Children's Book Week gift and picture book reach highest circulation in ten years
The Kinderboekenweek has achieved its highest circulation in a decade with over 400,000 copies of its featured books produced. Record sales and a strong presence in the Bestseller 60 list suggest a growing urgency among adults to address declining literacy rates among children in the Netherlands.
The annual Kinderboekenweek has reached a ten-year record in circulation figures for its featured titles. Milouska Meulens's gift book, Terug naar de Schoenenboom, saw over 360,000 copies printed, while Harmen van Straaten's picture book, Herrie in de tent, had over 47,000 copies produced. The latter has already claimed the top spot on the Bestseller 60 list, contributing to a record-breaking presence of 32 children's books within the top 60 chart this week.
Sales during the first week of the event surged by over 100,000 copies compared to the previous week. Job Jan Altena of the CPNB attributes this renewed interest to parents and educators feeling an urgent need to promote reading, especially following recent international Pisa study findings that highlighted declining literacy skills among Dutch youth. The campaign, which runs from September 30 to October 11 with the theme Spot aan!, is seen as a vital effort to counteract the broader decline in book sales across the Netherlands.
Based on reporting by nu. Translated and condensed by LocalHeadlines.
