Children's Book Week Promotes Book Time

From November 18 - 24, booksellers all around the country may well be donning their red and white striped hats, adjusting their purple plastic purses, and zipping their traveling pants as they participate in National Children's Book Week. The theme of this year's celebration, sponsored by the Children's Book Council (CBC), and administered by a Children's Book Week Committee drawn from representatives of CBC member publishing houses, is Book Time.

Book Time refers to the meaningful portion of each day that children, and the adults who care for them, are encouraged to spend with a favorite book. Children's Book Week events are held in schools, libraries, clubs, and bookstores each year. The CBC distributes a panoply of materials for bookstores and others to promote, publicize, and celebrate the event. Magic shows, cooking fests, poetry slams, and writing contests are just a few of the suggestions CBC has outlined for stores to gain inspiration for book-related activities.

"Celebrating Book Week from A-Z" includes dozens of imaginative ideas, including "O" (for official proclamation, by the mayor or governor, to declare the week before Thanksgiving as National Children's Book Week) or "M" (for marathons, reading events with books, no special shoes required).

Materials, including posters, kits, and bookmarks are available from the CBC through its Web site.

This year's Book Week banner artist is Kevin Henkes. Other featured artists for Book Week 2002 include Janell Cannon, Greg Couch, Yumi Heo, Elisa Kleven, Kadir Nelson, and Janet S. Wong.

For complete information about National Children's Book Week and to download this year's Book Week banner, visit the Book Week home page at http://www.cbcbooks.org/html/book_week.html on the Children's Book Council Web site.