World Book Day 2020 launch

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Unveiling the £1 books for 2020!

On the morning of Monday 23rd September we were thrilled to announce the fabulous range of 15 new £1 books for World Book Day 2020 at The Bookseller’s Children’s Conference in London. And we were joined by four of the authors themselves for a chat about what World Book Day means to them.

Our very own Kirsten Grant, Director of World Book Day, gave a speech to a packed crowd of professionals from children’s publishing, talking about the positive impact of World Book Day, the essential role reading for pleasure and sharing stories play in a child’s life and the campaign for 2020, focused around our ambitious plan to Share A Million Stories.

Next we heard from Rob Biddulph, best-selling author and the official World Book Day illustrator for the second year, who read out a moving letter he received from a lady whose granddaughter’s reluctance to read was transformed by World Book Day. Rob also had the important job of revealing the full list of 15 books that will be available from February 2020.

Pete Selby, Head of Books for WHSmith, then took to the stage and introduced our panel of authors, all of whom have written special edition books for World Book Day 2020:

Matt Haig, author of Evie in the Jungle
Onjali Rauf, author of The Day We Met the Queen
Matthew Syed, author of My Awesome Guide to Getting Good At Stuff
Robin Stevens, author of The Case of the Drowned Pearl

During the panel discussion, Matt Haig said, “I’m a massive advocate of reading for pleasure. The fact that it’s just there at the centre of the universe is just brilliant.” While Robin Stevens added, “This list is so interesting and diverse and I know kids will find a book they really love.”

Find out more about all of this year’s £1 books here – there are 15 in total, including one additional exclusive title for Ireland and two Welsh-language books which will be available in Wales only.