World Book Day 2021 - Virtual celebrations and hundreds of free books

World Book Day is usually a time for huge celebration, brilliant costumes and school halls full of books waiting to be explored. But with a third national lockdown and another round of home schooling, we knew that this year’s World Book Day would look very different. It was even more important therefore to think outside the box to stop children missing out on the magic of a day celebrating all that’s wonderful about the world of reading.

Independent Usborne Partner, Lisa Colley, shares how she adapted her usual World Book Day celebrations to ensure that schools and pupils still had the brilliant celebration they’re used to:

“After a strange year of getting used to working entirely online, I knew that World Book Day was going to look very different this year. Virtual was going to have to be the way forward, as working with schools is so important and rewarding, that I couldn’t let not holding a physical event get in my way.

“I decided to contact all my schools to see how we could work together to help celebrate the love of reading. I offered each of them the chance to run a virtual book fair and/or a Ready, Steady, Read…. Each school decided what would be best for them, and we worked together to make it a success.

“The beauty of running an event with an Usborne Partner is that everything is done for you. I recorded a video to be shown to the children, parents and teachers explaining how it was going to work this year. I also showed a sample of the types of books that they could end up getting for free for their school. I organised the paperwork to email out to parents, along with links to an online order form and we set up Facebook groups as an avenue to be able to ask any questions along the way, and to see some of our beautiful books. This gave me the chance to offer recommendations with my 15+ years of experience.

Some of the free books Lisa Colley has given to schools

“Each school ran their event over a week or two and we kept in touch along the way. As part of the sponsored read event, awards were given to the children that read for the most amount of minutes, which gave them something to get excited about and strive for.

“Running a virtual book fair was certainly different! Although I missed the interaction with the children, it was fun recording the videos to be able to show some of our fantastic books, and it also gave the children and parents the opportunity to browse my website to see our full range, and order anything of their choice. I found that some of the most popular books were The Train to Impossible Places, the 100 Things to Know series, the Billy and the Mini Monsters series, and Forgotten Fairy Tales of Brave & Brilliant Girls.

“I have to say that the most successful events are when the school really gets behind it. It certainly gets the children excited, and they love the element of competition. Who doesn’t love free books?

“I was delighted to be able to give Mill Lane School over £1400 of free books as a result of a fantastic event. The teachers were so excited to be given free rein on choosing books for their classrooms and libraries. The best bit for me is when I’m wheeling all those free books into the school, and the look on the children's and teachers’ faces! While World Book Day was different this year, the feeling of giving away hundreds of free books to schools was just as amazing as ever.”

Usborne work with schools year round to promote reading for pleasure, boost literacy and create memorable experiences for pupils. If you’re interested in learning more about how Usborne can make a difference for your school for free, have a look at our Book Fairs and Events page to find out more.