Junior Juries is a unique programme for schools, libraries and book clubs, designed to encourage reading for pleasure and appreciation for a wide variety of books for all ages.

Participating classes and book clubs make their own selection of suitable titles from the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards shortlist, which will be announced on 7th February online and at Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast. We will provide your group with a specially designed digital resource pack so participants can engage with the chosen books by taking part in quizzes, debates, discussions, research projects, creative writing, and visual art activities which will enhance their reading experience. At the end of this process, each group is asked to collectively score the books they have read. The deadline for submitting scores is 10th May 2024. Children’s Books Ireland will collate these scores to determine the winner of the Junior Juries’ Award, which will be presented by Junior Jury members at the official prize-giving ceremony on 22nd May as part of International Literature Festival Dublin.

Registration is completely free!

All groups will receive:

• A digital resource pack
• Bookmarks
• Poster

As part of the Junior Juries scheme registered groups can apply for the following free opportunities*:

An online or in-person author or illustrator visit to your school March – April 2024
A visit from a KPMG volunteer on 21 March 2024
Copies of the shortlisted books
A chance to be part of a short online video about the Junior Juries
Attending the in-person awards ceremony on 22 May 2024

*These opportunities are limited and based on need. Applications for books or author/illustrator/volunteer visits will be given to those groups who show most need.

We're keen to expand the Junior Juries even further than before and have groups from across the island of Ireland signing up. If you have any colleagues, friends or family who might be interested in the scheme with a group of young readers please forward them this email.

Register online here: www.surveymonkey.com/<wbr />r/YKYN6WK.

Further information about the awards and the Junior Juries scheme can be found here: childrensbooksireland.<wbr />ie/what-we-do/kpmg-childrens-<wbr />books-ireland-awards/junior-<wbr />juries-programme

Registration for the Junior Juries is ongoing. However, if you’d like to apply for an author visit or visit from a KPMG volunteer please ensure to register your class or book club no later than 1 March 2024.

Key dates:
7 February: Shortlist announcement
1 March: closing date Junior Juries registration if applying for author/volunteer visit
March-April: author/illustrator visits
21 March: KPMG Volunteer visits
24 April: deadline submission Reading Hero nominations
10 May: deadline submission Junior Juries scores
22 May: Awards ceremony

If you have any questions about the Junior Juries’ scheme or the awards, please send an email to awards@childrensbooksireland.<wbr />ie.