Children’s Book Week

Children’s Book Week began in 1919, growing out of a 1916 Good Book Week sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, the American Library Association, and the Boy Scouts of America. Champions like Boy Scouts librarian Franklin K. Matthews, who toured the country promoting higher standards in children’s books, Publishers Weekly editor Frederic G. Melcher, and New York Public Library children’s superintendent Anne Carroll Moore believed children’s books deserved a national stage. In 1944, the newly formed Children’s Book Council took over the celebration, and its charitable arm, Every Child a Reader, administers it today. Franklin K. Matthews began touring the country as early as 1913 to promote higher standards in children’s books, planting the seed for the week six years before the first official celebration bloomed.

The spring celebration, held during the first full week of May, arrives just as the school year winds toward summer. In 2027, the week runs May 3-9, a perfect moment for teachers and librarians to send young readers into summer with book lists, reading challenges, and fresh favorites. More than 2,300 schools, libraries, and bookstores in all fifty states take part each year, hosting story times, author readings, and activity hours throughout the week, with many locations holding several events across the seven days. Teachers often use Book Week to launch summer reading challenges that keep students turning pages through June, July, and August, bridging the gap between school years with stories. Librarians report that summer reading sign-ups spike during Book Week.

The week is packed with joyful traditions. Schools host author and illustrator visits, libraries stage story times and book parties, and bookstores run events where young readers can meet the creators behind their favorite characters. Free downloadable resources, from bookmarks to activity sheets to a Children’s Book Week comic, help every classroom join in. Voting for the Children’s and Teen Choice Book Awards, the only national book awards chosen entirely by young readers, wraps up during Book Week, with winners announced live in New York at the national book trade show. In 2017, the slogan One World, Many Stories appeared on a poster by acclaimed artist Christian Robinson, and Elmo recorded a video for kids about the joy of reading and voting for their favorite books.

The centennial in 2019 showed how far the celebration has come. Bestselling author, television host, and mother of three Ayesha Curry served as centennial spokesperson and chair, artist Yuyi Morales illustrated the official poster, and more than 125,000 posters reached over 1,000 schools, libraries, and bookstores. A special 12-artist collaborative poster was revealed in stages throughout the year, featuring work by Sophie Blackall, Eric Carle, Bryan Collier, Grace Lin, Juana Martinez-Neal, Barbara McClintock, Frank Morrison, LeUyen Pham, James E. Ransome, Erin Stead, Melissa Sweet, and Raina Telgemeier. Media partners included Parents magazine, along with BookCon, First Book, Sesame Street, and Screen Free Week. The anniversary theme said it best: Read Now. Read Forever. The centennial year’s offerings included a free Sesame Street picture book and a Children’s Book Week comic, alongside the more than 125,000 posters distributed to schools, libraries, and bookstores nationwide.

Children’s Book Week also honors a history that stretches back centuries. In 1744, Mary Cooper published Tommy Thumb’s Pretty Song Book, the first known nursery rhyme collection, and John Newbery earned the title father of children’s literature with A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, written purely for children’s delight. Fairy tales once written for adults were adapted for young readers in the 1700s, and today’s picture books, chapter books, and graphic novels all stand on those shoulders. Every era’s children have needed stories made just for them. Children’s books as we know them have been around since the 18th century, when the earliest titles were educational books, books on conduct, and simple ABCs designed to teach as well as delight.

The benefits of reading for pleasure are real and lasting. Research has found that young people who read for fun make stronger progress in vocabulary, spelling, and math, and that teen readers are more likely to land professional careers later in life. The best-selling children’s book of all time, Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince, has sold more than 200 million copies, proof that a great story can travel the world. But the week has never needed a study to make its case: anyone who has watched a child fall into a story, or begged for one more chapter at bedtime, knows exactly what reading gives. The second best-selling children’s book of all time, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, has sold around 120 million copies since its 1997 debut, carrying a new generation into reading.

During May 3-9, 2027, join the celebration wherever books are loved. Visit your library’s story time, ask a bookseller for a recommendation, download an activity kit, or simply read aloud with a child you love. A book opened this week can open a lifetime, and the next great reader is waiting for the right story. All it takes is one book, one chair, and one week devoted to the joy of reading. Many families make Book Week the moment to start a read-aloud ritual that lasts all year, proving that one dedicated week of stories can plant a lifetime habit. All it takes is one book and one willing listener.

THE STORY BEHIND CHILDREN’S BOOK WEEK

📆 Established in 1919
Children’s Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the United States, now administered by Every Child a Reader and the Children’s Book Council.

🌱 Seeds in 1916
A Good Book Week sponsored by booksellers, librarians, and the Boy Scouts paved the way, championed by Franklin K. Matthews, Frederic G. Melcher, and Anne Carroll Moore.

📚 1944: The CBC Takes Over
The newly formed Children’s Book Council assumed responsibility for the week and has guided it ever since.

🎉 100 Years in 2019
The centennial featured spokesperson Ayesha Curry, a poster by Yuyi Morales, a 12-artist collaborative poster, and the theme “Read Now. Read Forever.”

🗣 Kids Choose the Winners
The Children’s and Teen Choice Book Awards are the only national book awards voted on solely by young readers.

WAYS TO CELEBRATE

📖 Read Aloud Together
Pick a favorite picture book and read it aloud with a child, doing all the voices, during May 3-9.

🏫 Visit a Book Week Event
Check your library or bookstore for author visits, story times, and book parties all week long.

🎁 Gift a Book
Give a child a new book this week and tuck a note inside about why you chose it.

Celebrate Children’s Book Week

From May 3 to 9, 2027, celebrate the stories that raise readers. Visit a library, meet an author, or curl up with a classic, and pass the magic of books to the young readers in your life. Ask your librarian for the year’s best new picture books, or revisit the classics you loved as a child and share them with fresh eyes. Volunteer to read at a local school, donate a beloved book to a little free library, or simply turn off the screens for one evening and let a story fill the room. Every reader you help raise is a gift to the future. The right book is waiting. Read now. Read forever.