Teachers, Librarians, & Booksellers

Children's Book Week is a time to celebrate books and reading in classrooms, libraries, bookstores, and homes. Please explore the downloadable promotions in our Digital Toolkit below, and keep scrolling down to find ways to create your own memorable celebrations. But don't stop with our suggestions alone - Children's Book Week can be celebrated in any way you and your readers imagine!

Digital Toolkit

Visit the Digital Toolkit page for downloads to print or use online in your store, library, or classroom!

The Children's Choice Book Awards

New Bonus! Visit A Story Before Bed to see three CCBA finalists reading from their nominated books!

One hallmark of Children's Book Week is the only national child-selected book awards program: the Children's Choice Book Awards. The awards celebrate books, authors, and illustrators that capture the interest and imaginations of kids and teens.

Awards are given in six categories:

  • Kindergarten to Second Grade Book of the Year
  • Third to Fourth Grade Book of the Year
  • Fifth to Sixth Grade Book of the Year
  • Teen Choice Book of the Year
  • Author of the Year
  • Illustrator of the Year

Finalists for the younger readers are determined through the Children's Choices program, a joint project of the CBC and the International Reading Association since the 1970s. Teen Choice finalists are voted on by teen readers at TeenReads.com, an online home for teens to learn about new books and share their thoughts about what they read. Author of the Year and Illustrator of the Year finalists are compiled by the CBC from Bookscan, New York Times bestseller lists, and USA Today bestseller lists.

How to participate Get your students involved in this awards program! Display finalists in class. Encourage kids to read and vote for their favorites online. Young readers can make their voices heard with just the click of a button!

Once voting has opened on March 15, a downloadable ballot will be available here to use in class. After you've tallied your students' votes, you can enter them as a group into our online form. We will not accept paper ballots, so please tally and enter them online so each vote will count. Or encourage kids to enter their own votes online.

Winners will be announced in each category at a gala celebration in New York during Children's Book Week. Be sure to revisit this site during Book Week to find out the winners!

Ideas for Celebrating Children's Book Week

Posters and Bookmarks and Games, Oh My!

The official Children's Book Week poster is now available free of charge! Learn how to get one (or more!) here.

Download the official Children's Book Week bookmark!

Create your own books and stories in the classroom. Use our Story Starters or begin from scratch in a blank book.

Hold a poster contest in your classroom or bookstore, or organize a school-wide door decorating contest.

Make your own charmed bookmarks.

This vintage bookmark is fun all year round!

Work on some Children's Book Week puzzles. Have students create some crossword puzzles and word searches of their own.

Group Celebrations

Host a Children's Book Week party.

Organize a visit from a local author or illustrator. Contact the publisher of his or her most recent work to find out if a visit can be arranged.

Stage a Read-In.

Somehow, "book review" sounds better than "book report." Hold a contest asking students to submit 75-word reviews of their favorite books. Post the reviews in the library, on the class website, or in the school paper.

Show and Read: Ask students to select an illustrated book from the library to read in class during Children's Book Week.

Share the Joy Of Reading

Hold a book exchange day.

Donate books to a local family shelter or children's hospital, or take a trip so students can read to patients in a hospital or residents in a nursing home.

Raise money to help a library, school, or day care center in your area to buy books. This is an excellent way to strengthen your town through community involvement.