How to Plan an International Children's Book Day Celebration
The combination of children and books is always a winning one, but particularly so on April 2. That’s the date when International Children’s Book Day has been celebrated since 1925. The date was chosen to honor the birthday of one of the great authors of works for children, Hans Christian Andersen. The holiday, which is celebrated around the world, usually revolves around a particular theme, but some groups simply choose to commemorate the day with an eclectic variety of book-related activities.
Instructions
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Decide where the holiday will be celebrated. If you live in a climate where you can expect a relatively mild day, setting up on a playground or garden area is a great idea. If there is a chance of rain or cold weather, a school gym will work well. Also decide if this is going to be a school day activity or an evening one, and, if so, whether or not parents will be invited.
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Promote individual classroom activities leading up to International Children’s Book Day. These might begin with a reading of Hans Christian Andersen’s story of “The Ugly Ducking” and an explanation about why the day is celebrated on his birthday. Ask students to design posters advertising the event. Their posters could include drawings they have made about their favorite books. Hang these posters throughout the school for a week or so prior to the event.
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Plan a book exchange. Ask students to collect as many gently used children’s books as they can before the celebration. Remind them that they might try asking their neighbors and relatives for contributions they might have in their basements and attics. Determine a specific day before the celebration by which the books should be brought to school. Then on Book Day each student will be given five (or whatever number you determine) tickets to pick out books to take home. Arrange the books on tables according to grade level or subject matter. Organizers of the event might need to head out to thrift stores and/or garage sales well ahead of time to make sure there will be enough books.
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Have the children create elaborate bookmarks using leftover scraps of art materials. Students can exchange the bookmarks with each other and collect lots of different ones on the day of the celebration.
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Plan a program which includes several elements. You might want a local author or illustrator of children’s books to speak, a storyteller to give a performance, or music classes to sing songs related in some way to books.
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Tips & Warnings
Hold the celebration in conjunction with a book fair in which local bookstores or other groups are invited to set up display tables and sell books.
