NZ Children's Book Week

We’re leading the first ever NZ Children's Book Week, working with other bookish groups, sponsors and friends on digital and in person events, and resources celebrating reading.

There are lots of ways to get involved no matter where you are in the country. Host your own event, join one of ours, spread the word, or use our online resources.

We encourage you to do something fun (whether low-fi or hard out) to celebrate and spread the word.

If you’re looking for a sign to go hard for reading, NZ Children's Book Week is it.

In person events

This page will be updated as details are confirmed.

• Costume making with Fifi Colston and Spotlight NZ: (July school holidays, South Island)
• Books on Board: a fun an interactive event taking place on the Wellington Kāpiti train line with live storytelling for pre-schoolers (date and details to come)
• Booksellers launch events: Saturday 15 of August -- get in touch with your local bookstore to see what they have planned (locations varied)
• Books Alive: run by The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, this is a large-scale, immersive event that brings hundreds of students in touch with award finalist authors and illustrators (date and details to come)
• The annual New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults: award ceremony run by the Book Awards Trust
• School Book Parade day: schools around the country are holding book parades today
• A National Library of New Zealand children's reading panel chaired by Te Awhi Rito Kate De Goldi, with noted bookish experts in Wellington on 18 August (more here)
  

Digital

• A national read along: let's all read together (details to come)
• Digital Writers in Schools sessions: happening in a computer near you (times and dates to come)
  
• Daily book recs: shared with us by publishers and school librarians
• Guest blogs: from authors, readers and miscellaneous bookish folk
• Author Sonya Wilson is running a writing competition: inviting young readers across Aotearoa to tell us a true story about a book that changed something in their life. Open to children 9-18, there are cash prizes up for grabs and winning stories will be published on The Sapling. (More here)

And more to come.

Resources

These will be linked below, we'll also be opening our exclusive member kete just for this week.

Have an idea for an event?

We're encouraging everyone come to the NZ Children's Book Week party, and if you have an idea, we say: go for it! If we can support you with posters, messaging, or advice, we will. 

We recommend getting in touch with your local bookstore or library first, they may have plans underway you can collaborate on.

Key messages

• Sat 15 of August - Friday the 21st of August is the first ever NZ Children’s Book Week

• The theme is Reading Around Aotearoa

• Our places, people and languages matter, and all tamariki deserve to see themselves in stories

• For Book Week, try something new or return to something old, take in an audiobook, e-book or picture book: all reading is valid

• There's adventure to be had in every New Zealand book

• Reading builds empathy, expands minds and fuels creativity

• A PISA report on reading in Aotearoa shows children’s reading is declining, which mirrors global trends. This isn’t improving with age: our own research showed 39% of 18–24-year-olds say they don’t like reading

• We urgently need to get young people hooked on books

• “It’s not simply about children learning to read—it’s about children learning to love reading.” – Joy Cowley

• Reading out loud to the children in your life could be your superpower. It has proven educational, wellbeing and developmental benefits (and you can start even before birth)

• For many, time is a barrier to reading with a child, but it takes a village, and reading can happen anywhere, in any way. It only takes 5 minutes a day to build a lifelong reading habit.

• If you’re looking for a sign to go hard for reading: NZ Children's Book Week is it

Here are the digital posters, which you can print at home or school and display. Alternatively, for that professional touch 🤌🤌, you can purchase some professionally printed ones and have them shipped to you.

We will put the order form here when we know the exact prices, but if you want us to reach out to you and offer you first dibs, drop us a line. 

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We'd love to see what you get up to during Children's Book Week. Tag us!