How do we get students to pick up a book in a world of screens?

In a world dominated by instant online entertainment, many of us wonder: how do we inspire young people to pick up a book, try it out and fall in love with reading? Implementing the Bookface Challenge with Year 8 proved that all it takes is a little creativity – and a well-placed book cover.

What is the Bookface Challenge?

A bookface is a creative visual illusion in which a book cover is lined up with a person’s face, body or background so that the two blend together. The result is clever, eye-catching and often a little theatrical. What began as a small library trend has now become a global celebration of reading through photography, as you can see in the examples below which students used as inspiration:

What I love about this project is that it brings books to life in a fresh, exciting way. It makes reading interactive. It gets students moving, imagining, and engaging — and most importantly, it motivates them to pick up and borrow books. The energy in the library was brilliant; students couldn’t wait to try it out!

Student Instructions: Directions and What to Include

Students were introduced to the idea that we are part of the story and were encouraged to find a book with a cover that could be used creatively to tell a story. They were asked to use the book cover to create their own “bookface” by posing with it, aligning their body, facial expression, costume, props, and setting with the image on the cover. To complete the task, students needed to browse the school library and borrow a book, stage a creative Bookface photograph, blend the book cover with reality using creative choices such as angle, expression, and composition, use props, backgrounds, or costumes to enhance the illusion, ensure the title and author were clearly visible, and submit their final photo for celebration.

Success Criteria

Students were guided by clear success criteria to help them plan and evaluate their work:

• Is the cover of a book shown in your photo?
• Are you present in the photo?
• How well are you lined up to match your book cover?
• Extra credit: Did you use costumes, props, or creative backgrounds?

Why This Challenge Matters

In September, we celebrated International Literacy Day, and in October, the United States observes National Book Month, both highlighting the importance of reading and literacy. Here at Bangkok Patana, we aim to bring that same excitement to our students and explore innovative ways to make their encounters with books engaging. The Bookface Challenge encouraged students to:

• Explore new book genres, authors, topics, and interests
• Develop visual storytelling skills
• Work collaboratively and think creatively
• See reading as fun, expressive and social

Examples from 8S

8S threw themselves into the challenge with humour, imagination and clever creative choices, and the results were outstanding.

Here are some standout Bookface photos from 8S!