Today, 3rd March 2022 celebrates the 25th anniversary of the first World Book Day.
As someone who has loved reading anything and everything since I was a child, this day fills me with excitement and fear. Yes, fear!
Exciting because anything that can encourage children to develop or maintain an interest in books can only be a good thing. Whilst reading you are allowed to escape to Hogwarts, Narnia, or Where the Wild Things Are. You can find your identity within the pages. Global warming, famine and any number of humanitarian issues can be explained in a way a child can understand.
World Book Day is sponsored by National Book Tokens, and you can access their website here.
According to their website ‘Our mission is to promote reading for pleasure, offering every child and young person the opportunity to have a book of their own. Reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational background or their income.’ I am pretty sure that I have commented on this before, the importance of reading for a child’s future, cannot be undervalued.
The evidence base shows there are 6 building elements which support a child to read for pleasure
- Being read to regularly
- Access to books at home
- The ability for children to choose what they want to read
- Having trusted adults and peers sharing and recommending books
- The reading experience being enjoyable
- Designated time to read
I imagine you’re still wondering what the ‘fear’ is. If you have ever had a child that comes to you the night before World Book Day (or insert any dress-up day for the same reaction!) and says they need an outfit, you will understand the fear. Trying to work out what you have in your home that could look anything like a book character challenges the most creative adult. In recent years, as foster carers, we had brothers who both wanted to be Oompa Lumpa’s! 11pm the night before we are gluing ping pong balls onto plimsolls. One of the children won best dressed in his class – his first ever award – so was worth the hours of supergluing fingers to material! Or the child that wants to be Hermonie Granger, not Mary Poppins, but you’ve got a blue dress. Actually, fear is probably nowhere near the mark.
But we all work through the fear to see the children happy and engaging with books!
Suzanne
