Welcome to the celebration of Children’s Book Week 2018 here at The Snuggery, running from April 30 to May 6.

The theme for this year is ” One World, Many Stories.” And, as you can see from this year’s poster artist, hailing this year’s celebration, is artist Jillian Tomaki. She is the co-creator of the Caldecott Honor and Printz Award winning book, called This One Summer. 

This year’s 2018 poster and theme, One World, Many Stories, calls to mind the  wonderful children’s literature available to your young reader as it is exemplified in the wealth of stories from every culture that can be read and relished by young readers today.

Here is a bit of the backstory of the week’s origins.

History

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 important allies: Frederic G. Melcher, the visionary editor of Publishers Weekly who believed that “a great nation is a reading nation,” and Anne Carroll Moore, the Superintendent of Children’s Works at the New York Public Library and a major 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.

In 1944, the newly-established Children’s Book Council assumed responsibility for administering Children’s Book Week. In 2008, Children’s Book Week moved from November to May. At that time, the administration of Children’s Book Week, including planning official events and creating original materials, was transferred to Every Child a Reader, CBC’s charitable arm.

 

Okay, here comes the personal advert from The Snuggery which, I feel, is indirectly related to children’s book week and reading in general today …and its future direction.

The object of this week’s celebration, in my humble opinion, is to highlight children’s literature in general, and to do that by putting many classic reads, undiscovered soon-to-be-classics, plus personal favorites, into the hands of young readers.

Lord knows there is so much competition for young readers discretionary time. And, sometimes reading, not just for knowledge, but for pure pleasure and enjoyment, falls way down on the list of  important continuing activities for young ones.

And, here comes the advert I mentioned earlier: in speaking of competition for your young reader’s time to read because of technology and schedules, there’s ANOTHER kind of competition that is out there today as regards reading, and your decision on HOW to purchase books for your young reader.

I want to put in a big plug and support for what we call brick and mortar book stores in general, and your local book store, in particular, if there is one near you.

On-line book stores, because of the ease of ordering, are threatening the  viability of brick and mortar book stores that have leases and other expenses, different from on-line stores.

In addition, brick and mortar, many times, have ONE primary product to sell…and those are BOOKS and book-related materials. Unlike online stores that sell everything under the sun, as in electronics, clothing, beauty products, sports equipment, and a slew of other products, these are not a factor in the business model of a brick and mortar store.

I think they deserve our support and I will tell you why.

If THEY disappear, absent your local public library, ( and many of those are closing and under-funded ), there will be very few places left to take a child by the hand, peruse the young reader book section, sit and thumb through them, ask for suggestions from the mom and pop book store owner or retailer, and let your child pick a few, as you select some also.

So, take a young reader by the hand this week and celebrate Children’s Book Week by visiting that local brick and mortar book store and mom and pop book store.

They probably have story times and many other activities going on this week.

There is nothing like the touch of a physical book in the hands of a child as you make your choices together in a real store!!!

Happy Children’s Book Week!