Happy International Children’s Book Day!

Appropriate for the topic of this week, no?  And to think I never knew that my little brother shared a birthday with Hans Christian Andersen.  Happy birthday, Ben!

From the press release:

Since 1967, on or around Hans Christian Andersen´s birthday, April 2, International Children´s Book Day (ICBD) has been celebrated to inspire a love of reading and to call attention to children´s books.

Each year a different national section of the International Board on Books for Young People   (IBBY) has the opportunity to be the international sponsor of ICBD. It decides upon a theme and invites a prominent author from the host country to write a message to the children of the world and a well-known illustrator to design a poster. This year the host country is Estonia,the message has been written by Aino Pervik and the poster was created by Juri Mildebertt. These materials are available as a free download from the USBBY website and can be used in various ways to promote books and reading.

Many IBBY sections promote ICBD through the media and organize activities in schools and public libraries. Often ICBD is linked to celebrations around children´s books and other special events that may include encounters with authors and illustrators, writing competitions, or announcements of book awards.

Ideas for ways to celebrate International Children’s Book Day are being collected by USBBY and will be published on their website. You are invited to post your own ideas for programs, lessons, activities and book festivals. The website will be updated weekly and can then be used as a rich resource for planning ICBD celebrations. < http://www.usbby.org/icbd.htm

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