Engaging children in reading, before JK Rowling came along, was always a bit hit and miss. Over the last few years I have worked on a variety of reading promotions including themed Book Weeks. Here I offer some of the material I’ve produced in conjunction with these events.
The promotional material here was designed to appeal to school children aged 11-18. Some years we specifically targeted sub groups such as boys with the ‘Get Booked’ campaign which featured football hardmen Vinnie Jones and Roy Keane discussing their favourite literature.
One theme, entitled, ‘Would like to Meet”, engaged and challenged the viewer to work out which literary character was placing lonely heart adverts in the local paper. These themes proved very popular and helped in planning and guiding the course of other events such as quizzes and competitions held during the week.
“Our best themes were slightly risque and had an air of ambiguity about them, which would cause quite a stir among the students (and the staff) We did not want the tame and sometimes slightly corny slogans which seem to pervade the national psyche when it comes to young people and reading.”
(Librarian Charlotte Smith)
Poster Gallery:
All material was backed up with Book Week Websites which have been archived online.


