ABC Listen. Hello there, my name's Shelilah and I'm sitting in for Ruby on Newstime.
Hi, Shalila. Hello, Shalila. On this week's edition of Newstime, we'll get the buzz on beekeeping... and how it's helping people stay focused and relaxed. will also head overseas to a country that's offering grandmas for hire.
Then we'll grab a board and hang 10 in our wow of the week.
What do you say? Are you ready to drop in?
Story number five. If you go to school, you might have seen some curious characters wandering around your quadrangles this week.
A Pug Called Pig... a red and white striped jumper-wearing man named Wally, and even an alpaca named Macca.
Yes, it's Book Week. It's like when a school has a parade and people dress up as their favourite book.
That's right, kids and their grown-ups have been hard at work creating costumes to dress up in.
And there's so many characters to choose from.
My sister Maddie, she's... I think she said she's gonna dress up as like Little Red Riding Hood.
I am dressing up as the girl from a book that's called The War That Saved My Life, and it's a really good book.
The witch on the broom or something. I would always dress up as the dragon from that.
But then everyone thought I was a dinosaur, so I'm not doing that again.
Book Week is so much fun. But it's not just about getting dressed up.
It's a celebration of the many authors and illustrators who create books for us to enjoy.
Because books are interesting and they're good for you to read. can tell you information books can give you ideas bedtime stories and all that They sure can.
This week is the 80th Children's Book Week. which is held by the Children's Book Council of Australia every August.
Book Week is designed to inspire kids all over Australia to journey through a book which always promises to take you on an incredible adventure What makes a good book is all the illustrations and pictures that are in it.
Because sometimes it teaches you different vocabulary and expands it. and then it's good to read a book because then you like can learn more stuff and Enjoy it.
The Children's Book Council also hand out awards for the best Australian reads of the year.
This year, the best book for early childhood readers is The Wobbly Bike.
Author Darren McCallum said the story has an important message to share with kids.
For me, the book is about trying your personal best, practice makes progress and don't give up.
Great work, Darren. If you want to listen to The Wobbly Bike and other shortlisted books from this year's Book of the Year Awards, head along to the ABC Kids Listen app.
There's audiobook versions to listen along with there.
Story number four. Spring is nearly here and that means flowers are starting to blossom and bees are getting very busy.
The best thing about bees are they give us like lots of honey and They have really beautiful colours.
They technically supply food for us. And they keep flowers alive, I think.
They pollinate flowers. Honestly, where would we be without bees?
They create honey, help our flowers and food to grow and they also provide the hobby of beekeeping.
I don't know a lot about beekeeping, but I do know you have to wear lots of protective stuff. and they live in like these kind of box things.
You need to wear this like, outfit so the bees don't sting you and like the bees they can get a little, like, annoyed, like, where's my honeycomb going?
We made that. One very keen beekeeper is 12-year-old Miranda.
Five years ago, her parents bought some hives for their backyard.
And over the years, that number has grown to 450 hives across southeast Queensland.
Miranda lives with autism spectrum disorder, an attention deficit disorder. and says she enjoys working the bees with her parents and learning new beekeeping skills.
I think she likes beekeeping because it makes her calm.
She might actually like beekeeping because It's something she can focus on and put her mind to and she won't get distracted.
That's right. After seeing how beekeeping helped Miranda to focus and stay calm, her parents started inviting school groups to come and visit the hives.
They've also started up beekeeping experiences for people with physical or cognitive challenges.
And Miranda loves passing along the tricks of the trade.
Just relax. They know how hard it is for their daughter because of her disabilities And now they've found something that helps her.
They want to share it with the rest of the people with disabilities. and help them as well.
The rugby do it for life. like kindness and also like helping people.
Unbelievable work Miranda. Story number three.
Last week on Newstime, you heard about the quest to find Australia's most underrated... or unappreciated animal.
After the votes were counted, it was the Rakali, a native water rat, that was crowned winner.
But another creature that was up for votes has made headlines this week.
I think that is a yellow bodied lizard. I think it's a yellow blue-tongued lizard.
I think it's like a mini... Uh, dinosaur or something.
I think it's a desert skink. Yup, with its bright orange scaly back and yellow belly, The Great Desert Skink is coloured like a sunset.
About 25 years ago, the lizard was added to Australia's national threatened species list.
I think the threatened species list is that they're endangered because People not being taken care of, they can't live.
Like there's barely any left. and it's a native country.
Spot on. predators like cats and foxes have hunted the great desert skink And now traditional owners are sharing their knowledge to make sure the lizard doesn't become extinct. expert trackers have been teaching rangers how to track the lizards in their burrows under the desert sands Other trackers are sharing their knowledge of where to put traps to catch predators.
Maybe their ancestors really liked them and so So now they take care of them.
The combined effort has real purpose too.
The Great Desert Skink is important to many Indigenous desert communities. who recognise the lizard in their art, stories and songs.
There are many people getting involved in searching for and protecting the great desert skink.
And there's even a trophy up for grabs to the trackers who find the most burrows.
They should get, like... like a trophy says like best a desert skin finder, like maybe a little badge, that has a picture of a desert skink on it.
The perfect prize for the lizard wizard who wants the skink brought back from the brink.
Not everyone has a grandma, but if you do, what are they like?
I've got two grandmas currently. really nice.
My grandma, she is 74 years old. and she lives in a nice place.
She has a really big backyard and like a basketball hoop.
So my other grandma, she lives in America, so we call her Grandma America.
She's really nice and I love her. Oh, how special.
Unfortunately, not everyone has a grandmother and that can be the cause of sadness, and even loneliness.
Over in Japan, they've come up with a grand solution to this problem where for about $60 you can hire an older woman to come over to your house and be like a grandmother to you.
Maybe to do some knitting? Maybe they want older women to take care of them. because I have more experience than them.
I think you would hire a grandma. because some people don't have a grandma so sometimes Your mum just needs a hug.
You see, in Japan there's an ageing population. and that has meant many older people, including grandmothers, have died So to try and encourage connection, Grandmother for Hire services have been introduced.
All you do is go online and choose what sort of grandma you want.
It could be a grandmother to fix things or cook. give life advice or just be company.
Maybe they know more Japanese traditions so the grandma can make it and make it really nice and then they can like have a cup of tea. and dip a cookie in a cup of tea.
It tastes Yup, there's plenty to learn from your elders.
Okay, my friends, let's move on from grandmas to grommets because it's time for...
Wow of the Week? This story made me go, wow, because surfing is really interesting.
Two girls competing is cool. Earlier this month, the world's best surfers gathered in Tahiti for the final leg of the World Surf League.
The competition was held at Te Ahu Po'o, which is home to waves often more than three metres tall.
You need to be a professional surfer to surf really big waves. and once I went surfing, Emma fell off my board straight away.
Yup, these conditions are not easy. But a brand new competitor stepped up to make some waves of her own and challenge the world's best.
Kelia Mahani Galina became the youngest ever competitor in the World Surf League at just 12 years old.
Celia, I hope you win. She also looks really cool because There's like a wave coming and she's surfing through it like this.
Kealia calls Tahiti home and started surfing Te Ahu Pou'o when she was just four years old.
So she's had lots of experience carving up monster waves.
But while the waves don't worry her, Kelia says she was nervous about competing against her hero, and current world number one, Australia's Molly Picklam.
I think she felt like a bit nervous. but also like excited because Molly is her hero and I think she's like a little bit nervous. because she's 10 years older than her.
Though Kelia didn't win any heats, she made history... as the World Surf League's youngest ever surfer. and has a future ahead of her that's much bigger than the waves at Te Ahu Po'o.
My message to Kelia is that I'm really proud that you gave it a shot and You're the youngest person to enter the world competition about surfing.
Good job, Kalia and Molly, because you did your best.
And with that, my gnarly friends, we've wiped out on another wave of wonderful stories.
Thanks, Shalila. Thank you, Shalila. You're welcome.
Ruby will be back with you next week. Bye bye.
Goodbye. Or as they say in the Pidginjerra language spoken by the Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert.
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