It’s Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. which has always been my favorite holiday because of the way it brings family and friends together, while reminding everyone of the good things in their lives.

Jen Robinson in her Thanksgiving Book Page gives thanks for the parents, teachers and librarians who bring the love of books to the lives of children. While agreeing with her warmly, I would like to add booksellers to that list–and if you would like to give thanks to your favorite children’s bookstore, here’s one way to do that.

The Women’s National Book Association is accepting nominations for this year’s Pannell Award winner, which has been given since the early 1980s to one general bookstore and one children’s specialty bookstore that have done an outstanding job in bringing children and books together, and inspiring the love of reading.

The winning stores receive a signed and framed piece of original art from a children’s book illustrator and a check for a thousand dollars. Any of us can nominate a store that we feel deserves this honor and to whom we wish to give thanks–the guidelines for nomination are posted on the WNBA website.

This month marks the second annual celebration of book groups as the Women’s National Book Association launches National Reading Group Month. Across the United States, publishers, bookstores, libraries, authors, and readers are all coming together to show their appreciation of the act of shared and thoughtful reading.

At PaperTigers, we are excited and happy that book groups are receiving the attention that they deserve, and that blogs all over the country are providing helpful tips for successful meetings and lists of suggested titles. We hope, as we all pay attention to book groups, that we pay particular attention to book groups for young readers.

It’s easy for reading to take a back seat to all of the other activities and preoccupations that usurp our free time, and for no one is that more true than for children. By making reading a sociable and scheduled activity, we give it a special priority that assures that it won’t get lost in the shuffle of daily life, and by coming together to discuss what we have read in a group of friends, we find ourselves reading more slowly, more thoughtfully, and with great pleasure. What better way is there for our children to spend their time than to share what they have read with friends who have read it too?

We at PaperTigers have our own book group, The Tiger’s Choice, where adults and children come together online to read and discuss a book that all ages can read with equal pleasure. Over the past ten months, we have explored different cultures and different countries from Cambodia to Germany during World War Two. We read with the desire to bring the world closer, and to make multicultural literacy a global undertaking, not merely a national one. We believe that children who learn to appreciate and understand the cultures of other countries will grow to be people who will live harmoniously and respectfully in the world.

As we celebrate National Reading Group Month, we invite you to join our own reading group, and ask you to let us know what reading groups you offer for children. What are you reading? What has worked for your reading group and what has not? Let’s talk!