Happy Reading Children’s Bookshop in Broadstairs has been named a Lead Literacy Champion for the National Year of Reading 2026, working in partnership with the National Literacy Trust as part of NYR South East – Thanet.
The independent children’s book shop, founded by Nicci Rosengarten in 2024, will lead literacy-focused initiatives across the Thanet community as part of the nationwide campaign to put reading at the heart of everyday life.
Serving families and schools across Thanet, Happy Reading Children’s Bookshop will organise literacy-based events, school partnerships, community reading initiatives and advocacy projects throughout the year.
The National Year of Reading 2026, under the theme “Go All In” is a national call to action encouraging families, schools, businesses and community organisations to prioritise reading for pleasure and literacy development.
As a Lead Literacy Champion, Happy Reading Children’s Bookshop will:
- Host community reading events and workshops
- Expand partnerships with local schools
- Support reading for pleasure initiatives
- Work with local organisations to promote reading-friendly spaces
- Inspire families to make reading part of daily life
Founder Nicci said: “Reading changes lives. It builds confidence, empathy, opportunity and wellbeing. Becoming a Lead Literacy Champion means we can amplify the importance of reading across Thanet and ensure more children have access to stories that reflect their world and expand it. We’re proud to Go All In for 2026.”
Happy Reading Children’s Bookshop has already built strong relationships with local schools through book clubs, author visits, curated reading support and community events.
The National Year of Reading 2026 will allow this work to expand further across the district.
World Book Day
Nicci and Happy Reading Children’s Bookshop will also be bringing thousands of £1 books directly to children across Thanet to mark World Book Day on March 5.
Nicci will take books directly into local schools, giving children the chance to choose and own a book they genuinely want to read.
Happy Reading Children’s Bookshop is supporting World Book Day with a programme of in-school pop-up book shops, alongside celebrations in its Reading Street shop above STAPLE.
In total, the book shop is supplying some 3,000 World Book Day books across Thanet.
During World Book Day week, the bookshop will be visiting schools including Foreland Fields School, Newington Community Primary School, Palm Bay Primary School, Ramsgate Arts Primary School, St Laurence-in-Thanet Junior School, St Lawrence College and St Peter-in-Thanet Junior School.
Each visit brings a fully stocked pop-up World Book Day bookshop into the school, allowing children to browse the official £1 World Book Day selection and exchange their free World Book Day Book Token for a book of their own choosing.
Nicci said: “World Book Day is about helping children feel that books belong to them. Being able to choose and own a book — sometimes for the very first time — can be a really powerful moment.”
As part of its outreach work, Happy Reading Children’s Bookshop purchases and supplies the full range of World Book Day books itself, both for its shop and for the in-school pop-up bookshops. This allows the shop to create consistent, welcoming bookshop experiences wherever children encounter them.
Nicci said: “We believe every child deserves the chance to own a book they’re excited about. “By bringing a bookshop experience directly into schools, we can remove barriers and put choice, joy and reading for pleasure at the centre of the day.”
World Book Day books will also be celebrated and available in-store in Broadstairs, where children can use their World Book Day Book tokens from now until Sunday 15 March. Tokens can be exchanged for a £1 World Book Day book or used as a £1 discount off any book in the shop. Additional World Book Day books can be purchased for £1 each.
Community members, schools and local businesses interested in partnering with Happy Reading as part of the Go All In campaign are encouraged to get in touch via: https://www.happyreading.uk/go-all-in-2026 or email [email protected]
