World Book Day
Taking place on the first Thursday of March every year.
Celebrating books and reading.
About the event
A day to celebrate the joys of books and reading. This day is actually specific to the UK and Ireland. Other countries celebrate World Book Day on the 23rd of April (St Georges Day), in the UK we call that day 'World Book Night'.
How to approach it
Books are wonderful tools that allow students to better understand the thoughts and experiences of others. Developing a global, compassionate outlook requires encouraging empathy and an intimate understanding of the diverse experiences around the world. World Book Day offers a tremendous opportunity to develop empathy for those living in different national, economic and cultural contexts. Students can be shown the incredible diversity of literature, and be encouraged to read something written by someone very different from themselves. Beyond this, students should be free to follow their curiosity. This day offers the chance to develop a fascination and reverence for diversity.
Conversation starter
Over 3,000 years ago, humanity invented the first written words. Ever since then, humans have been recording their thoughts on everything from rocks to paper. That's a lot of writing! Books store up all of humanity's thoughts from incredible stories to world-changing ideas. What is your favourite book and why?
