Committed to promote reading for pleasure and offer every child a book of their own
World Book Day celebrates its 25th birthday on 3rd March 2022 and everyone is invited to join the party. The charity’s biggest campaign to date will focus on helping children discover a love for reading, while providing more opportunities than ever to get their own £1 book and get involved across a huge range of fun reading activities.
With the core message of “You Are A Reader”, World Book Day has a particular focus on reaching children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The charity’s 2022 campaign will aim to encourage parents and carers to support reading at home, helping them to feel more confident in reading together for a few minutes every day. Reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success– more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational background or their income.
The 2022 £1 books, authors and illustrators reflect the energy and diversity of children’s literature in the UK and Ireland today. In its 25th year, World Book Day will highlight the importance of all children having the opportunity to own and be inspired by inclusive stories, written by authors and illustrators who are representative of the society we live in. To celebrate the past, present and future of children’s literature, World Book Day will partner with BookTrust and Waterstones Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell MBE on a special edition of their #PassthePen campaign. Designed to help promote visibility, champion new voices and generate book sales, this year’s activity will see World Book Day legacy authors paired with up-and-coming writers and illustrators of colour.
World Book Day is also delighted to introduce its new illustrator Allen Fatimaharan. Best known for bringing the Llama Out Loud books to life, alongside My Hair and The Rapping Princess, Allen’s work for the big birthday celebrations illustrates the magic of books and reading.
The approach to the 25th anniversary demonstrates how the charity is continuing to deliver its new five year strategy, launched last year by CEO Cassie Chadderton. With the aim of inspiring even more children and families to read for pleasure through a love of books and shared reading, there is a renewed focus on those from disadvantaged and low-income backgrounds.
A priority for the charity this year is working with partners Libraries Connected and the National Literacy Trust (NLT) in 15 key communities in the UK, to ensure World Book Day inspires and supports reading in disadvantaged areas. This work is funded by an Arts Council project grant for 2020-21 and supported by donations of the 2022 £1 books from publishers.
Michael Morpurgo commented: “World Book Day is a moment when we sound the trumpets for books and children, bringing children to books and books to children… World Book Days have been doing this now for 25 years and it’s made a huge difference. There are many kids who do not have so many books at home. This is a wonderful way for children to access and enjoy books, and I’m delighted to be involved in 2022.”
Sharna Jackson commented: “I’m so thrilled to be one of World Book Day’s authors for 2022 – it’s a dream come true. I absolutely love World Book Day and everything they do; they work really hard to get books into the hands of children who need them the most, opening up imaginations and opening up worlds.”
Cassie Chadderton, CEO, World Book Day added: “Our 25th anniversary is a moment to look ahead to our ambitions for the future, as well as to celebrate all that World Book Day has achieved in its 25 years. The announcement of the £1 books and the authors and illustrators involved is always the exciting first step towards World Book Day in March, and doing more to reach our goal of encouraging all children to love reading and books.”
Stephen Lotinga, Chair of Trustees for World Book Day and CEO of the Publishers Association, said: “In its 25th year, World Book Day is even more important. In the context of the economic and educational challenges we have faced since the pandemic, it is essential that World Book Day encourages children to build the life-long habit of reading for pleasure, and to benefit from the improved life chances this brings them.”
For more information, contact MHP at worldbookday@mhpc.com
World Book Day partners :
- BookTrust
- The Waterstones Children’s Laureate
- Allen Fatimaharan
- National Literacy Trust
- Libraries Connected
- Publishers Association
- Booksellers Association
