In the National Year of Reading and as Andersen Press celebrates its 50th anniversary, Alice Milner-Watt, Head of Brand, pauses to reflect on how the publishing industry can encourage children to read more, and read better:
I realise here that I am preaching to the choir. Everyone who is reading this article will agree: children must be encouraged to fall in love with reading as we all have. Our job this year and in the years to come, is to show that books don’t have to sit apart from the bright and loud media world available to young minds, but can exist successfully within it – with a little help from school libraries, of course!
Too often, I see the debate around declining literacy framed as a war in which we are fighting against screens for the time and attention of young children. But if we reframe this and see the changing landscape not as a threat but as an opportunity, we can preserve the book as the beating heart of a multimedia landscape.
For fifty years, Andersen Press has published stories that families return to again and again. Books like David McKee’s Elmer have seen a full generational cycle. Parents remember their own experience of reading Elmer stories for the first time, and want to revive that shared experience with their own children. But today’s children – and adults alike – are starting to experience stories differently than they did when Andersen was founded. Expectations have shifted. Across the media industry, we’ve seen a rise in appetite for interactive, live events that bring people closer to the entertainment brands they know and love. From in-person podcast events to influencer livestreams, the entertainment world is shifting from passive consumption to active participation, generating shared moments that build fan communities and connect people. How can we harness that power in the children’s book industry?
One opportunity for the book world is clear. Celebration days like Elmer Day show how we can turn stories into shared events, and experiences into reading habits. For ten years now, Elmer Day has reached tens of thousands of children globally, through local events run by libraries, schools and retailers. With his message of celebrating difference and friendship, Elmer naturally lends himself to a sense of community and shared experience, but Elmer Day is not just a celebration of a beloved picture book character – it’s an invitation to interact with a story world. It’s not about distracting children from reading, but rather about deepening the experience. When children paint an Elmer picture together, hear the story read aloud, talk about what makes them unique, and maybe even take a book home, reading becomes embedded not just in memory but in meaning.
Librarians and teachers are the ambassadors of celebration days in schools. We as publishers provide the resources, and teachers and librarians translate those into meaningful, inclusive experiences for children in schools, from classroom to library space. This year, we are creating brand new resources to help create an unforgettable reading experience, keeping the books at the core of every event. Our 2026 activity pack is bigger and better than ever: with drama activity plans, teaching resources linking back to the books, and some fun colouring and crafting activities, there’s everything you’ll need to create a fun and colourful day together.
New for Elmer Day 2026 and in partnership with High Street Safari, we are offering every bookshop and library a printable QR code that will allow children to see Elmer come to life in 3D augmented reality. Scan the code on any device to see an animated, interactive Elmer in 3D in front of your eyes, providing the perfect opportunity for a photo to share, or perhaps just the joy of seeing a favourite character come to life in a familiar space.
Every year, Elmer Day is what bookshops, schools and libraries make it, and organisations such as the SLA play a vital role in supporting that work. We are fortunate to have cultivated story worlds that children know and love, true heritage properties like Elmer, that stand the test of time. When it comes to these heritage book brands where the character and the world transcend the page, we have the perfect opportunity to harness young imaginations through experiences and events like Elmer Day, bringing children back to bookshops, back into libraries, and back to the original medium: the book. After all, hasn’t creating worlds always been at the heart of the children’s book industry? Perhaps now we just have a new and exciting toolset to work with. So sign up for Elmer Day this year, and together, let’s make it bigger and better than ever!
Elmer Day 2026 is on 23rd May but Andersen Press is encouraging nurseries, schools, libraries and bookshops to host events throughout the month to suit your schedule.
Sign up to take part via www.elmer.co.uk and join in the celebration on socials by following @elmerthepatchworkelephant on all networks and using #ElmerDay.