Across the country, bookstores, libraries, and schools celebrated Children’s Book Week – May 4-10 – with a variety of activities. The Week is administered by Every Child a Reader, with the Children’s Book Council acting as an anchor sponsor. Jon Colman, executive director of the CBC, told PW, “This year was the biggest celebration of Children’s Book Week in its 96-year history. More than 250 official events – double last year’s number – were held in all 50 states.” This year’s programming also reached a greater variety of communities than ever before, he said. “We worked with Diamond Comic Distributors and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund to designate Free Comic Book Day as the official kick-off event, giving away two million comics to younger readers; partnered with The unPrison Project to build prison-nursery libraries for incarcerated mothers and their babies in honor of Mother’s Day during Children’s Book Week; and teamed up with United for Libraries to establish Literary Landmarks honoring deceased children’s book creators each day of the week.” For highlights of the events, storytimes, trivia contests, window displays, author talks, and more, see our collection of photos, below.

Llama Llama storytime at Changing Hands Bookstore in Phoenix, Arizona. The reader is local teen author Shonna Slayton. Photo: Marty Adams.

Peter Rabbit joined readers at Lemuria Bookstore in Jackson, Miss., for a storytime. Photo: Clara Martin.

Enthusiastic readers playing Harry Potter trivia at Lemuria. Photo: Clara Martin

Vanessa, a fourth grader from Bentonville, Ark., visited with author-illustrator E.B. Lewis at Bentonville Public Library’s Youth Literature Festival. Lewis autographed Tea Cakes for Tosh, a picture book he illustrated, for Vanessa. Photo: Brittany Fleming.

Bentonville’s Inaugural Youth Literature Festival saw presentations from a group of children’s book authors and illustrators. In the front (from l.); Marie Smith, Kashmira Sheth, Mary Casanova, and E.B. Lewis; back (from l.), Obert Skye, Ard Hoyt, Roland Smith, Janet Wong, and Henry Cole. Photograph by Bethany Culpepper.

Warwick’s Books in La Jolla, Calif., hosted an “Inspire Curiosity” party. Photo: Lydia Sparksworthy.

Illustrator Christopher Myers, son of author Walter Dean Myers, gave a reading at the George Bruce Library in Harlem, which was declared a Literary Landmark in honor of Myers, who visited the library often and set many of his novels in the neighborhood surrounding. Pictured next to Myers is the plaque that designates the library’s landmark status.

From l., Lizzy Mason of Bloomsbury Children’s, YA author Sarah J. Maas, and Judith Lafitte, co-owner of Octavia Books in New Orleans hold up Children’s Book Week. Photo: Tom Lowenburg.

Storytime at Octavia Books with special guest author Claudia Gray (l.), reading along with bookseller Holly Devon. Photo: Tom Lowenburg

One entry in the window display contest from Elm Street Books in New Canaan, Conn.

Magic Tree Bookstore in Oak Park, Ill., also offered a “lively” window display contest entry.

Young readers in the audience at the 2015 Children’s Choice Book Awards, the only award chosen by children, which kicks off the week’s festivities. Photo: Jay Brady Photography.

Co-hosts of the Children’s Choice Book Awards: Betsy Bird and Jon Scieszka. Photo: Jay Brady Photography.

Jarrett J. Krosoczka and daughter Zoe read from some award finalists. Photo: Jay Brady Photography.

Ben Yuen-Killick, son of Angus Killick, v-p and associate publisher at Macmillan Children Publishing Group, reads excerpts from the finalists. Photo: Jay Brady Photography.

The Juneau Public Library in Juneau, Alaska, participated in the Maritime Festival on May 9 with pirate and aquatic-themed activities. Photo: Beth Weigel and Heidi Clements.