Bolingbroke Book Day

World Book Day is an annual event, which is often celebrated in over 100 countries by millions of people and thousands of schools from around the world on the 23rd of March. This worldwide event includes many fun and exciting activities, as well as an interesting history behind it. This article shall delve into the many outstanding things about World Book Day; covering why it was founded, what you can do, the history behind World Book Day, and more.Unfortunately, due to our school being closed on this year’s date, this year, Bolingbroke’s replacement event, ‘Bolingbroke Book Day’ will be held on Thursday 4th May 2023, during Children’s Book Week.

The History of World Book Day!

The idea of World Book Day came in 1926 by a man named Vincente Clavel. Vincente Clavel at the time was a writer and the owner of Cervantes publishing house in Spain. He wanted to try and boost sales (get more people interested in the books that his company had to offer) and to honor his favourite author, Miguel de Cervantes. World Book Day was going to be on October 7, 1926, the date when Miguel de Cervantes died.

4 years later, in 1930, king Alfonso XIII moved the date of World Book Day to April 23, the date when Vincente Clavel died. It was also the date when William Shakespeare died as well as Inca Garcilaso de la Vega (an incredibly famous author). At the time, World Book Day was extremely popular in Spain. This was due to a traditional Spanish holiday called Diada de Sant Jordi, a holiday celebrating the patron saint of Catalonia (who is Saint George). During this holiday, gifts are often given (and those gifts could be books).

Eventually, World Book Day became a world-wide event in 1995. It was officially founded by UNESCO, on April 23. However, countries like U.K and Ireland World Book Day on different dates. The reason the U.K and Ireland celebrate World Book Day on March 2 was because the date of April 23 was also the date of St Georges day (a particularly important day) and the fact that it could sometimes be during the Easter holiday. Therefore, the government changed it to March 2.

What usually happens!

On World Book Day, you can do many exciting and interesting activities throughout the days. For example: you can dress up at home or attempt to guess what the teachers are dressing up as (a particularly easy task). You could read a free £1 World Book Day book, which is often abundant with an exceptional tale to tell, or a thrilling adventure. There may be a ‘World Book Day’ themed class, with many Worlds Book Day themed activities and quizzes. Some people may choose to draft their own stories, while others delve into other brilliant books. A few other people may also choose to donate old books to charities, to let other people read them too.

You can even take part in the many themes world book day has to offer.

Anyone can take part in World Book day too. You can celebrate it in schools with your peers, at home with your family. You can participate in the many activities World Book Day has to offer or even donate a few books to charities if you are not in the celebrating mood. The best activity you could do is reading – but that is just my opinion.

Why is World Book Day important?

World Book Day is extremely important! It is celebrated for several reasons. One such reason is to celebrate books and the love of reading. Reading is an extremely important part of our lives, and we should always cherish it. During World Book Day, we may also celebrate the authors that have written the books, as they may have been a fun experience, leaving you heavily invested in the plot and the story line!

Some unfortunate children may not have books at home. However, on World Book Day every child may get a £1 token, in which they can spend it on a selection of books, ranging from fantasy and imaginary worlds to adventures and daring challenges! It also encourages others, such as people who may not enjoy reading, to read too.

Reading also has a range of benefits for you. One of these benefits is the positive impact it has our mental health: reading can do things such as reducing stress levels and improving your sleep. As well as this, reading can make you smarter by increasing your vocabulary, helping you to perform better in reading tests, have more general knowledge and improving your problem-solving skills, as well as keeping your memory sharp.

What has happened on World Book Day before?

Bolingbroke has had a lot of extremely exciting and fun World Book Days in the past, with a lot of cool and fun things happening! For example, on World Book Day, you may come to school, and see all the teachers and Sixth Formers dressing up in their favourite story characters: from Willy Wonka (from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) to brave kings and queens from a multitude of different stories. Then the students could put on their ‘thinking caps’ and try to guess who the teachers were dressed up as and what book the characters were from (with the reward being a desirable amount of house points).

There were also other exciting events that were happening during World Book Day. For example, there could be a scavenger hunt in the common, where students would compete to find the hidden books. Book quizzes would also commence in the library during World Book Day too, with students using their knowledge of books to answer the challenging questions the teachers ask. Another event called ‘Book Snap’ would also commence in the library too, with pupils matching famous story quotes to the story they came from!

Conclusion

In conclusion, World Book Day is an extremely important event, celebrated by many people (adults and students alike)! Lots of fun and exciting events commence during World Book Day, leading to many memorable times. It is a time for people to enjoy reading and try something new (whether it is reading a new genre or stepping out of your comfort zone and participating in an action-packed quiz). It also has quite an interesting history behind it, from the international literary celebration it is now to it's humble backgrounds in a Spanish publishing house.