Tag Archives: Initiatives

World Book Day

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world-book-dayIt’s time for a new World Book Day. I’ve written about this event before here and here so do click these links to read in more detail about what this day means.

To reiterate, the World Book Day or World Book and Copyright Day (also known as International Day of the Book or World Book Days) is a yearly event on April 23rd, organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), to promote reading, publishing and copyright. In the United Kingdom, the day is recognized on the first Thursday in March. World Book Day was celebrated for the first time on 23 April 1995.

world-book-day-1This year’s World Book Day theme is “Share A Story” and encourages adults, parents and older siblings to participate by reading and sharing stories. The ‘Share a Story’ theme will be encouraging people to ‘Take 10’ and recognise the positive impact that reading together for only 10 minutes a day can have on a child’s outcome.

Different countries commemorate this day in different ways. In Spain, Cervantes’s Don Quixote is read during a two-day “readathon” and the Miguel de Cervantes Prize is presented by the Spanish king in Alcalá de Henares.

In Catalonia, Spain, St. George’s Day has been ‘The Day of the Rose’ since 1436, and involves the exchange of gifts between loved ones and respected people—it is analogous to Valentine’s Day. Although World Book and Copyright Day have been celebrated since 1995 internationally, books were exchanged on ‘The Day of the Rose’ in Catalonia since 1929, in memory of Cervantes.

world-book-day-3In Sweden, the day is known as Världsbokdagen (“World Book Day”) and the copyright aspect is seldom mentioned. Normally celebrated on 23 April, it was moved to April 13 in the year 2000 and 2011 to avoid a clash with Easter.

In the United Kingdom, World Book Day has been held annually on the first Thursday in March, as 23 April sometimes clashes with Easter school holidays; 23 April is also the National Saint’s Day of England, St George’s Day. A separate event, World Book Night, organized by independent charity The Reading Agency, is held on 23 April.

In Kensington, Maryland, the United States of America, the International Day of the Book is celebrated with a street festival on the Sunday closest to April 26.

So why are you waiting? Go on and read a book…..

 

 

 

World Book Day

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On Sunday (April 23) we celebrated World Book Day. I’d not heard of this event till a couple of years back, but since then, I try to commemorate it in some way or the other.

I’ve blogged about it in detail some time back, so if you want to know more about why this particular day and what happens on this day, click here to find out more!

2017 is the 20th year that UNESCO is celebrating World Book Day.

book-quote-world-book-dayEvery year, books are chosen as special world book day books and the selections this year are:

  • Peppa Loves World Book Day (for pre-schoolers)
  • Everyone Loves Underpants by Claire Freedman (for pre-schoolers)
  • Where’s Wally? The Fantastic Journey by Martin Handford (for children aged 5-7)
  • The Famous Five: Good Old Tim and Other Stories by Enid Blyton (for children aged 5-7)
  • Horrid Henry – Funny Fact Files by Francesca Simon (for children aged 5-7)
  • Princess Mirror-Belle by Julia Donaldson (for children aged 5-7)
  • Butterfly Beach by Jacqueline Wilson (for children aged 7-9)
  • Blob by David Walliams (for children aged 7-9)
  • Island by David Almond (for children aged 11-14)
  • Dead of Night by Michael Grant (for children aged 11-14)

The World Book Day website has some really interesting resource packs for your child, be they in pre-school and nursery, primary school or secondary school. Click the link in the respective age group to access the resource packs.

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Every year, UNESCO and the international organisations representing the three major sectors of the book industry viz. publishers, booksellers and libraries, select the World Book Capital for the year, effective from 23rd April each year for an entire year. This year’s World Book Capital for 2017 is Conakry, Guinea on account of the quality and diversity of its programme, in particular its focus on community involvement as well as for its well-structured budget and clear development goals with a strong emphasis on youth and literacy.

Governments, schools and libraries across the world celebrate this year to encourage people to read more! So did you read something on Sunday? If no, don’t fret! Just read a book today and celebrate World Book Day today! Go on, read a book now…

do-something-booky

 

World Book Day

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Yesterday was a day, as a book lover, I am ashamed to say I had never heard about! So better late than never, let’s belatedly celebrate World Book Day.

World Book Day or World Book and Copyright Day (also known as International Day of the Book or World Book Days) is a yearly event on 23 April, organised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), to promote reading, publishing and copyright. In the United Kingdom, the day is recognised on the first Thursday in March. World Book Day was celebrated for the first time on 23 April 1995.

UNESCO honours 23 April as World Book Day to pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors on this date, encouraging everyone, and in particular young people, to discover the pleasure of reading and gain a renewed respect for the irreplaceable contributions of those, who have furthered the social and cultural progress of humanity.

Why 23 April you may ask? Well this day has been chosen by booksellers in Catalonia as a way to honour the author Miguel de Cervantes, who died on this date. In 1995 UNESCO decided that the World Book and Copyright Day would be celebrated on 23 April, as the date is also the anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, as well as that of the birth or death of several other prominent authors such as Maurice Druon, Haldor K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo.

Each year, UNESCO and the international organizations representing the three major sectors of the book industry – publishers, booksellers and libraries, select the World Book Capital for a one-year period, effective 23 April each year.

The city of Incheon was chosen for 2015 in recognition of its programme to promote reading among people and underprivileged sections of the population. Previous World Book Capital have included Port Harcourt, Nigeria (2014), Bangkok, Thailand (2013), Yerevan, Armenia (2012) and Beunos Aires, Argentina (2011). Wroclaw, Poland will be the next World Book Capital City in 2016 on account of the quality of its programme. Becoming a World Book Capital City does not have any financial implications or prizes for the chosen city, but is an exclusively symbolic acknowledgement of the best programme dedicated to books and reading.

Many countries around the world celebrate this day in their own way with reading programmes and initiatives to get their citizens to read more.

So did you mark World Book Day in your own way yesterday? Well, I did what I do best – read the day away – both physical and digital books….

More information on the World Book Day can be found here in this UNESCO link and this UK World Book Day website.