The Bookseller.com

2nd December 2008

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World Book Day to adopt flip book

02.07.08 Benedicte Page

World Book Day may link up with National Join a Library Day if the latter becomes an annual event. National Year of Reading project director Honor Wilson-Fletcher's proposal that the two events take place simultaneously next year was welcomed for discussion by Neil Jewsbury, World Book Day chair for 2009, at a review of this year's WBD event held at Penguin's office in the Strand on Tuesday (1st July).

Jewsbury also revealed that for the next WBD on 5th March 2009, five of the six £1 titles would be "flip books" which include two titles in one (see below). He said that he intends to "deliver a level playing field for all [retail] participants" in 2009 through measures such as formalising the agreed redemption period for book tokens. A working group will examine the potential for £1 book tokens to be redeemed online as well as through schools and bookshops, he added. The illustrator for WBD 2009 will be Puffin's Ed Vere.

A review of this year's event declared it the "best ever" World Book Day, with Nielsen BookScan figures showing a total market upswing of 2.4% in unit sales over the seven-week period surrounding the event, rising to 14.7% in children's. Over that seven-week period, the £1 titles sold 935,340 units in total, up 12% on last year. Retailer participation held steady at 3,000 stores, although library participation was down year-on-year with 95% of library authorities participating against 100% in 2007.

Quick Reads extended its reach this year to 98,000 copies sold, with the first major impact evaluation of the Quick Reads programme, through a National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) assessment of 30,000 adult learners, finding that 89% said they were more likely to read another book since reading a Quick Read title.

World Book Day 2009's £1 titles

The Tyrannosaurus Drip Songbook by Julia Donaldson and David Roberts
(Macmillan)

Age Five + Flip Book: Winnie to the Rescue by Laura Owen and Korky Paul (OUP) and Yuck's Rotten Joke by Matt and Dave (Simon & Schuster)

Age Seven + Flip Book: Mr Gum and the Hound of Lamonic Bibber by Andy Stanton (Egmont) and Beast Quest: Sephir the Storm Monster by Adam Blade (Orchard)

Age Nine + Flip Book: Percy Jackson and the Sword of Hades by Rick Riordan (Puffin) and Horrible Histories: Groovy Greeks by Terry Deary and Martin Brown (Scholastic)

Age Nine + Flip Book: Interception Point by Mark Walden (Bloomsbury) and The Spook's Tale by Joseph Delaney (Random House)

Age Eleven + Flip Book: An Episode from Mates Dates: The Secret Story by Cathy Hopkins (Piccadilly) and Ten Stations by Jenny Valentine (HarperCollins)

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