By the time you read this, you will probably be breathing a sigh of relief that you have deposited your children at school in their World Book Day fancy dress and the costume panic is over for another year! But, apart from fancy dress, what is World Book Day (WBD) actually about?
The WBD website states that “World Book Day is a celebration! It's a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and (most importantly) it's a celebration of reading. In fact, it's the biggest celebration of its kind, designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and marked in over 100 countries all over the world.” Not every country celebrates on the same day and it is not called WBD in every country, but the aim is the same wherever and whenever the celebrations are held.
WBD started 20 years ago and I have been running School Book Fairs and other events for WBD as part of my job, throughout the last 20 years.
In these days of increasing use of digital media, it is increasingly important that children have access to good quality books. Reading should involve both the senses and the imagination. Books are there to be touched and smelled. From the wonderful smell of old books to the amazing smell of new books. Turning the pages of an old, flimsy, well-read familiar favourite to the eager opening of a brand new title. Visualising the characters and scenes in books can help develop a child’s imagination and descriptive skills and it has been well-proven that children who have access to age- appropriate books from an early age are more likely to develop their literacy and numeracy skills than those who don’t have access to books.
Perhaps there is Book Fair at your children’s school this week? If you can, I would encourage you to support it. Not only will your child get a new book (or six in the case of one child at the Book Fair I was running today!) but your child’s school will also benefit in free books as commission on the Book Fair sales. With budget cuts, many schools rely on commission Book Fairs to ensure that their library is kept up to date with new titles for the children to enjoy and learn from.
I am running a Book Fair in a particular school this week, for the fourth year running. I have worked out that over the last 4 years, this school has received nearly £7000 of free books from the Book Fairs and Sponsored Reads I have helped organise. This has been a valuable free addition to the school’s resources.
If your child’s school is not holding a Book Fair, they can still spend their WBD voucher - either in a book shop against the cost of a more expensive book (some book shops will have a selection of £1 books available especially for WBD), or you can browse here, and contact Chrissy to place your order and redeem your child’s voucher. http://org.usbornebooksathome.co.uk/chrissy/
And don’t forget to tear off the slip on the voucher, and enter the competition!
