#WorldBookDay – What’s it all about?

My introduction

I feel strongly that reading is very important to us and that everyone should be encouraged and should encourage others to read. If you’re reading this then you probably do to.

We hear more and more that reading may not only make you smarter in some specific ways but that it is good for your wellbeing.

So when I see things or events that encourage and/or support folk to read I believe it’s important to let people know about it.

Well on the 5th March it’s World Book Day (WBD), as many of you may know, and I thought it might be good to take the opportunity to help spread the word about it. To help make sure that as many people as possible know about this wonderful organisation and how it is working to encourage children of all ages to read.

What is World Book Day?

World Book Day is a registered charity whose stated mission is to give every child and young person a book of their own.

Celebrating authors, illustrators, books and – most importantly – reading.

UNESCO has designated it a worldwide celebration of books and reading. It is the biggest celebration of its kind marked in over 100 countries all over the world. It is now in its 23rd year.

What happens?

On the 5th March 2020, in the UK, World Book Day aims to encourage children of all ages to come together to explore books and appreciate reading. Their aim is to provide them with the opportunity to own a book of their own.

World Book Day do this in the UK by sending schools (including nurseries and secondary schools that have registered to participate), packs of Book Tokens and age-ranged World Book Day Resource Packs (age-ranged into Nursery/Pre-School, Primary and Secondary) full of ideas and activities, display material and more information about how to get involved in World Book Day.

With World Book Day sponsors National Book Tokens Ltd, partners, publishers and booksellers, they can send millions of £1 book tokens to children and young people, altogether some 15 million – that’s one for nearly every child aged under eighteen in the country!

Taking their book token to a local bookseller it can be used to pick one of over TEN books. Or, if they’d rather, a young person can use it to get £1 off any book or audio book costing over £2.99 at a participating bookshop or book club (terms and conditions apply). The £1 books are also available in braille, large print & audio via Guide Dogs and RNIB. The World Book Day book tokens are valid to Sunday 29 March 2020.

For some extra information about WBD in Ireland 🇮🇪 and Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 .

WHAT IS SHARE A MILLION STORIES?

This is WBDs nationwide campaign to help change children’s lives, by making story-sharing a habit of a lifetime and creating readers for life.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Reading for pleasure is in decline, WBD want to boost it back up, raise awareness and spark millions of imaginations . . . JOIN WBDs READING REVOLUTION!

When you register you will be in for a chance to win incredible book prizes every week from 27 February – 29 March 2020 including £1,000 of books for schools and nurseries. You will also be able to download a fantastic array of brilliant resources for story-sharing ideas and inspiration.

Pop over to the WBD website to Register your pledge to support the campaign and help to Share A Million Stories. View all WBD Share a Million resources.

My pledge: I will post, as the opportunity arises, more on this and other events, resources and other things that encourage people to read.