Thank YOU from International Book Giving Day 2014

So now it’s over to me.

I am truly humbled by your response to International Book Giving Day 2014.

On the day itself we had nearly 10,000 views on the website!! Facebook ‘likers’ nearly doubled  in the lead up to 14th Feb, and Twitter went wonderfully crazy!

Many, many truly inspirational & generous stories emerged on the day. It was truly fabulous.

To say thank you … I’ve got something for you at the end of this post.

There is an important roll call of thank yous to offer …

Behind the scenes Amy Broadmoore, who first established IBGD in 2012, has continued to help me navigate many, many areas.

The response from children’s illustrators has been truly fabulous. I am in awe of their talent, and totally appreciative of their willingness to produce fab works of art. For us. For free.

Dub Leffler, Nicky Johnston, Marc Martin, Tim Budgen, Karl Newson, Mariann Maray,

I hope you will continue to support their work throughout the year.

Thank you to the publishers who have kindly donated heaps of books. They include, but are not limited to, Random House UK, Scholastic AU and Allen & Unwin.

Thanks to the authors who publicly supported International Book Giving Day – you can see the wonderful list on the left.

And thank you to all those who helped to spread the word, and these guys who have added their support.

There are several stories that stand out from the day – I still remember the feeling of awe when I discovered that ALL inpatients of the Royal Melbourne Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia were gifted a book on the day thanks to Scholastic AU.

Here are your highlights:

‘smiles’  Amber IIene LeBlanc

‘the anticipation of knowing someone was going to get a book and their reaction’ Karin

‘how surprised and happy colleagues and neighbors were to receive unexpected books for their children’ Anne

‘t was great to see all the enthusiasm for giving away books. Next year I will be more organized and plan in advance!’ Sara

‘the look on the face of the receiver’ Amy

‘I love that both of my girls cracked open their books right away, but their boxes of chocolates are still sealed up.’ Sunny

‘just seeing how wonderful and kind people are.’ Paula

‘It was fantastic! Lots of feel-god stories and I won a book, too’ Angela

‘knowing that the person you gave a book too was in for a wonderful surprise and treat.’ The Book Trailer

‘thought it was lovely but despite best efforts didn’t give enough books away.’ Jayne

‘talking to authors on Twitter – they are so passionate about what they do. X’ Tricia

‘Oh how wonderful and I just discovered this — I vote for BookGivingWeekend … !’ Cynthia

‘planning took 3 days-was over in 2 hours – had a blast with our book giving activity. truly inspiring!’ Salma

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

This is for you, from the talented hands of Karl Newson. Please share.

…. I’m off to continue planning for 2015!