Celebrating World Book Day 2021 – Free books, fun events and lots of fantastic reading

World Book Day is one of our favourite annual days to celebrate and we love nothing more than sharing that day with schools up and down the country.

Independent Usborne Partner Liz Neale shares how she had the best time celebrating with her local community and how they didn’t let the pandemic dampen their love of books and reading:

“We all thought World Book Day 2021 was going to be challenging, with us being in lockdown and in the middle of a Global pandemic. With schools closed to the majority of their pupils, it was difficult to imagine how World Book Day 2021 would be a success.

“So, with all this in mind I set myself a challenge to ensure I contacted as many schools and nurseries as possible to hopefully book in some events. During 2020, like so many others, I had lots of book fairs and sponsored reading events cancelled, so I wasn’t filled with confidence that schools and nurseries would be eager to take part. How wrong I was! I had schools who replying straight away with a Yes! They wanted to celebrate World Book Day 2021 with their children. They wanted to share and promote the joy of reading and, most of all, they wanted to bring the school community together whilst being apart. I was delighted to be able to offer a service that would do all of these things.

"I adapted my usual school book fair to a virtual one using Facebook as a platform. This was very successful and enabled all parents/carers to engage and not just those who collect their children straight from school (in ‘usual’ books fairs they run from 3.30‐4.15pm so some parents/carers are unable to attend). The length of the virtual book fairs ranged from 3 days up to 2 weeks. During these times I showed a great range of books that Usborne has to offer and was able to ensure I included topic specific books depending on the school/nursery requirements.

"I provided my usual whole school assembly via YouTube for each school and this was shown to each class and then the link was sent to parents so they too could hear about the event and the amazing free books benefits for their school or nursery!

Liz Neale with her home book fair set up

"Lots of parents, carers, grandparents and children engaged in the fairs and books were bought eagerly! Some particular favourites were: All About Feelings, The Shark Caller, The Train to Impossible Places, Cogheart and All the Words You Need to Know Before You Start School.

"For the sponsored reading events, a range of activities were planned for each setting. These included the following:

• A sponsored read (Read, Steady, Read…) with children aiming to read for up to 30 minutes every day for a week.
• A reading bingo where the children had to read in a variety of different places. (There was a prize for the strangest place!)
• A book bingo where the children had to read lots of different genres of books and authors.
• A sponsored listen (Read, Steady, Listen…) where the nursery children had to listen to five stories each day for a week.
• A readathon with children in each class reading continuously throughout the day (the focus of the reading material was Diversity and Equality)

"Each of these activities were developed by myself and the school and we planned everything together. However, once the initial planning discussion had taken place I then led and provided everything, from sponsor forms, reading records, certificates, prizes for different things, letters home explaining the events. As an ex‐teacher, I know how busy school life is. I know there are very few free moments and I know and understand that staff don’t have time to spare. With our reading events, schools and nurseries do not have to do anything other than promote the events and then choose beautiful books to fill their library shelves!

"I was thrilled that every setting I worked with over World Book Day was able to have 60% in extra free books from Usborne on top of their sponsor money. In total I have given over £1500 in free books to schools and nurseries for the events we ran for World Book Day!

"I LOVE working with schools, I LOVE seeing children reading and I LOVE talking to children about books. As an ex‐teacher I know and understand the importance of young people reading and I also know the restrictions on very tight budgets in schools and nurseries. Usborne Books at Home provide this fantastic opportunity for schools to receive beautiful books into the classrooms and libraries without touching that budget. What’s not to love?!

"World Book Day 2021 = SUCCESS!"

Looking to boost your school or nursery's reading resources for free? Why not speak to your local Independent Usborne Partner about the type of event you'd like at your school, or type your school's postcode into this search to connect with your local Partner.