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“Reading for pleasure … makes a difference in children’s lives.”
(Chadderton, 2023)
This statement from Cassie Chadderton, the chief executive of World Book Day, embodies the key message of what World Book Day will be highlighting to children, schools, and parents in 2024. The panel discussion at The Bookseller Children’s Conference 2023, ‘Read your way: Children’s choice at the heart of World Book Day,’ reflects World Book Day’s ideas.
It was a real pleasure for me to attend an event that is such a vital resource for what to expect for the next twelve months in children’s book publishing. I got the opportunity to watch the panel discussion, led by Cassie Chadderton, as World Book Day officially announced the £1/€1.50 books for 2024 and featured World Book Day Authors, Tọlá Okogwu, Louie Stowell and World Book Day’s new illustrator, Vivian Truong.
World Book Day 2024 will be held on the seventh of March. There will be fifteen new £1/€1.50 books; in comparison to 2023, which had fourteen books available. They are divided into subsections based on reading ability, fluency, interest and language. Two books are published in different languages, one in Irish (exclusive to Ireland) and one in Welsh. There are also still two more books to be officially released later this year.
(World Book Day, 2023)
Nearly all of the £1/€1.50 books for 2024 are published by different publishers. Please click the link to the World Book Day website to see a full description of the list of publishers, reading levels, and covers for 2024.
The 2024 £1/€1.50 books will also be available in “braille, large print [and] audio via Guide Dogs, NCBI, RNIB and Calibre Audio,” with all books accessible through ordering specific copies via the contacts at the end of each book’s description through the World Book Day website here (World Book Day, 2023).
World Book Day “continues to create a £1/€1.50 book line up that gives all children choice in what they read,” at an affordable price (World Book Day, 2023). For 2024, the charity is linking up with McDonald’s to give the £1/€1.50 book tokens as an extra prize for each Happy Meal purchased. This marketing strategy creates another layer of accessibility to the campaign and reaches groups of parents and children who might not be very engaged in their local schools and libraries.
Also new to this year’s campaign is the introduction of the illustrations of Vivian Truong. She has elevated the marketing and website designs by including lots of children and parents wearing vibrant clothes and expressing excitement while holding and reading books. They are drawn in an animated style similar to characters in graphic novels. Truong believes that “graphic novels encourage creativity,” as they combine reading with visual stimulation, they make reading seem less daunting and more pleasurable (Truong, 2023). This completely aligns with World Book Day’s message that “reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success” and author Louie Stowell emphasizes this further stating that “tastes in books vary as much as taste in food. So, to me, the key to reading for pleasure is offering kids variety and agency.” (World Book Day 2023). Choice and reading for enjoyment is at the core of World Book Day.
References and bibliography:
Chadderton, Cassie. 2023. The Bookseller Children’s Conference, Read your way: Children’s choice at the heart of World Book Day, [Panel Discussion], 02 October 2023. Waterloo: London.
Stowell, Louie. 2023. The Bookseller Children’s Conference, Read your way: Children’s choice at the heart of World Book Day, [Panel Discussion], 02 October 2023. Waterloo: London.
The Bookseller. 2023. The Bookseller Children’s Conference. Waterloo: London. 02 October 2023.
Truong, Vivian. 2023. The Bookseller Children’s Conference, Read your way: Children’s choice at the heart of World Book Day, [Panel Discussion], 02 October 2023. Waterloo: London.
MSc Publishing – Industry Accredited Postgraduate Degree 