Step Aside Bitmojis! This Year, Bookmojis Are Encouraging Kids to Read — And Have Fun Too (Exclusive) Carly TagenDyeAugust 29, 2025 at 10:00 PM Bookelicious A Bookmoji Bookelicious is making reading fun for students through Bookmojis The free online tool allows students to create a customized avatar...
- - Step Aside Bitmojis! This Year, Bookmojis Are Encouraging Kids to Read — And Have Fun Too (Exclusive)
Carly Tagen-DyeAugust 29, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Bookelicious
A Bookmoji -
Bookelicious is making reading fun for students through Bookmojis
The free online tool allows students to create a customized avatar — and get curated book recommendations from teachers and librarians in return
"We love for kids to go right to those book recommendations, check them out, find out more about them," Bookelicious founder Lea Anne Borders tells PEOPLE
This school year, kids and teachers can celebrate the joy of reading in a fun new way.Bookelicious, the online discovery tool launched by Lea Anne Borders, has been an educational resource for classrooms since its founding in 2021. But one of their most exciting features — the Bookmoji — is sure to help students find a book they'll love.Just like the Bitmojis we have on our phones, Bookmojis are virtual avatars, which kids can create and customize for free on the Bookelicious website. Based on those customizations — which can include clothing, accessories and hobbies — Bookelicious sends personalized, age-appropriate book recommendations to that student.
Bookelicious
A Bookmoji
"We thought that it would just be a lot more fun if we could turn it into a game," Borders tells PEOPLE of the literacy-focused initiative.Borders, a member of the family that launched the book retailer of the same name, understands the importance of spreading literacy. She founded Bookelicious when she saw her own kids begin to choose which books they liked to read.
"I spent a lot of time volunteering in the school library, reading at home and discovering that our girls didn't always like the books that I liked," Borders explains. "They liked the books that they liked."
"With Bookelicious, we're basically taking the next step. We're taking technology to personalize recommendations to the individual reader," she continues. "Kids get very excited. They get excited when they get to play the game. They get excited when they see the book recommendations, and they get very excited when they receive books that are the ones that they've chosen."Bookmoji recommendations are carefully curated by current or former teachers and librarians, based on the student's reading level and interests.
Bookelicious
Bookmoji book recommendations
"The idea is to combine information that you can get using algorithms with that personal touch that comes from people who really know books," Borders says. "We love for kids to go right to those book recommendations, check them out, find out more about them. But that's really kind of the beginning of the journey for the child, because we also want them to follow the links and find more books that are on the topics that they care about."
The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!Borders has already seen great success with Bookmojis. In classrooms, the personalized book recommendations encourage kids to learn more about topics they're excited about, and to bring their books home to extend their learning after the school day.
"We live in an increasingly digital world where we have devices like smartphones that provide incredible access to information and entertainment," Borders says. "But physical books should still play an important part in our lives."
Gretchen Adams
Lea Ann Borders
Bookelicious has many new features to help usher in the school year, including online pop-up shops akin to book fairs, as well as a new product called FillMyShelf, which allows teachers to build book wish lists on the Bookelicious website to share with their communities."When kids are back in school, teachers do the heavy lifting teaching our kids how to read," Borders says. "As parents, we can support teachers by helping our kids find books that they are genuinely excited to read, setting them up for success during the school year."
— sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories."To become a capable reader, you need to practice," she continues. "And just like adults, we need to find books that are highly entertaining and choose them in order to become really engaged."For more information on Bookelicious, visit their website.
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