The Children's Book Council's activities focus on the promotion of the use and enjoyment of children's books and on projects of interest to our member publishers and other groups.
National Ambassador For Young People's Literature
The Library of Congress, through its Center for the Book, will create the post of National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. Appointed for a two-year term by the Librarian of Congress, the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature will speak to the importance of fiction and non-fiction books in children's lives. Selected for extraordinary contributions to the world of books for young people, the National Ambassador will encourage the appreciation of young people's literature throughout the United States through both personal and media appearances. The National Ambassador program is a joint initiative of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and the Children's Book Council (CBC). The appointment of the first National Ambassador for Young People's Literature will be announced in January 2008. For more information, please see the complete press release.
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Joint Committees
From its earliest days, the CBC has had a good working relationship with librarians who shared a belief that trade books must be a part of children's lives. This relationship continues today through the work of the American Library Association (ALA)-CBC Joint Committee, including programs for librarians at the semiannual ALA conventions. The CBC has also maintained a formal committee with the American Booksellers Association (ABA) for over two decades. This group presents half-day programs for booksellers immediately preceding the annual BookExpo America. In 2002, the Committee expanded to include representation of the Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC). The newly tripartite committee was named the Children's Booksellers and Publishers Committee.
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Cooperative Reading Lists
In the early 1970s, the CBC began to work with national education associations to encourage teachers to use trade books in the classroom. This led the creation of educator-selected bibliographic projects with the National Council for the Social Studies, entitled Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, and the National Science Teachers Association, entitled Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12. These annual booklists appear, with selectors' annotations, in the journals of the respective associations.
The CBC has also worked with the International Reading Association since the early 1970s; the two organizations have explored projects that promote the awareness of the importance of children's trade books, published articles in trade journals, and released the "50 Favorite Paperbacks" pamphlet. In addition, for nearly 30 years, the CBC and IRA have co-sponsored the much-admired Children's Choices project. Ten thousand schoolchildren—2,000 from each of five geographically diverse areas of the U.S.—vote on their favorite books of the past year. Beyond its obvious value to teachers working with children in elementary classrooms and language-arts programs, this list helps parents and booksellers identify new titles to which children have a positive response.
Learn more about our Reading Lists
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USBBY and CBC
An important relationship dating back to the late 1960s is with the United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY), which is the U.S. National Section of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY). In addition to developing conferences and programs about international children's literature for presentation at other associations' conventions, USBBY is responsible for administering the selection of the United States' candidates for the biennial Hans Christian Andersen Awards and IBBY Honor List. The CBC is a patron organization of USBBY.
Learn more about USBBY
Learn more about IBBY
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Reading-Encouragement Materials
Finally, the CBC produces materials intended to inform and inspire those working with children. In addition to official Book Week materials, the CBC produces reading-encouragement materials such as posters, t-shirts, and bookmarks. The CBC publishes a semiannual newsletter, CBC Features, which includes articles about a variety of aspects of children's literature and a "Materials Available" section that identifies free or inexpensive promotional materials available from publishers.
View CBC's products in the CBC Online Store
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Awards & Prizes Online
The CBC publication Children's Books: Awards and Prizes, a reference of over 300 major domestic and international awards and prizes, was replaced in 2002 with Awards & Prizes Online, a searchable, subscriber-only database. Updated monthly, Awards & Prizes Online is a unique, invaluable resource for librarians, teachers, and anyone interested in award-winning children's books.
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Programs for Publishing Personnel
See our section on Professional Development Programs.
CBC Annual Report
CBC produces an annual report that details our accomplishments of the previous year.
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CBC Features Lifetime Subscription
Our semi-annual newsletter contains original articles by authors, illustrators, and other experts on themes from poetry to publishing. The lifetime subscription to Features keeps anyone who works with children up to date on educational and publishing trends, plus provides offers of publishers' free promotional materials in every issue.
CBC Features Goes Digital in 2008!
Beginning with the publication of the Spring 2008 issue in January 2008, CBC Features will be an e-newsletter. Current CBC Features subscribers must provide a valid email address to the Children s Book Council by December 31, 2007 to ensure timely delivery of their Spring 2008 issue. Please send your full name, current mailing address (for subscription verification), and preferred email address to cbcfeatures.addresses@cbcbooks.org. New subscribers will be asked for the email addresses during the ordering process. All subscribers will need to configure their spam filters to accept email from cbcfeatures@cbcbooks.org. Excerpt and more information.
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