Celebrating World Book Day
It's World Book Day!
Did you know that UNESCO created World Book Day on April 23rd, 1995? As someone born that year, seeing an annual event for readers everywhere after 29 years is amazing.
It is marked in over 100 countries around the globe and the first World Book Day was held in the UK and Ireland in 1997. World Book Day events were held on March 7th. And next year it will be on March 6th.
The main goal of World Book Day is to get people to read for pleasure. It’s easy to get caught up in your everyday life, but it’s important to take a break from the chaos. Reading has helped me in many ways, and it’s because it’s a calming way to escape into another world.
“We want to see more children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, with a life-long habit of reading for pleasure and the improved life chances this brings them.”
World Book Day Illustrator
Vivian Truong is the official World Book Day illustrator. She creates character designs and loves animation. She is the illustrator behind the graphic novel series, City of Dragons, Cooking with Monsters and I Am Fun Size and So Are You!.
The Impact of World Book Day
They have conducted studies to see the best way to reach out to everyone to push them to read.
There were over 713,000 social media impressions with the hashtag #WorldBookDay and #ReadingForPleasure.
Over 960,000 children enjoyed in-person and digital events in partnership with the National Literacy Trust and BookTrustl and tuned in to the World Book Day BBC Teach Live Lesson.
The London Eye donated £1 from every adult ticket purchased on World Book Day and gave free entry to children dressed in costume.
Over 4,000 booksellers participated and got involved with colourful displays, events and pop-up book shops. World Book Day saw the largest uplift in sales of books of any week of the year, including Christmas.
World Book Night
World Book Night presented by The Reading Agency takes place April 23rd. It is a national celebration of reading and books for adults and young people. Join everyone in #ReadingHour from 7-8 pm tonight and share which book you’re reading!
