HACHETTE BOOK GROUP AND HACHETTE UK PARTNERS WITH BARNES & NOBLE AND WATERSTONES TO LAUNCH RAISING READERS STORYTIMES
A major three-day #RaisingReaders collaboration to promote the joys and benefits of reading with children.
NEW YORK & LONDON (September 3, 2026) — In an exclusive partnership, global publishing powerhouses Hachette Book Group and Hachette UK are joining forces with Barnes & Noble and Waterstones to launch Raising Readers Storytimes, an extension of the #ReadingisGolden Campaign.
Storytime is a trusted tool in the repertoire of most children’s booksellers, using the power of reading aloud to enchant even the youngest children with a good story. Taking place from September 18–20, this massive three-day event will amplify this magic and ignite a passion for books in young children across both sides of the Atlantic.
Designed for children ages 3 to 8, the weekend will celebrate the crucial role reading picture books aloud can play in child development. From listening skills and visual interpretation to building children’s imagination, storytime is a truly joyful way of learning.
In more than 720 locations across the U.S., Barnes & Noble booksellers will bring Caldecott Honor-winner Christopher Denise’s beloved Knight Owl to life. Meanwhile, in the UK, Waterstones will host events featuring Rachel Bright and Jim Field, the acclaimed creators behind Hachette Children’s Group’s bestselling picture book series whose nine titles include The Lion Inside, The Squirrels Who Squabbled, The Koala Who Could and The Turtle Who Turned the Tide.
“Reading together is one of the simplest and most meaningful ways to spark a lifelong love of books in children,” said James Daunt, CEO of Barnes & Noble & Waterstones. “Every day in our bookstores we see the joy that a great story can bring to families. We are delighted to join Hachette Book Group and Hachette UK in this wonderful initiative to celebrate the power of storytime.”
The campaign centers on a simple yet transformative habit: encouraging parents and caregivers to spend just 10 minutes a day reading with their children.
“We know from research that reading for fun as a child is the greatest predicter of future success – more than education, social background or anything else. And being read to is the best way to inculcate this love of reading,” said David Shelley, CEO of Hachette Book Group and Hachette UK. “So, we’re really thrilled to be partnering with Barnes & Noble, Waterstones, Christopher Denise, Rachel Bright, and Jim Field to bring the magic of reading to thousands of young people.”
The festivities kick off on Friday, September 18, with targeted school outreach:
- US: Barnes & Noble and HBG will bring special Knight Owl storytimes to up to 1,000 elementary schools as kids gear up for the new school year.
- UK: Bestselling duo Rachel Bright and Jim Field will host their first-ever national, free Virtual School Event on Friday, September 18 (10:30 AM–11:15 AM BST).
These exclusive school sessions will launch a weekend packed with interactive in-store events, expert tips for parents, and free Raising Readers resources across participating Barnes & Noble and Waterstones bookstores. Contact your local Barnes & Noble or Waterstones to discover when your store’s storytime will take place.
The partnership builds on Barnes & Noble and Waterstones’ support of Hachette’s Raising Readers campaign, including their role in helping launch the official Raising Readers public service announcement (PSA), which highlights the joys and benefits of reading with your child even for just 10 minutes a day.
To join the movement, follow and share using #RaisingReaders and #ReadingIsGolden.
Raising Readers US | Raising Readers UK
For more information please contact:
Hachette Book Group (US): Gabrielle Gambrell, Chief Communications Officer, Hachette Book Group: Gabrielle.Gambrell@hbgusa.com
Hachette UK: Rebecca Logan, PR Director, Hachette Children’s Group: rebecca.logan@hachettechildrens.co.uk
About WATERSTONES AND BARNES & NOBLE
WATERSTONES is the UK and Ireland’s leading high street bookseller with 320 bookshops, including Foyles, Hatchards, Hodges Figgis, Blackwell’s and branches in Ireland, Brussels and Amsterdam. It is the only national specialist book retailer of scale in the UK, with the average sized shop carrying a range of around 30,000 individual books and with over 200,000 titles in the largest shop.
BARNES & NOBLE, INC. is the largest retail bookseller in the United States. The Company has 720 bookstores across the United States, as well as its online bookstore at bn.com, the NOOK digital business which offers both eBooks and audiobooks, including the B&N Audiobooks subscription, the SparkNotes educational service, and stationery and gift retailer Paper Source. General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be found on the Company’s website at www.bn.com.
About RAISING READERS
Raising Readers was launched by UK and US CEO David Shelley in 2024, with the campaign’s core engine utilising the power of Hachette’s creative and consumer network. Back-of-book letters advocating for family reading time are included across adult fiction and nonfiction print, ebook and audiobooks. By the end of 2026, the Raising Readers call to action will reach an estimated 25 million print and digital copies worldwide. To reach multi-format audiences, the initiative features dedicated audio messages recorded by high-profile spokespersons, including Academy Award-winning actress Reese Witherspoon (US) and author and broadcaster Lorraine Kelly (UK).
Studies show that reading for enjoyment has seen a steep, rapid decline for more than a decade. Reading for fun among 13-year-olds has declined by nearly half since 2012 in the U.S., according to survey data published in June 2026 by the Education Department’s National Center for Education Statistics. Meanwhile, the portion of 9-year-olds who read for fun has declined 16 percentage points in the past 13 years. Other studies have shown that the percentage of children who read for fun fell from 53% in 2012 to 39% in 2022.
Recent data from the National Literacy Trust highlights a stark reality: only 36.1% of 8–18-year-olds read for pleasure, with the gap widening between children from disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers. Because reading for fun is the single biggest predictor of a child’s future life chances, outranking family income or parental education, Hachette is leveraging its massive global footprint to reverse this trend and encourage parents and carers to read with their child for 10 minutes a day.
About HACHETTE BOOK GROUP
Hachette Book Group (HBG) is a leading U.S. general-interest book publisher made up of dozens of esteemed imprints within the publishing groups Basic Books Group, Grand Central Publishing Group, Hachette Audio, Little, Brown and Company, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Orbit, Workman Publishing, and Running Press Group. We also provide custom distribution, fulfillment, and sales services to several publishing companies.
Our books and authors have received the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, Caldecott Medal, Newbery Medal, Booker Prize, Nobel Prize, James Beard Award, and other major honors.
We are committed to diversity in our company and our publishing programs, and to fostering a culture of inclusion for all our employees and authors. We are proud to be part of Hachette Livre, the world’s third-largest trade and educational publisher.
Visit hachettebookgroup.com to learn more about HBG imprints. For updated news follow HBG on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Threads, TikTok, X.com, Snapchat, and YouTube.
About HACHETTE UK
Our mission at Hachette UK is to make it easy for everyone to discover new worlds of ideas, learning, entertainment and opportunity.
We are the UK’s second-largest publishing group with 10 autonomous divisions and over 50 imprints with a rich and diverse history. We are the market leader in e-books and publish a range of bestsellers in audio format, the fastest-growing part of our business.
We publish thousands of new books across the group every year and our authors include Rebecca Yarros, Stephen King, Alice Oseman, John Grisham, Adam Kay, Val McDermid, David Nicholls, J.K. Rowling, Ian Rankin, and Malala Yousafzai. We are the proud publishers of Jane Austen, Charles Darwin, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Lord Byron.
Our award-winning adult publishing divisions are Little, Brown, Orion, John Murray Press, Hodder & Stoughton, Headline, Bookouture and Octopus. Hachette Children’s Group publishes a diverse range of books for children of all ages and Hachette Learning is a market leader in high-quality educational materials and services. In 2022, we welcomed Paperblanks, the second-largest premium stationery brand in the world, to our group.
We have eight offices around the UK, including our headquarters in London and the Hely Hutchinson Centre (HHC) for distribution in Didcot. We have subsidiaries in several other regions, including Australia, India, Ireland, Jamaica and New Zealand.
About Christopher Denise:
Christopher Denise is the award-winning creator of Knight Owl, which was a Caldecott Honor Award winner, a #1 New York Times bestseller, and an ALA-ALSC Notable Book for Children, among many other honors. Christopher is also the illustrator of many critically acclaimed books for young readers, including Groundhug Day and Firefly Hollow. He invites you to visit him online at christopherdenise.com.
About Rachel Bright:
Rachel Bright is a wordsmith, illustrator and professional thinker of happy thoughts. A prolific creator, she has written countless bestselling books for children, including Love Monster, The Lion Inside, The Koala Who Could and The Worrysaurus and has won many prestigious awards including The Lollies, The Evening Standard Oscar’s Book Prize and The Sainsbury’s Book Award. Her books have been translated into 47 languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide. She is also the creator of award-winning stationery and homewares range, The Brightside. Rachel lives in a forest clearing near the seaside, with her partner, their two young daughters and numerous animals.
About Jim Field:
Jim Field is an award-winning illustrator, character designer and animation director. He has won multiple awards including the BookTrust Roald Dahl Funny Prize, Oscar’s Book Prize, Sainsbury’s Children’s Book Awards and The Lollies Book Award. He regularly collaborates with Rachel Bright (THE LION INSIDE), and Kes Gray (OI FROG!) as well as writing and illustrating his own bilingual books in the MONSIEUR ROSCOE series.
About HACHETTE CHILDREN’S GROUP
Hachette Children’s Group is one of the largest children’s publishers in the UK, with an outstanding track record in creating bestselling and award-winning books for children and young people. The Group is committed to raising readers whatever their age, stage or interest, with vibrant lists offering a book for every child, including baby and pre-school books, picture books, gift, fiction, non-fiction, books for the school and library market and licensed publishing.
HCG comprises the imprints Orchard Books, Starboard, Tempest; Blyton Books, Wren & Rook, Welbeck Children’s Books, Laurence King, Franklin Watts and Wayland.
The Group publishes a wide range of authors, illustrators, series and licences including: A.B. Hamilton, Adiba Jaigirdar, Alex T. Smith, Alex Wheatle, Alexandra Bracken, Alice Oseman, Cariad Lloyd, Chris Chatterton, Chris Smith, Cressida Cowell, David Almond, Dean Atta, Dermot O’Leary, Forest Xiao, Francesca Simon, Gabby’s Dollhouse, Giles Andreae, Guy Parker-Rees, Jacqueline Wilson, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Jessica Townsend, Jim Field, J.J. Arcanjo, J.K. Rowling, Julian Gough, Kes Gray, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, L. D. Lapinski, Laini Taylor, Lauren Child, Lauren St John, Leigh Bardugo, Matt Goodfellow, Matt Oldfield, Matthew Syed, Mike Brownlow, Neil Coslett, Official Mr Bean, Onjali Q. Raúf, Piers Torday, Rachel Bright, Rainbow Magic, Ramzee, Rev. Richard Coles, Robert Muchamore, Simon Mugford, Simon Rickerty, Siobhan McDermott, The Magic Pet Shop, Tom Tinn Disbury and Yassmin Abdel-Magied.
Hachette Children’s Group is also the owner of Enid Blyton Entertainment.