This Free Comic Book Day, comic book stores will be among the first to kick off Children’s Book Week (May 4-10, 2015), the annual celebration of books for young people and the joy of reading, by giving away over two million comics to younger readers! With over two dozen kid-friendly offerings from a wide array of publishers, there’s a free comic book available to help every young reader get into the spirit of Children’s Book Week. Established in 1919, Children’s Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. Every year commemorative events are held nationwide at schools, libraries, bookstores, homes, and now comic book stores!
Diamond Comic Distributors and Comic Book Legal Defense Fund are joining forces with the Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader to develop cross-industry promotion for Free Comic Book Day and Children’s Book Week (CBW). The Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader has named Free Comic Book Day as an official event, supported on its website, bookweekonline.com, and all social media and newsletter channels. Diamond will distribute CBW materials to more than 2,000 comic book stores, and promote the event online using freecomicbookday.com, and all associated social media. Comic Book Legal Defense Fund will develop and promote events with member stores, make available free information resources including Raising A Reader! How Comics & Graphic Novels Can Help Your Kids Love to Read!, and promote Children’s Book Week events through its website, weekly newsletter, and print newsletter CBLDF Defender.
To ensure retailers have an opportunity to include Children’s Book Week in their Free Comic Book Day planning, we’ve prepared the following list of kids’ titles available on Free Comic Book Day. To learn more about Children’s Book Week, and how your store can participate, please contact Charles Brownstein at CBLDF (Charles.Brownstein@cbldf.org) or Shaina Birkhead from CBC (shaina.birkhead@cbcbooks.org).
- 2015 Bongo Comics Free-for-All! / Bongo Comics
- Avatar, Plants vs. Zombies, Bandette / Dark Horse
- All-New, All-Different Avengers / Marvel Comics
- Bob’s Burgers / Dynamite
- Bodie Troll and Friends 2015 / Red 5 Comics
- Captain Canuck / Chapter House
- Defend Comics / CBLDF
- FCBD 2015 Teen Titans Go / Scooby Doo Team Up / DC Entertainment
- Graphix Spotlight: Cleopatra in Space Target Practice / Scholastic Inc.
- Gronk and Friends / Action Lab Entertainment
- Jurassic Strike Force 5 / Zenescope Entertainment
- Boom! Studios 10th Anniversary FCBD Special / Boom! Studios
- March Grand Prix: FCBD 2015 Edition / Capstone Publishing
- Overstreet’s Comic Book Marketplace / Gemstone Publishing
- Perfect Square Presents: Pokemon Adventures / VIZ Media
- Rabbids: FCBD Edition / Papercutz
- Sonic/Mega Man II / Archie Comic Publications
- SpongeBob Freestyle Funnies 2015 / United Plankton Pictures
- Stan Lee’s Chakra the Incredible / Liquid Comics
- Steampunk Goldilocks / Antarctic Press
- SuperMutant Magic Academy / Step Aside, Pops! Combo Special / Drawn & Quarterly
- Terrible Lizard #1 / Oni Press
- The Phantom FCBD Special / Hermes Press
- The Stuff of Legend: A Call to Arms Preview / Th3rd World
- The Tick 2015 FCBD / New England Comics
- Transformers Robots in Disguise #0 / IDW Publishing
- Worlds of Aspen 2015 / Aspen Comics
About Every Child a Reader (ECAR)—Every Child a Reader is a 501(c)(3) literacy organization dedicated to instilling a lifelong love of reading in children. Every Child a Reader creates and supports programs that strive to make the reading and enjoyment of children’s books an essential part of America’s educational and social aims and enhance public perception of the importance of reading. ECAR’s programs include Children’s Book Week, a nationwide celebration of books and reading, and the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country; The Children’s Choice Book Awards, the only national book awards program where the winning titles are selected by kids and teens of all ages; and The National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Program, the country’s “Children’s Literature Laureate”. Please visit http://www.ecarfoundation.org.
About The Children’s Book Council (CBC) — The Children’s Book Council is the national nonprofit trade association for children’s book publishers. The CBC offers children’s publishers the opportunity to work together on issues of importance to the industry at large, including educational programming, literacy advocacy, and collaborations with other national organizations. Our members span the spectrum from large international houses to smaller independent presses. The CBC is proud to partner with other national organizations on co-sponsored reading lists, educational programming, and literacy initiatives. Please visit http://www.cbcbooks.org for more information.
About Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) — Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is a non-profit organization protecting the freedom to read comics! Our work protects readers, creators, librarians, retailers, publishers, & educators who face the threat of censorship. We monitor legislation & challenge laws that would limit the First Amendment. We create resources that promote understanding of comics & the rights our community is guaranteed. Every day we publish news & information about censorship events as they happen. We are partners in the Kids’ Right to Read Project & Banned Books Week. Our expert legal team is available at a moment’s notice to respond to First Amendment emergencies. CBLDF is a lean organization that works hard to protect the rights that our community depends on. For more information, visit www.cbldf.org
About Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) — Free Comic Book Day is the comic book specialty market’s annual event where participating comic book shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their comic shops. The event is held the first Saturday in May and is the perfect opportunity to introduce friends and family to the many worlds of wonder available at local comic book shops. From super-heroes to slice-of-life to action/adventure and beyond, Free Comic Book Day has a comic book for everyone! For more information, visit www.freecomicbookday.com.
About Diamond Comic Distributors (DCD) — Diamond is at the nexus of comics and pop culture merchandise. Based in Baltimore, MD, DCD is the world’s largest distributor of English-language comic books and pop-culture related merchandise, servicing more than 4,000 specialty retailers worldwide. For more information, visit Diamond on the web at www.diamondcomics.com.