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A toddler playing in the fountain at a park in Santa Fe, New Mexico—Photo LD Lewis. In August, we live through the Dog Days of Summer. It's hot and often humid, and those ...
Can you hear that sigh of relief from parents worldwide? Yes! September marks the return of students to school, a global phenomenon. Preparations for the ACT and SATs begin earnestly for ...
October is the busiest month for events, with 5% more happening than in May, the second most eventful month. Sailing enthusiasts will be glued to the finals of this year's Am...
Children's Book Week is the annual celebration of books for young people and the joy of reading. It occurs in May and November each year.
Children's Book Week originated in the belief that children's books and literacy are life-changers. In 1913, Franklin K. Matthiews, the librarian of the Boy Scouts of America, began touring the country to promote higher standards in children's books. He proposed creating a Children's Book Week, which would be supported by all interested groups: publishers, booksellers, and librarians. Mathiews enlisted two essential allies: Frederic G. Melcher, the visionary editor of Publishers Weekly, and Anne Carroll Moore, the Superintendent of Children's Works at the New York Public Library and a significant figure in the library world.
With the help of Melcher and Moore, in 1916, the American Booksellers Association and the American Library Association sponsored a Good Book Week with the Boy Scouts of America. Children's Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. Every year, commemorative events are held nationwide at schools, libraries, bookstores, and homes—wherever young readers and books connect!
Children's Book Week is administered by Every Child A Reader, a 501(c)(3) literacy organization dedicated to instilling a lifelong love of reading in children. The Children's Book Council, the national non-profit trade association for children's book publishers, is an anchor sponsor.