World Book Day is an annual event, held in over 100 countries, in celebration of all things bookish! Thursday March 2nd 2017 marks the 20th anniversary since the birth of the event, which means this year’s antics are going to be bigger and better than ever before! School children across the world will be dressing up as famous literary characters and gatherings will be held in many supermarkets, libraries and cafes for all ages to attend and enjoy. You can find all the event information here.
Since I was a young child I have been obsessed with books. I was the child who couldn’t leave the house without a backpack brimming with my newest tomes. I was the one sitting in the corner at family functions reading under the table. I was also the child who felt she could only truly find herself between the pages of a book.
And this is why this event is so important to me. It is heartening to see the world unite in appreciation for something so important to me. So, read below to get my countdown on why we should all be celebrating!
Books are the best form of escapism…
“Reading was my escape and my comfort, my consolation, my stimulant of choice: reading for the pure pleasure of it, for the beautiful stillness that surrounds you when you hear an author’s words reverberating in your head.”
…And what connects us to the world
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“Maybe this is why we read, and why in moments of darkness we return to books: to find words for what we already know.”
Books empowers us
“Girls had to believe in anything but their own power, because if girls knew what they could do, imagine what they might.”
Books allow us to dream
“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”
Books are beautiful
“Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.”
Books provide us with a place to belong… Always
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“After all this time?” “Always.”
Books teach us about ourselves…
“There are still more days to travel in this life. And he knows that the man who makes the journey has been shaped by every day and every person along the way. Scars are just another kind of memory….Soon enough the days will close over their lives, the grass will grow over their graves, until their story is just an unvisited headstone.”
…And they teach us about the world around us
“Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It’s a way of understanding it.”
Books define who are
“I am a reader, a flashlight-under-the-covers, carries-a-book-everywhere-I-go, don’t-look-at-my-Amazon-bill. I choose purses based on whether I can cram a paperback into them, and my books are the first items I pack into a suitcase. I am the person who family and friends call when they need a book recommendation or cannot remember who wrote Heidi. My identity as a person is so entwined with my love of reading and books that I cannot separate the two.”
And boks teach us that we are never alone
“So Matilda’s strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone.”
So show the world what books mean to you on Thursday 2nd March and maybe you will inspire and empower someone in the same way.
