'Blue Peter' launches new Book Badge and Club

"Blue Peter" has unveiled a new book badge, designed by Sir Quentin Blake, accompanied by a dedicated monthly book club.

The Blue Peter Book Badge will be awarded to children aged from five to 15 who “send in their thoughts on a book, draw a character or scene and share which other books and writers they love,” organisers said.

BBC Arts will support the monthly club by bringing the books to life through animation, BBC Bitesize Primary will create companion guides to the books for children aged seven to nine, while CBBC HQ will showcase writing, drawings and comments sent in by children.

Organisers said: “Getting kids excited about great books has always been important for ’Blue Peter’ and so, as well as launching the new badge, they have teamed up with The Reading Agency and BBC Arts to bring viewers a monthly Book Club jam-packed with fantastic stories.

"Each month, presenters will showcase a new book and be joined by young readers to talk about the incredible stories, new worlds and fascinating characters they discover.”

BBC Radio 1 DJ Greg James along with his co-author Chris Smith, who are helping to launch the club, said they were “absolutely honoured” to be involved.

They added: “Reading is a superpower, and we know the Blue Peter Book Club and Book badge are going to inspire children across the country to put on their capes and pick up a book. We certainly know how excited we were to get our own ’Blue Peter’ badges – so it’s brilliant there is now a badge dedicated to reading, to show children just how important it is."

Sarah Muller, BBC children’s senior head of children’s commissioning for seven plus, said: "We know lots of our ’Blue Peter’ audience love books, we want to tap into that passion and inspire even more children to join us on this epic reading adventure.”

Karen Napier, c.e.o. of The Reading Agency added: "The Reading Agency is delighted to be collaborating with the ’Blue Peter’ team to get their viewers excited about reading. Thank you to our library and bookseller partners for helping us to create this list, which has something for everyone."

In partnership with The Reading Agency, an expert panel of librarians, booksellers and children in library sessions, "Blue Peter" has selected a list of Book Club recommended reads: 

• Michael the Amazing Mind-Reading Sausage Dog by Terrie Chilvers and illustrated by Tim Budgen (Firefly Press)
• Finding Her Feet by Eve Ainsworth and illustrated by Luna Valentine (Barrington Stoke, HarperCollins)
• The Christmas Carrolls by Mel Taylor-Bessent and illustrated by Selom Sunu (Farshore, HarperCollins)
• Juniper Mae: Knight of Tykotech City written and illustrated by Sarah Soh (Flying Eye, Nobrow)
• Poems Aloud: an anthology of poems to read out loud by Joseph Coelho and illustrated by Daniel Gray-Barnett (Wide Eyed Editions, Quarto Publishing Group)
• Am I Made of Stardust? by Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock and illustrated by Chelen Ecija (Buster Books, Michael O’Mara Books)

The Blue Peter Book badge will join the Quentin Blake archive which will eventually be shown at the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration, opening in Clerkenwell in 2025. 

In July 2022, it was revealed that the Blue Peter Book Awards were being axed after more than two decades following a mutual decision made by the programme and reading charity BookTrust, which ran the prize on behalf of the BBC.