- Scottish Book Trust involved for the first time
- 10% of all children’s books sales made that month to go to charities supporting early access to reading
- Publishers invited to download toolkit and get ready to take part
London, Tuesday 19 November 2024. Bookshop.org is delighted to bring back its popular charitable initiative Read It Forward, in an expanded partnership with BookTrust and Scottish Book Trust, where 10% of every children’s book sale in February 2025 will be donated to the charities, while also supporting independent bookshops.
The aim of the initiative is to inspire a love of reading in the next generation, with the money raised by the Bookshop.org drive going towards BookTrust and Scottish Book Trust’s work in supporting children from vulnerable and disadvantaged backgrounds. For the first time in 2025, Scottish Book Trust will be taking part in the initiative. Scottish Book Trust is a national, independent charity, who celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2023.
In 2024, Read It Forward raised money to support over 1,000 families, bringing books to children who need them the most, and received incredible support from authors, illustrators, publishers, influencers and beyond, with authors of the likes of Katherine Rundell, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Sarah Crossan, David Baddiel, Sufiya Ahmed, AF Steadman, Jasbinder Bilan, M. G. Leonard, Rashmi Sirdeshpande and many more backing the initiative.
The 2024 initiative also drove increased sales of children’s and YA titles from Bookshop.org. While children’s book sales were down by 9% in volume and 6% in value in the first part of the year compared to 2023 (Nielsen BookData, March 2024), Bookshop.org registered a double digit year-on-year increase on sales of children’s’ books in the first part of the year.
Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust, said: “Scottish Book Trust is delighted to be joining BookTrust and Bookshop.org for Read it Forward in 2025. Funds raised will help us support young families facing challenging circumstances through our specialist early years outreach programme. Bookbug for the Home helps families to share stories, songs and rhymes with their babies and children, which is a vital first step in building a love of reading, as well as developing early communication and language skills. Bookshop.org has featured on our book lists for some time, and we are also committed to supporting independent bookshops who make such an important contribution to their local and wider reading communities.”
Diana Gerald MBE, CEO of BookTrust, said: “We’re incredibly grateful that the Read It Forward initiative will support our cause and helping us change lives through reading. We know that reading for pleasure can be both magical and transformative for the lives of children and is something that every child in the UK should experience, no matter their background.”
Shelley Firth, bookseller, Darling Reads, added: “We really enjoyed taking part in Read It Forward last year and look forward to sharing some more wonderful recommendations for children and young adults as part of Read It Forward 2025. We truly love welcoming young readers through our doors so any opportunity to support children accessing and engaging with reading is very important to us. It’s also a great way for us to shout about some exceptional children’s book authors and illustrators! We are proud to be part of the Bookshop.org community and hope to make a difference to families in need of a bit of support and joy. “
Nicole Vanderbilt, Managing Director of Bookshop.org UK, said: “We’re looking forward to launching our second Read It Forward charity drive next February, and are delighted that Scottish Book Trust will be joining forces too, helping to inspire a love for reading in the younger generation even further. We encourage publishers to mark their calendars and get ready to become involved with their top children’s authors and books of 2025.”
Bookshop.org is encouraging publishers to select their top children’s and YA titles published in February 2025, and get ready to be involved with the campaign. A comprehensive toolkit, including social media assets, is available at this link.
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For queries, please contact Anna Zanetti or Emily Laidlaw at Midas:
anna.zanetti@midaspr.co.uk / emily.laidlaw@midaspr.co.uk
