With April 2nd being International Children’s Book Day, this spring is a perfect time to ignite a love of reading in your children! While it can be difficult at times to capture your child’s attention during storytime, establishing favorite children’s books and activities can help build excitement around reading.
What is International Children’s Book Day?
This yearly event is sponsored by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), an international non-profit organization, and is a celebration of the power of reading and children’s books. This event has taken place since 1967, on or around the birthday of Hans Christian Andersen—known for his fairy tales, including “The Ugly Duckling” and “The Little Mermaid.” Each year there is a different international sponsor for the holiday, with a distinct theme. An author from that country writes a message to the children around the world, and an illustration designs the poster. This year, IBBY Latvia has been chosen.
How Can You Celebrate the Holiday?
Since today is a celebration of children’s books and the positive benefits of reading, try these reading-based activities with your child and encourage a lifelong love of reading!
Make Your Own Reading Poster
Help your child draw and color their own reading poster, based on their favorite children’s book. This activity will help your child brainstorm reasons for liking one book over another and improve their pre-reading and analysis skills. Find inspiration with the storybook My Very Own Fairy Tale and draw your own woodland fairies based on the illustrated fairies in the book!
Discover Multicultural Children’s Books
Take a trip to your local library and ask your librarian for some multicultural children’s book recommendations. Reading these books will broaden your child’s global awareness by learning about different cultures, perspectives, and people from all over the world. Multicultural children’s books include the following:
- Contain characters of color, and characters that represent a minority point of view.
- Share ideas, stories, and information about cultures, race, religion, language, and traditions.
- Embrace our world and offer children a new way to connect to a diverse and rich world.
Read a Fairy Tale Together
Introduce your child to classic and favorite children’s fairy tales, such as “The Ugly Duckling.” These stories can teach children important lessons about compassion, choosing right from wrong, and fitting in. After reading, ask your child some questions to build their reading comprehension skills. Here are some question examples:
- What was the story about?
- What happened in the beginning? What happened at the end of the story?
- Why was the duckling sad? Have you ever felt that way?
Storytime with Children’s Books
Help your child experience the joy of reading with personalized storybooks for every age level. To introduce the Spanish language to your child at an early age, we suggest the Spanish edition of My Very Own Name: Mi Proprio Nombre. If your child is interested in pirates and sea life, My Very Own Pirate Tale will place your child at the center of his own pirate story and teach him fun facts about different sea creatures!
Resources
http://www.ibby.org/awards-activities/activities/international-childrens-book-day/?L=0
https://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/
