World Book Day and School Author Visits

wbdSmall Every year I get requests to visit schools for World Book Day. Every year I get requests the week before when someone realises they were meant to organise something for World Book Day! I know the same often happens to other authors too. So, I thought I’d write this a memory jogger.

Next year World Book Day is on Thursday March 6th.

If you are planning on having an event the week of World Book Day, then now is the time to get planning and approaching authors and illustrators to see if they are free. Some are booked up at least a year in advance for World Book Day itself.

The easy way to avoid disappointment is to have an author visit at another time of year. Sometimes an author visit can get lost in the general kerfuffle of World Book Day, especially if you are having a dressing up day too. Dressing-up days and author visits don’t generally mix that well. Children are so hyped up with the dressing up that they find it hard to sit still and take anything in.

World book Day is about books, a product that education is slowly moving away from. Maybe that day is best spent considering the history of books and their relevance in a digital age. Deciding what a book does best and what is best delivered on a screen.

The act of writing, of being an author, of inventing and organising, storytelling and editing is relevant to both books and screens, and the lessons learned by authors, who all work in their own, individual way, can be passed on at any time of year, so maybe author visits shouldn’t be crammed into the first week of March every year?

For World Book Day, start planning now!

For a great author visit at any other time of year, without the added pressure of World Book Day, click here.