Opening up World Book Day in lockdown

Thursday (4 March) was World Book Day, the annual charity event that was first celebrated in the UK in 1995.

It is a day when children are encouraged to dress as their favourite literary characters as they head off to school.

Although that’s not possible this year with schools remaining in lockdown and children learning from home, youngsters are still being encouraged to dress up as their favourite book characters for online classes and to send in their photos.

On World Book Day, every child in full-time education in the UK is given a voucher to be spent on books and this is still available online with some 15 million vouchers being made available to access books for just £1.

The day is now celebrated in more than 100 countries worldwide, highlighting the importance of reading and literature.

You can also visit the World Book Day website at https://www.worldbookday.com/ to tune into live digital storytelling and more.

Meanwhile Tameside Council’s very first virtual children’s book festival links in with World Book Day and continues to run until March 12, giving children, families and teachers a chance to engage with popular authors and illustrators using Zoom.

Running in conjunction with the Tameside Loves Reading campaign, it aims to enhance young people’s experience of books, and to encourage them to use Tameside’s libraries to improve their literacy skills and develop a lifelong love of reading and learning.

The programme features well-known figures from children’s literature including author Caryl Hart who has worked with families to create storybooks as part of the council’s Story Makers projects for the under-fours.

Cllr Leanne Feeley, Tameside Council’s executive member with responsibility for culture, said: “During lockdowns, when class visits to our libraries aren’t possible, it’s more important than ever to maintain and develop engagement with our schools.”

Find out more at https://www.tameside.gov.uk/libraries/readysteadyread. 

Main image:

A throwback to last year's World Book Day at St Paul's C of E Primary School Stalybridge. 

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