In anticipation of the centennial observance of Children’s Book Week, the Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader have begun to lay out plans for a year-long campaign to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the national literacy initiative. “Children’s Book Week is a celebration that connects kids and teens with books and the people who create them,” said Judith Haut, associate publisher of Random House Children’s Books, who is chair of Every Child a Reader. “We are honored to share this program’s legacy and its exciting future with children and adults across the country.”

The 2019 initiative, scheduled to take place from April 29 to May 5, will continue the mission of celebrating books for young people and the joy of reading. “We have been eagerly looking towards the 100th anniversary of Children’s Book Week for years,” said Shaina Birkhead, associate executive director of Every Child a Reader. “The program continues to grow in exciting and unexpected ways, and we cannot think of a better way to celebrate in 2019 than with more events, more artists, more resources, and a brand-new logo to lead us into the next 100 years.”

Among the upcoming highlights from the 100th anniversary CBW program are:

New Logo, Theme, and Poster. Next year’s theme—Read Now, Read Forever—will be featured on the official 2019 CBW poster, illustrated by Caldecott Honor artist Yuyi Morales, author-illustrator of Dreamers, Viva Frida, and other titles. More than 125,000 posters will be distributed to 1,000 schools, libraries, and bookstores to promote week-long events.

Online Registration Now Open. Interested retailers, educators and librarians wishing to serve as official CBW locations can visit the Every Child a Reader website for more information.

Collaborative Poster. In addition to the traditional annual poster, a 12-artist poster will also be revealed in stages throughout 2019. The dozen illustrators onboard for this project are: Sophie Blackall, Eric Carle, Bryan Collier, Grace Lin, Juana Martinez-Neal, Barbara McClintock, Frank Morrison, LeUyen Pham, James E. Ransome, Erin Stead, Melissa Sweet, and Raina Telgemeier.

Multilingual Activities and Anniversary Bookmarks. Online activity materials for CBW’s 100th anniversary will be produced in 15 languages. Original bookmarks will be designed by Selina Alko and Sean Qualls, Vera Brosgol, Jason Chin, Ekua Holmes, Juana Medina, and Jessie Sima.

Anniversary Art Committee. Illustrators for the anniversary were selected from CBC member publishers’ submissions. Entries were chosen by a 100th anniversary art committee comprised of Betsy Bird, Diane Capriola, Andrea Davis Pinkney, Christopher Lassen, Leonard Marcus, Susannah Richards, and Lisa Von Drasek.

Museum Partnership. In collaboration with Every Child a Reader, a new venue dedicated to children’s books, the Rabbit hOle, will help to promote the centennial anniversary. Dubbed as the world’s first “Explora-a-Storium,” this Kansas City museum will feature six CBW posters and a three-dimensional portal containing artifacts and other information pertaining to the history of Children’s Book Week. The exhibit is scheduled to open next fall.

More to Come. Further details of author-illustrator events, contests, and other Book Week initiatives will be announced in the new year.