Today is American Thanksgiving and tomorrow is Black Friday. Honestly, I feel like I’ve just lived through a month of Black Fridays. The advertising started weeks back; so did promotions for Cyber Monday.

But after Monday comes Tuesday. The 7^th annual Giving Tuesday. Billed as the ‘opening day of the giving season,’ Giving Tuesday is a time when charities, companies and individuals join together and support favorite causes. It’s also a time to focus on small individual acts of kindness.

This year, the Canadian Children’s Book Centre is participating in #GivingTuesday to raise money for Canadian Children’s Book Week 2020. Book Week is designed to give schools, libraries and community centres across Canada an opportunity to have an author, illustrator or storyteller visit. I’ve been lucky enough to participate twice: going to Montreal in 2006 and to Ontario in 2015. It’s a whirlwind week, doing back-to-back talks in schools for five or six days straight, but it’s one of the best ways I know to share the creative process with young readers and inspire a love of reading.

Book Week is searching for a new sponsor. While that takes place, the CCBC is being proactive and asking for help. Their goal is to raise $5,000 to support Book Week, which will cover 20 readings and reach nearly 1,000 children. All the money donated goes directly towards the Adopt-a-School program. If you’re able to help, here’s the link:

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/the-canadian-childrens-book-centre/campaign/givingtuesday-support-2020-canadian-childrens-book-week/