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Russ is no ordinary bus – he’s Sydney Writers’ Festival magical library on wheels that hits the road each year, bringing Australia’s best writers and illustrators directly to primary school students in the classroom.
He’s a retired school bus who, with a facelift featuring beautiful illustrations by Jenny Lovlie and a belly full of incredible books, has been transformed into everyone’s favourite biblio-mobile. Russ has been hitting the road for the past nine years and this week he heads on tour to Western Sydney and the Norther Rivers region of NSW.
Each week a different author or illustrator boards Russ to visit schools, delivering a fun and interactive author talk. After that, students get the chance to explore the wonders of Russ’ burgeoning bookshelves to take home a book of their choosing to start their personal library. For many students, this will be the first book they own!
A visit from Russ ignites the imagination and fosters a love of the written word and the magic of storytelling for young people. Students get the chance to meet authors, get their books signed and share their favourite reading memories.
This year Russ the Story Bus is visiting schools who were affected and are still recovering from the disastrous floods of 2022. Throughout Term 3, Kristin Darell, Carla Fitzgerald, Samera Kamaleddine, Charmaine Ledden-Lewis and Matt Stanton will visit schools in Western Sydney. Then in Term 4, Sarah Armstrong, Tristan Bancks, Laura Bloom, Kelly Canby, Zanni Louise and Samantha Turnbull join us to visit schools and communities across the Northern Rivers of NSW.
You can follow Russ the Story Bus’ adventures on the Sydney Writers’ Festival Instagram or Facebook. And if you see him on the road, give us a wave!