Buy Nothing Day

Buy Nothing Day is held annually to raise awareness of consumerism, overconsumption and the environmental and social harm caused by excessive shopping. Marked on the same day as Black Friday, the day encourages people to ask one question: what would happen if we all stopped shopping for one day?

Those taking part are encouraged to use the day to unplug from marketing messages, step away from pre-Christmas shopping and instead think about actions that willl support people in need.

How can our school get involved in Buy Nothing Day?

A great way to get involved in Buy Nothing Day is to encourage your school community to see the value of used books.

Research has shown that one in three disadvantaged children has fewer than ten books of their own and one in ten has none.

Book ownership has been directly linked with improved mental health amongst children and young people who read for pleasure have been found to be more successful as they progress through education. By age eleven, there is a 12-month language development gap between children living in houses with books and those without.

Children's Book Project are working to give every child the opportunity to own a book they have chosen for themselves, and are continually looking for donations of books that have been outgrown or no longer needed.

Purple Mash Publishing’s newest title Brainchild, written by Ivor Baddiel and Jonny Zucker, supports the work of Children's Book Project, a fantastic charity tacking book poverty across the UK. Through this partnership, 20 copies of the book have been donated to the project.

Your school too could help to donate books to this important project.

The Children’s Book Project wants to share the message of donating pre-loved books with as many families across the UK as possible which is why we’re so excited that Purple Mash is helping us to spread the word.  We hope children enjoy participating in this social action, knowing that they’re giving another child the chance to grow up surrounded by stories.

- Kirstin Knell (Partnerships Manager)

We need your help to reach Children's Book Project's target of collecting one million books this year. Click here to find your local donation point.

Ideas for collecting donations of books

There are many ways in which your school can find or collect books to donate. Here are just a few ideas:

• Appoint Classroom Librarians from some responsible older pupils, and ask them to organise their class reading corner, boxing up any books that don't get read anymore
• Host a Christmas Library Tidy for staff - put on some festive tunes, bring mince pies and hot chocolate and seek out any books that could be donated whilst celebrating the festive period
• Run a Book Drive to encourage your school community to donate books
• Recently purchased Purple Mash Publishing's latest book, Brainchild? If you and your students have read it, consider adding it to the donate pile!

Enjoy Brainchild with your class

Brainchild is a fast-paced thrilling adventure for 10-15 year olds sparking conversations about the ultimate battle between good and evil. Twins Carl and Isobel Summers are the guardians of a secret like no other, beneath their house two halves of a human brain are growing. When the evil half is stolen and unleashed in the body of a teenager, Carol and Isobel must face terrifying consequences in a race against time.

Click here to listen to Ivor reading a chapter from the book and talking about his life as an author in the recording of our online author workshop.