Celebrating Book Day

Dixya Poudel

Books after books, a reader earns not just knowledge but also a feeling of elation. Reading is an activity that is important for excelling in education and in most professions. At the same time, it is a leisure activity - one that is a favorite for many. April 23rd is World Book Day. Out of the 365 days on the calendar, this is a day dedicated to books but as readers may realize, each day can be the day to pick up a new book and delve in, one page at a time.  

Words are the building blocks of a text and readers come up with their preexisting schema when reading. They compare, take in, comprehend and build their vocabulary and grammar syntax as they read. Reading thus involves an understanding of the meanings behind the text. Further, it is important to the human world as it helps one find a way in life.

Through reading, one learns about the world, oneself and about one’s place in the world. It opens up new horizons, opportunities, and possibilities to the readers.  

World Book Day was founded on April 23, 1995, by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). If one is to go back in the world history, writing systems were invented thousands of years ago in ancient civilizations in the form of clay tablets. Next, civilizations went on to use papyrus. Then in the 3rd century, Chinese societies became the first to make books through sewn bamboo pages. 

It was finally in the mid-15th century that Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press which hallmarked the beginning of an era of printed books. People were thus able to read printed books in the industrial age and as a citizen of the twenty-first century, readers can now read varied books on electronic devices, a far cry from the industrial era. Now there are Kindles, tablets and iPads as well as mobile phones in which readers can read books. 

World Book Day was first observed in April 23, 1923, by booksellers in Spain as the commemoration of the death of beloved Spanish writer, Miguel de Cervantes. The event was celebrated through a book exchange ceremony. However, it was only in 1995, that an official inaugural celebration of World Book Day took place.

Since then, the world has been observing April 23rd with book readings, book exchanges, signings, and publications. Further, April 23rd is also the anniversary of the death of the world renowned English playwright William Shakespeare.

From poetry, dramas, novels, textbooks or biographies, books play an indelible part in human world. We read and we learn, we understand and then we act. Thus, books have an outreach to illuminate minds with knowledge and wisdom. It is also a form of escape as readers lose themselves in complex fictional worlds or those built on real life events. There is no refuting the significance of books in the lives of people.

A child reads children’s literature with a curious, eager, and inquisitive mind. Consequently, the child grows up to be a well-educated, informed and aware citizen. Thus, the evolution of the consciousness, intelligence, and wisdom is ultimately cultivated in a growing mind through books which is why it is important to promote World Book Day globally and locally.