Bookelicious Makes Summer Reading Fun With Personalized Picks For Kids

As the end of the school years nears and concerns about “summer slide” return, Bookelicious is on a mission to make summer reading both enjoyable and educational with Bookmojis, a gamified book discovery tool that helps match children with titles theyll be excited to read.

Bookmojis are central to the Bookelicious platform, launched in 2021 by founder and CEO Lee Anne Borders, of the Borders bookstore family. The platform offers a unique approach to encouraging children’s literacy by combining cutting-edge technology with expert curation.

“The research on childrens literacy is very compelling: when kids have access to books they love, theyre more motivated to read, spend more time reading, and become better readers,” says Borders, a longtime advocate for childhood literacy.

Through the creation of personalized avatars called Bookmojis, children can receive real-time, age-appropriate book recommendations based on their interests, curated catalog of more than 40,000 titles. The recommendations are powered by proprietary technology and reviewed by a team of educators and librarians.

Parents can purchase books directly from Bookelicious or use the platform to check availability at their local libraries, making it easier to encourage reading without extra legwork.

Bookelicious has been adopted by more than 4,500 schools nationwide, offering services such as interactive virtual school visits, book-fair style virtual pop-up shops, and school library collection refreshes. Schools using the platform have reported increased reading motivation among students, with the percentage of students who find it easy to discover books they want to read rising from 33% to 75%.

Borders is a self-described former “library kid” who holds an M.S. in Management from Stanford University and a J.D. from the University of California Hastings College of Law. Her passion for literacy led her to serve more than a decade on the boards of literacy nonprofits before founding Bookelicious with an innovative approach to connecting children with literature.

With Bookelicious, Borders is helping to make summer reading fun, and providing a valuable tool for educators and parents to keep children engaged in reading year-round.