Children’s Book Week

Children’s Book Week was established in 1919 and is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country, administered today by Every Child a Reader and the Children’s Book Council. For most of its history it has been a spring celebration, yet before 2008 it was traditionally held in the fall. The fall edition returned in 2019 as part of the centennial celebration, a nod to the program’s own history, and it has stayed ever since, giving the nation two dedicated weeks of celebration each year: one in May and one in November. The Children’s Book Council’s own history notes that the week traditionally took place in the fall before officially moving to spring in 2008, so the November edition is really a homecoming more than a newcomer. For longtime supporters, it feels like the celebration coming home.

The fall week was created with teachers in mind. Educators had long said that late spring, with its testing schedules and end-of-year rush, was a hard time to celebrate fully. A November week, when routines are set and the holidays are still ahead, lets schools embrace the celebration with students in a way many had not been able to before. To launch the new fall tradition, the organizers partnered with Pizza Hut’s BOOK IT! literacy program, whose sponsorship funded educator kits, posters, and a historical timeline for hundreds of participating locations. In 2027, the fall week runs November 1-7, right as the school year hits its stride. The CBC’s associate executive director said the 100th anniversary was the perfect opportunity to honor the program’s history while opening the celebration to schools in a way many had not been able to try before.

More than 2,300 schools, libraries, and bookstores in all fifty states take part in Children’s Book Week each year, and the fall edition leans into the season. Think story times by the window as leaves fall, pumpkin-decorated book displays, and read-alouds of autumn tales. Libraries gift books to young readers, volunteers carry story times into WIC offices, public health departments, early literacy centers, and community spaces, and families build home libraries one story at a time. Wherever children gather, the week meets them there. The first fall launch drew 783 registered locations, with more than 190,000 students expected to celebrate, a remarkable debut for a brand-new edition of a century-old tradition. Teachers signed up in droves, eager for a version of the week that fit the school calendar.

The roots of the week reach back to 1916, when the American Booksellers Association, the American Library Association, and the Boy Scouts of America sponsored a Good Book Week. Champions like Boy Scouts librarian Franklin K. Matthews, Publishers Weekly editor Frederic G. Melcher, and New York Public Library children’s superintendent Anne Carroll Moore made the case that children’s books deserved national attention. The Children’s Book Council took over in 1944 and has guided the celebration ever since, through more than a century of changing childhoods. Anne Carroll Moore, the Superintendent of Children’s Works at the New York Public Library, was among the founding champions who believed children’s books deserved a national stage and a dedicated week. Her legacy lives on in every children’s room in America.

Like its spring sibling, the fall week connects young readers with the people who make books. Author and illustrator visits, storytelling sessions, book fairs, and writing workshops fill the calendar, and free downloadable resources, from bookmarks to activity sheets to a Children’s Book Week comic, help every classroom join in. The Children’s and Teen Choice Book Awards, voted on solely by young readers, remain a beloved part of the Book Week tradition, giving kids the final word on the year’s best stories. Educator kits created for the fall launch included a poster and a historical timeline of the week, helping teachers bring a full century of book celebration history into the classroom.

Autumn is a natural season for reading. As days shorten and evenings turn cool, families gather closer, and a shared story becomes the warmest seat in the house. Research keeps confirming what grandparents always knew: children who read for pleasure grow stronger vocabularies and deeper imaginations, and ten-to-sixteen-year-olds who read for fun make more progress in math, vocabulary, and spelling. The habit starts with one book, read together, on an ordinary November evening, and the fall week is built for exactly that moment. Fall Book Week events often double as early literacy pushes, with libraries gifting new books to help families build children’s home libraries and put stories within every child’s reach. Putting a free book into a child’s hands can be the spark that starts a reader.

During November 1-7, 2027, celebrate the fall chapter of America’s oldest book party. Visit your library, discover a new author, download an activity kit, or start a family read-aloud tradition as the leaves turn. Every season is reading season, and this week proves it, one cozy chapter at a time. A November read-aloud can grow into a holiday-season tradition, the kind of warm memory children carry into adulthood and one day recreate with their own families. The fall week is built for exactly that kind of warmth.

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, administered by Every Child a Reader and the Children’s Book Council.

🍂 The Fall Edition Returns
Added for the 2019 centennial so schools could celebrate fully, the November week honors the tradition’s original fall timing before its 2008 move to spring.

🌱 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.

🗣 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

🍂 Cozy Up with a Fall Read-Aloud
Pick an autumn-themed picture book and read it together as the leaves fall outside during November 1-7.

🏫 Join a Library Story Time
Bring the kids to a fall Book Week event at your library or bookstore, from author visits to book parties.

📚 Build a Home Library
Let each child choose one new book this week to keep, starting a shelf of stories all their own.

Celebrate Children’s Book Week

From November 1 to 7, 2027, celebrate the fall chapter of America’s oldest book party. Curl up with a story, visit your library, and share the joy of reading with the young readers in your life. As the days grow shorter, make room for longer chapters: start a family novel you read together each evening, or let each child pick one book to be their November companion. Visit a bookstore for a fall event, ask for recommendations tailored to your young reader, and keep a stack of library books by the coziest chair in the house. Donate gently used books to a classroom or shelter so more children can build home libraries of their own. Every season is reading season, and this week proves it, one page at a time.