Children’s Book Week is once again upon us. This bi-annual week sponsored in part by the Children’s Book Council is a great way to celebrate the books that have helped shape lives for generations.
Established in 1919 with the theme “More Books in the Home,” Children’s Book Week was first entrusted to the Children’s Book Council in 1945 who passed on the duties of the celebration to Every Child a Reader in 1998. The celebration has expanded to include special awards like the Children and Teen’s Choice Awards (children choose their favorites), a National Ambassador to Young Literature, well-known authors tour for a year, and the Get Caught Reading program (a year-long chance for all sorts of people to get caught reading in a picture).
This year, Every Child a Reader (and that’s their whole mission) has a club to join, the Story Ocean Club, where the goal is for people to read. That’s it, just read during this week and encourage your family, friends, and community to join in. There’s even a badge! For loads of story-starters, coloring pages, poems, bookmarks, and more, visit this webpage here and download whatever you want. They’ll even be available through the summer to help you remember to keep having fun reading.
For library workers, Children’s Book Week is a chance to celebrate children’s books more than we usually do! We have special displays, grab-n-go crafts, and lots of programs planned:
At Riverfront Library, find Children's Book Week Bingo on Tuesday, May 6 at 4:00 PM, as well as storytimes, computer training, Read to Cooper the Dog, art classes, and more!
At Will Library, participate in a variety of programs this week from storytimes to mah jong to nutrition classes and learn about their Bee and Butterfly Base Camp, plus more!
At Crestwood Library, enjoy the special grab-n-go activity packet and a variety of storytimes, senior programming, an off-site visit to the MET Museum, and even more!
Since we are specifically celebrating children’s books, here are a few lists to get you started:
- From the Children’s Book Council: Building a Home Library, and their list of favorites
- From the American Library Association: Notable Books of 2025
- From New York Public Library: 125 Books we Love for Kids
Libby has a guide with a wide variety of kids’ and teens’ book suggestions for eBooks and eAudiobooks.
Whatever you do this week, make time for reading! Read to yourself, to a friend, to a pet! Enjoy this week!
Nancy Wissman is a part-time Children’s Librarian at Crestwood Library. She is especially excited about bringing science to Crestwood with the Saturday STREAM storytime, which combines her love of story reading and storytelling with her new passion for science. Nancy has been a librarian for over 30 years, working in several libraries in different library departments, but most enjoys connecting children with literacy.