Children’s Book Week 2022 | Fun Free Activities

Celebrate Children’s Book Week 2022 with Fun Free Activities

Children’s Book Week is an annual event held by award-winning, nonprofit organization Every Child a Reader. The event celebrates books for young people and the joy of reading, and has been running for over 100 years, making it the longest-running national literacy initiative in the UK.

The event runs for two weeks each year – this week between 2–8 May, and the second week from 7–13 November. Each year there are fun and engaging activities organised for children across libraries, bookshops, schools and at home. 

With plenty of free resources to download online, there are lots of ways to get children excited about books and reading with fun and imaginative activities. The ‘How Do You Book?’ Challenge invites children to think about what they read, how they read, and where they read. The challenge is suitable for children of all ages to complete individually, in groups, or with an adult, and is a fun way to get kids exploring what they like reading and why.

During this week’s event the winner of the Anna Dewdney Read Together Award will also be announced. This award is in honour of the late author/illustrator and literacy advocate Anna Dewdney, celebrating her passion for reading with young children and enabling young people to have greater access to books. The award is given annually to a picture book that is both excellent to read aloud and encourages compassion, empathy, and connection.

Anna Dewdney believed that “A good children’s book can be read by an adult to a child, and experienced genuinely by both. A good children’s book is like a performance. Reading with children makes an intimate, human connection that teaches that child what it means to be alive as one of many beings on the planet. When we read a book with children, then children — no matter how stressed, no matter how challenged — are drawn out of themselves to bond with other human beings, and to see and feel the experiences of others. It is this moment that makes us human. In this sense, reading makes us human.” (Wall Street Journal)

If you’d like to find out more and access a range of fun, free resources for children visit: https://everychildareader.net/cbw/cbw-resources/ 

We’re passionate about encouraging children’s writing and storytelling - why not download our Green Bean Writing Paper and get your children to make up their own stories? Download them here:

Want to keep updated on children’s books and how to encourage a love of reading from an early age? Connect with us on  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Article by - Melissa Brannlund

Follow me on Twitter @MelBrannlund or email me at [email protected]

Look out for Melissa's latest articles on Anita Frost's author website, where she'll talk about topics including business and publishing, author news and events, and giving back to communities. You can find her in-depth monthly feature on the News & Media page of the Green Bean Collection website, discussing children's books and reading, early years education, living a greener lifestyle and all things Green Bean!