Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe, together with Stiftung Lesen, organized a special reading session at the Bellevue di Monaco residential and cultural center in Munich for refugee children. The event featured cbj author Yasmin Shakarami, actor and reading ambassador Adnan Maral, and Stiftung Lesen Chairman Thomas Rathnow, who read stories from Penguin Random House titles THEO UND LEO – DIE MEISTERDETEKTIVE (THEO AND LEO – THE MASTER DETECTIVES) by Sabine Ludwig, UNTERWEGS MIT HARRY (ON THE ROAD WITH HARRY) by Beate Dölling, and KUNO KLAPPER HAT NICHT ALLE KNOCHEN BEISAMMEN (KUNO KLAPPER ISN’T ALL THERE) by Tina Schilp. 

Through our Banned on the Run 5K fundraiser, Penguin Random House employees nationwide raised over $90,000 to support the Freedom to Read Foundation—nine times our original goal.

With 482 employees across 33 states participating and more than 2,000 donors contributing, this effort reflected our shared dedication to defending the First Amendment and opposing censorship. Together, we are demonstrating that protecting the freedom to read is not only an ideal central to our mission but also a commitment we support through collective action.

Co-founded by the National Literacy Trust and Penguin Random House UK in 2021, the Libraries for Primaries campaign brings together charities, publishers, and businesses to address the lack of investment in primary school libraries—particularly in the UK’s most disadvantaged communities, where 1 in 4 primary schools don’t have a library.

In May, Her Majesty the Queen visited Moreland Primary School in London to open the 1000th library transformed through the campaign. The Queen told students, “You’re really lucky to have such a beautiful library, and I hope you’re going to enjoy reading all the books, because the more books you read, the more you’re going to learn.”

The campaign has now provided more than 382,000 primary-aged children across the UK with vital access to books. We aim to reach the remaining schools without a library in the UK by 2028.

Penguin Random House marked the 10th anniversary of our meaningful partnership with Save the Children via a special Giving Tuesday campaign in 2024. Over the past decade, we have worked together to improve the lives of countless children around the world, providing them with the resources and support they need to thrive.

Through December 10, we offered a special matching program for Penguin Random House U.S. employees, matching donations made to Save the Children’s Make Childhood Fair Fund, up to $10,000. This fund supports early education and literacy programs in rural communities throughout the U.S. During the same period, each book purchased through penguinrandomhouse.com resulted in a $1 donation to Save the Children, up to a total of $10,000. 

The fifth annual edition of this six-month national reading challenge encouraged children and families to read 100 books between October 2025 and March 2026. Building on last year’s campaign, which engaged more than 600,000 children, the 2025–2026 program featured themed author read-alouds, classroom resources, and book giveaways designed to spark a lifelong love of reading.

With participation from Penguin Random House authors including Drew Daywalt, Jan Brett, and Joanna Ho, Rally to Read 100 connected young readers with stories that reflect a range of experiences and perspectives. Together with RIF, we are working to expand access to books and inspire joyful reading habits in communities across the country.

Penguin Random House is the exclusive publishing partner of Reading is Fundamental (RIF) Rally to Read 100 campaign.

Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe joined around one million participants to celebrate Read Aloud Day 2025 under the motto “Reading Aloud Speaks Your Language.” More than 120 employees visited primary schools and kindergartens across Germany to read stories to students and donate over 1,400 books. The campaign also offered digital resources, such as livestreams and read-aloud videos featuring well-known children’s authors, for use in classrooms and at home.

On World Book Day 2025, the Penguin Random House initiative “Ich schenk dir eine Geschichte” (I’m Giving You a Story) once again inspired young readers across Germany. Over 1.1 million students in grades four and five, as well as students in special and transition classes, collected free copies of the comic novel COOL WIE BOLLE (COOL AS A CUCUMBER) by Thomas Winkler and Timo Grubing from 3,000 participating bookshops. Organized by Stiftung Lesen, cbj Verlag, Deutsche Post/DHL, and ZDF, the campaign promoted both reading and sustainability, with book production following the cradle-to-cradle principle to reduce waste.

To celebrate Penguin’s 90th birthday, we installed 90 Little Book Stops—also known as community book boxes—across the UK to celebrate the joy of reading. These Little Book Stops will improve access to books, provide moments of escape that support wellbeing, and celebrate those who makes reading a reality in their community. 

Each of the 90 Little Book Stop locations, selected from a pool of over 2,000 applications from individuals and community groups across the UK, is maintained by a local volunteer steward. After being stocked with an initial curation of 25 children’s and adult books representative of 90 years of iconic Penguin publishing, the boxes will run on a “take a book, share a book” concept.