEO and Wiradjuri man Ben Bowen said the importance of access to quality books “cannot be underestimated”.

“Reading is a skill that impacts all facets* of our lives, and for First Nations Peoples, access to quality books is just as important,” Mr Bowen said. “Having culturally relevant* books in language is a fundamental* human right and builds on intergenerational* strength.”

HOW IT WORKS
ILF’s Great Book Swap celebrates reading, learning more about Indigenous languages and culture, while raising funds for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.

The idea is to swap a favourite book in exchange for a donation.

Schools, libraries, universities, book clubs, workplaces and individuals can host a Great Book Swap at any time of the year. Those who host a swap and submit their funds by 30 June 2025 will go in the draw to win the Early Bird prize: a book pack consisting of ten ILF titles.

Schools who host a Great Book Swap and submit their funds by 1 November 2025 will

automatically win a virtual visit from ILF Lifetime Ambassador Andy Griffiths.

Once you register, you’ll be assigned to an Aboriginal language house, named after animal characters in ILF books, and have access to some fantastic online learning resources, including fact sheets, classroom activities, maps and videos. You can also purchase books written by children or Community members in your house’s language.

2025 Great Book Swap registrations are open now. Learn more and register at ilf.org.au and greatbookswap.org.au

#ReadingOpensDoors #GreatBookSwap

POLL

GLOSSARY

• erupted: burst out, suddenly started to make a lot of noise
• renowned: widely acclaimed, very famous for something
• brainstorming: group activity for coming up with new ideas and solving problems
• Godzilla: a science-fiction monster that resembles an enormous bipedal lizard or dinosaur
• CEO: chief executive officer, highest-ranking official in a company or other organisation
• foster: develop, cultivate, encourage, promote
• evokes: calls up an idea, memory, or emotion
• immersive: an event or experience with multiple elements that totally involves the participants
• interactive: communication experience that features people and things working together
• facets: one part of a subject, situation or individual that has many parts
• relevant: connected with what is happening or being discussed
• fundamental: the foundation or basics of something, the base from which everything else develops
• intergenerational: involving multiple generations

EXTRA READING

Swap stories with Treehouse author Andy Griffiths

Song every Australian should know

Jess Mauboy and Mitch Tambo sing the same tune

QUICK QUIZ

1. What does Andy Griffiths say he “likes to do” as an author?
2. Which two items did Griffiths pull from his suitcase?
3. How much is the ILF hoping to raise with the Great Book Swap this year and what will the money be used for?
4. What was the challenge Australian Museum director and CEO Kim McKay gave to the kids?
5. What is the museum’s Burra interactive learning space named after?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Go wild!
What is the wildest adventure you can think of? Write a description or a story inspired by this idea.

Time: allow at least 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English

2. Extension
“Kids shouldn’t be allowed to read books about being naughty and not getting into trouble!” What do you think about this statement? Write paragraphs explaining your opinion.

Time: allow at least 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English

VCOP ACTIVITY
Read with Kung Fu punctuation
Pair up with the article between you and stand up to make it easy to demonstrate your Kung Fu punctuation.

Practise reading one sentence at a time. Now read it again, while acting out the punctuation as you read.

Read and act three sentences before swapping with your partner.

Take two turns each.

Now ask your partner to read a sentence out loud while you try and act out the punctuation. Can you keep up? Swap over?

Try acting out two sentences – are you laughing yet?