Book Talk Challenge

Competition Closed: please note, the deadline for submitting entries for the Book Talk prize draw has passed.

The resources will remain available here as a set of actvities you can use at any time in your classroom or school library to promote book talk, sharing recommendations, reading for pleasure and diverse book choice.

Aim of the reading challenge

Supported by our partner BookSpace, The Book Talk Challenge is open to all UK schools and is for students aged 5 to 14 years.

It encourages students to value talking about books with their peers, teachers and family and enables young people to recommend texts and share in a growing reading experience.

The challenge celebrates reading for pleasure and helps confidence, engagement in reading and motivation to read aiming to build reading stamina and to foster a love for a diverse range of books.

Get involved

Resources to get started include:

• Teacher guidelines for delivery, including curriculum links and book genre considerations, and details on how to support student book talk and book presentations
• Printable A1 poster of the Book Talk Reading Tree perfect for a classroom, library or shared space (please note: the poster is four conjoined A3 pieces)
• Printable book motifs for students to annotate and attach to the branches
• Book lists with reading suggestions for all three age groups
• Certificates for all participating students
• Recognition certificate for the student(s) who best supports the challenge
• Opportunity to discover the teacher's and students' top picks, the group's favourite genre and vote for the top book talk presentation

You'll find links to download these resources if you scroll down on this page. You will need to have as a minimum, free membership of the National Literacy Trust to be able to access the resources.

Terms and conditions for The Book Talk Challenge competition

Prize Draw

Entry to the prize draw has closed.

If you completed this challenge in your school by fulfilling as much of the poster as possible and submitted a photo of your poster Friday 27 June 2025, you will have been included in the prize draw. A winner will be chosen at random, and we will notify the winner directly using the email address supplied on the entry submission.

Our partner BookSpace is generously gifting a beautiful Book Tree display unit as our winning prize of this reading challenge. The BookSpace Book Tree is a wonderful addition to any reading space!

You are, of course, welcome to complete the challenge and make use of the resource even thought the prize draw has closed.

If you have any queries about our Reading Champions Reading Challenge series then don’t hesitate to contact us at competitions@literacytrust.org.uk.

Our funders

BookSpace is a Library Design Service where the designers are experts in creating exciting libraries for children and young people. Years of working with primary and secondary schools and listening to their needs has enabled BookSpace to develop a range of library products and services which work for any size, shape and purpose.

National Literacy Trust Reading Champions is supported by ALCS.

Find out more about the National Reading Champions Quiz and Challenges.

Explore useful teaching resources developed by ALCS to support understanding and communication about copyright with guides for children, young people and teachers.

Watch this ALCS animation as a great starting point to helping your students understand copyright in a fun and interactive way. Karl Nova uses his voice and talent to bring the importance of copyright for writers and artists to life in this video from ALCS.