Children’s Book Week is an annual celebration of children’s books and reading. Since 1919, it is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. Every year, young people across the country participate by attending events at schools, libraries, bookstores, celebrating at home and engaging with authors online and in person. The 2023 Children’s Book Week takes place during two dedicated weeks of celebration, May 1-7 and November 6-12!
2023 Children’s Book Week Highlights:
Read Books. Spark Change. This year’s theme speaks to the power that books and stories have to inspire positive change. Books can spark change within an individual reader, a family, a classroom, or a whole community.
Activities pages – are free and available to teachers and parents. They are available in English and Spanish.
Exclusive 2023 bookmarks by six prominent children’s book illustrators. These book marks celebrate children’s literature and reading.
Find Your Spark Challenge with activities to discover and share the spark a book can make.
Step-by-step drawing instructions from your favorite book illustrators. Children love drawing some of their favorite characters.
Fun Stuff – fun resources for teachers, parents and librarians.
Everything you need to know you can find here.
Ways to Celebrate This Week
- Book Awards – Ask students to nominate their favorite picture book for a special class award. Once all of the nominees have been announced students can vote for their favorites.
- Invite a guest author – It may not be possible for authors to visit schools in person again this year. Many authors are available and booking for virtual author visits. You can reach out to an author and check their availability.
- Jeopardy – Students love playing jeopardy and Jeopardy boards are easy to design. Each category could be a different book, or different characters from the same book. Have fun with the categories and enlist the help of your students for ideas.
- Bookmarks – Have students create book marks to share highlights from their favorite picture books. Older children could create a Twitter post about their favorite book.
- Write a book as a class – This activity is a big hit with children. Once the students have decided what the topic of the book will be each child is asked to contribute their writing and an illustration. There are a number of ways to bind the story together, but I like to use Illustory, while it is a little more expensive, it is more durable and will become part of your class library for many years.
Thoughts …
Picture books introduce children to the world of reading. They help increase vocabulary, encourage and strengthen listening skills, nurture a child’s creativity and provide a special time for parents and children to spend time together. Reading is the greatest gift you can give a child. If you are thinking about a gift for a child’s birthday, a special holiday or just to let them know you are thinking of them, a book is is a wonderful gift to show a loved one that you are thinking of them. Even if you can’t read it together at this moment, a book is something a child will have for a lifetime.
With gratitude …
I am glad you’re here. Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I am grateful that I can share my writing journey with you. It is an endless journey of learning and growing. A journey that I am enjoying.
I am now booking author visits for the 2024 school year. If you are a classroom teacher, teacher assistant, Parent Teacher Association President, or After school Director I can work with you to create a visit that will meet the needs of your students. Please contact me to book your visit.
My website has been updated. There are surprises everywhere. Click on the balloons and see where they take you. Can you find two writing videos? New Freebies? A chocolate chip recipe? There’s even a special freebie to anyone who subscribes to my monthly newsletter. I have a number of resources for children, parents and teachers that librarians and homeschooling families can download and use.
A Call to Action …
Hello! If you enjoyed this post, please share the link with parents, teachers and librarians. Do you want to learn more about the different types of picture books?
If you have any questions or you would like to share your thoughts about this post, please leave your comments below. Thank you!