FAQs

A Storybook Walk® is a creative way to engage children in reading while they move. Pages from a children’s book are displayed individually along a path, wall, or fence—turning a simple walk into a fun literacy adventure. While this concept has been adapted in many forms, Storybook Walk® was developed by The Storybook Company to offer innovative products that make setting up these experiences easier, more interactive, and more affordable.

We respectfully acknowledge that StoryWalk® is a registered trademark of the Kellogg-Hubbard Library, created by Anne Ferguson in Montpelier, Vermont, to promote literacy and physical activity. Our products are independent of and not affiliated with the StoryWalk® Project.

You may also hear terms like Story Stroll, Story Trail, or Book Walk used in different communities to describe similar outdoor reading experiences.

If you need to set us up as a new vendor, send us an email with all necessary documents that you need us to fill out and any questions you might have to Info@StorybookWalk.com.

We love to work together with schools, libraries, and parks. If you are interested in purchasing from us, please use our Estimate Request Form to tell us more about your organization. It will ask if you are tax exempt.

We gladly take purchase orders from government organizations. Please use the Estimate Request Form to let us know what books you are interested in. We will then send you a quote which you can use to create your purchase order. When your PO is ready, you can then send it to us per email and accept your estimate.

The cost of a StoryWalk® can vary widely depending on the scale and durability you are looking for. We have solutions to fit almost any budget:

• Permanent Installations (Professional Frames): If you are looking for high-quality, permanent display frames, you can typically outfit a full StoryWalk® for under $10,000. These frames are designed for long-term outdoor durability and frequent page changes.

• Temporary or "Pop-Up" Displays: If you are operating on a smaller budget or planning a one-time community event, you can create a fantastic temporary StoryWalk® for under $200 using Coroplast Storybook Walk Editions placed directly in the ground or by hanging Laminated Storybook Walk Editions on a wall or fence.

Need help finding the funds? If the cost is a hurdle, don't worry! We have put together a comprehensive Grant Checklist on our website to help you analyze your budget, identify potential funding sources, and build a winning proposal to get your project fully funded. Please also read our blog post The Ultimate Guide to Funding Your Storywalk.

We get permission to use all of the books that we have for sale on StorybookWalk.com from the authors/publishers directly.  Normally, you may publicly display a book you bought for a reading display. However, the moment you cut it apart or mount the pages separately, you create a derivative work—and U.S. copyright law (§106(2)) requires the copyright owner’s permission for that.

Although libraries and other not for profit entities often claim the fair use clause, this may not actually hold in court, as the copy being displayed is not in its original form. Therefore, we recommend to always get permission to use a book for a permanent reading display.

Under copyright law, only the author, illustrator (if self-published), or publisher are allowed to change the book in any way. For more info on copyrights, go to https://www.copyright.gov/

If you want to do your own Storywalk, look on the copyright page of the book that you want to use. If the book is self-published, contact the author. If a publisher is listed, look online to find out who to contact. Large publishing houses will have a rights department. A word of warning - this process can take a long time. The easiest way to get permission for a book is to use a local or small-published author. They are usually easy to find and contact.

All of the books that we have in our shop were licensed to us to use for Storybook Walk Editions directly from the publishers. This process can take a long time. We will gladly take recommendations for new books, but unfortunately, we are not able to create Storybook Walk Editions on demand.

Standard picture books are 32 pages in length and have on average 14 spreads (double-sided pages). Some books may have slightly more. Our Storybook Walk Editions contain a Cover/Copyright Page and usually an instruction page. The majority of our stories are between 15-20 pages long.

This is why we recommend buying 20 permanent frames for a Storywalk. This is also the standard amount with most frame manufactures.

At StorybookWalk.com, we do not sell permanent Storywalk® frames, but we do work closely together with Pannier Graphics, the leading producer of Storywalk® frames in the US. They will help you get set up with the frames and we will help you fill them with fantastic stories. Get a quote for frames (scroll to bottom of page).

There are various methods for hanging up Laminated Storybook Walk® Editions.

For indoor use, you can use double-sided tape or strong sticky tack.

On a fence, we recommend using carpet clips with reusable cable ties. These do not damage the laminate. You can find these at camping stores. See our video.

Do not punch a hole in the laminate if you will be hanging them outside as it lets moisture in.

Our laminated Storybook Walk® Editions are meant to go in permanent reading displays, such as you commonly see on Storywalks®. A well-built frame should keep most of the moisture away from the laminated panels. Our laminated Storybook Walk® Editions are only waterproof to a point. They are not meant to be hung up in the elements for a long period of time.

If you need a sturdy weather-proof option, our Coroplast Storybook Walk® Editions are great. They hold up well to rain and can be placed directly outdoors.

Our Coroplast Storybook Walk® Editions are stories which are printed directly onto corrugated plastic sheets. These signs are similar to the ones you see for real estate or used by politicians. These sheets are lightweight, but hard and durable. You slide them over metal stakes which you stick in the ground. See in shop.

A Ready-to-Use Storybook Walk® Edition is a version of a children’s book where the pages have been organized into laminated spreads which can be displayed along a path, wall, fence, or similar where children can read them and move between the pages. These are usually in 11 x 17 or 18 x 24. See in shop.

A DIY Storybook Walk® Edition is a version of a children’s book where the pages can be easily taken out (or are loose leaf) so that they can be displayed along a path, wall, fence, or similar where children can read them and move between the pages. Often these pages are laminated before they are displayed. These books are usually in size 8 x 10 or 8.5 x 11. More info about DIY can be found here.

Many of our Storybook Walk® editions include activity, literacy, or discussion prompts—encouraging kids to jump, laugh, and engage deeply with the story. These are displayed alongside each page or spread to create a more interactive experience. You can see examples of activity prompts on the sample pages for each title in the shop.

As much as we love the sun, it is really hard on printed inks. Our Storybook Walk® Editions are laminated using UV lamination to make sure that they last much longer than if you were to use the pages of the book directly.

To extend the life of your Storybook Walk® Editions, we recommend that you put your permanent frames in shady areas and hang up your temporary walks in the shade if possible. If you live in a very sunny area, consider getting UV resistant acrylic for the top layer inside your frames. This adds an extra bit of protection. If this is too costly, you can buy UV film and add it to your acrylic panels yourself.

All Storywalk® frames will have either two sheets of acrylic or a backer panel and a sheet of acrylic. Stories go in between these two sheets. A story in size 11×17 will show the backer panel while a story in size 18×24 will completely cover it.

Please look on our Grant Checklist under Do You Understand the Basics to see detailed info about the pros and cons of backer panels.

Storybook Walk® is a registered service mark owned by The Storybook Company, LLC.

We love it when libraries, schools, and parks host our walks! If you have purchased our Storybook Walk® Editions, you are fully welcome to use the name Storybook Walk® to advertise and promote your local event. However, using the name for other commercial products, selling your own kits under this name, or using it for unrelated services is not permitted without permission.

StoryWalk® is a registered service mark owned by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, Vermont, and was developed in collaboration with the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. It is intended for use in educational, noncommercial projects consistent with its literacy-focused mission. For more information, see their webpage.

If you are using heavy-duty real-estate signs where you slide the Coroplast signs into the top, you may find that sometimes they don’t fit exactly. This is because these signs are not a standard size and the Coroplast signs we sell are trimmed and slightly smaller than 18×24.

Nevertheless, there are a few workarounds:

• 1. Most heavy-duty metal real estate frames have small holes punched in the corners or along the sides of the metal channels. If your frames have these, you can simply punch matching holes in the corners of their signs and thread a zip tie through the frame and the sign.

• 2. Use foam mounting tape around the outsides (but don't take off the backing!). This works by making the sign slightly larger and helping it to fit in the frames.

• 3. Stick each story page onto a larger piece of Coroplast, cardboard, or whatever scraps you have.

If you need us to print exact 18×24 Editions of our titles for your specific display, please use our Estimate Request Form and use the comments section to tell us more about what you need.