World Book Day Again

I've written about World Book Day before and about children's literature more broadly in The Good Immigrant and here but a text from a colleague asking for ideas for Black characters from children's books reminded me it's coming up again.

I replied to the text as follows (I posted this on twitter but have now corrected the typos) :

I think the dressing up thing is played out. Focus on books - reading them, writing them, discussing them, reviewing them.

Hold a book competition where they need to rate the top ten kids' books - get them to justify their selections referring to what makes it a compelling story. 

If you want to bring in critical perspectives, introduce categories; themes, protagonists, authors to see who and what is represented and who and what is not. 

Ultimately, extend their horizons and deepen their engagement with the written word in all its forms. 

I wonder if any of this is controversial.