Something Special
Touring schools nationally as the official in-school partner of The Children's Book Council of Australia
It was the school project Shelly had been dreaming of! She was sure she'd come up with SOMETHING SPECIAL and surprise everyone with an original song she knew would be a winner! But things get complicated when she's paired with her new neighbour Tom, who has just moved in next door - and into her class! Dragging the unwilling Tom along, Shelly begins her attempt to create SOMETHING SPECIAL, despite the fact that he has as little interest in music as she has in the books he always carries around. They'll have to learn a lot about each other if they're going to have any chance of achieving a happy outcome that they can both be part of...
Celebrate Children’s Book Week® 2026 with a brand new interactive musical adventure which explores the 2026 theme Symphony of Stories and brought to schools across Australia by Perform Education in partnership with The Children’s Book Council of Australia.
By bringing to life a selection of the 2026 CBCA Shortlisted books in a story about creativity, perseverance, kindness and the importance of not ‘judging a book by its cover’, SOMETHING SPECIAL is a fun-filled and interactive literacy experience created to engage students and leave everyone cheering for an encore.
CHOOSE YOUR OWN VERSION:
We provide three different versions of SOMETHING SPECIAL to suit the year levels watching. You can choose from either; Junior, General or Senior primary versions.
Each version has a different running time and features a select collection of books specific to their age level - confirmed once the CBCA shortlist is announced. Scroll down for more details to learn about the 2026 shortlisted books.
RESOURCE PACK:
All our programs include a detailed Teacher Toolkit, Resource Pack, and Student Activities that are compiled alongside education and industry experts. These resources include pre- and post-show activities, videos, downloads and digital resources that can be used for follow up activities throughout the year. All scheduled schools receive login details for both teachers and students to access the Resource Hub all year-long.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
All of our programs align with the relevant educational standards and pair excellently with what students are learning in class. See below for details of all curriculum connections for this program.
Keep scrolling down for photos, videos, version information and more, and we look forward to scheduling your school and students!
Livestream Performance
How does that work?
The educational episodes are professionally filmed in high definition, meaning everyone will be watching from the best seat in the house.
Hosting a Perform Education Livestream Incursion means your whole school can be involved whether having a large group viewing, classroom by classroom sessions, or even with individual students tuning in from home.
Rather watch a video about it? Here's one:
Choose your version
Duration
Featured Books
Extras for the students
What are you waiting for?
or simply call our friendly staff and professional bookings team
Our performances are seen by over 250,000 students every year!
Don't take our word for it...
Absolutely OUTSTANDING. Both our students and our staff were TOTALLY engaged from beginning to end. One of the most memorable performances I have seen in my whole teaching career! (40 years +).
"It was the best incursion I have been to. The layout, the actions, getting the students moving mid performance was a great idea. The message was invaluable, I have changed my lesson structure around to incorporate the positive messages. Thank you!"
"I loved how the performance brings together stories from the CBCA shortlist books and weaves them together into one. This is my third time organising Perform Education for a school to support the Reading for Pleasure initiatives that we know impacts a student’s ability to read, write and engage. Perform Education explores themes and issues developed by the CBCA books in such a child-friendly way, that is fun and engaging. It is the perfect celebration of children's literature."
"The entire show was brilliant, the cast was amazing and so engaging for the students. The students really took to the stories and it had a great message. Awesome presenters, the best so far!"
I loved the engagement with the children! Getting them up to sing and dance really kept the children engaged and interested. They loved hearing about the different stories nominated as we had read them in class this week. Georgia and Ethan put on a great show, they really knew how to act, sing, and make the children laugh! Thanks guys!
"The show was thoroughly enjoyed by a range of ages from 4-year-old Kindergarten students to our Year 6 students. The presenters were dynamic and really adopted their characters making the show really engaging for all who were there. There was also audience participation which got the students moving around or joining in the songs. All the students really enjoyed taking part. This was the first time having our Kindy students join us and they had a blast!"