World Book Day 2019
World Book Day 2019 was celebrated all over the world on Tuesday, the 23rd of April.
World Book Day is also known as World Book and Copyright Day, World Book Days and International Day of the Book.
The World Book Day theme 2019 was “Share a Story”.
Amazon.com, the shopping website gave 9 e-books free of cost to everyone on its website to celebrate World Book Day. The books were from various genre including biographies, fiction, stories, crime and mystery. The aim was to spread the interest of reading books which seems lost in the modern world of internet and smart phones.
India was the Guest of Honor in the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair hosted by the Prince of Abu Dhabi. The event witnessed the talented authors of India and the bestsellers books authored by India’s most renowned writers.
There were various forums held on the occasion where book enthusiasts gathered to read aloud some parts of bestsellers. The aim was to raise the awareness on book reading as books are the ocean of knowledge which enlightens the minds of the readers.
What is World Book Day
World Book Day is an annual event celebrated every year by the people all over the world on 23rd of April. It is the most important event organized annually by the UNESCO in order to promote the reading, publishing and copyright among the public worldwide. Instead of celebrating it on 23rd of April, it is celebrated on 1st Thursday of the March in the United Kingdom. World Book Day celebration was started by the UNESCO first time on 23rd of April in 1995.
Generally, it is celebrated by the authors, illustrators, books and to encourage reading among common public. It is the worldwide celebration of the books and readings and celebrated in more than 100 countries.
World Book Day History
There are many legends behind celebrating the world book day on annual basis on international level worldwide. The connection of world book day celebration date means 23rd of April and books was established first time in the year 1923 by the various Spain booksellers in order to pay tribute to the most famous author named Miguel de Cervantes. The day is the death anniversary of the Miguel de Cervantes.
The exact date of the world book day celebration was established first time in 1995 by the UNESCO to celebrate the World Book and Copyright Day. It was decided by the UNESCO to be celebrated on 23rd of April as it is, according to the Gregorian calendar, the birth and death anniversaries of the William Shakespeare, Vladimir Nabokov, Manuel Mejía Vallejo; death anniversaries of the Miguel de Cervantes (died on 22nd of April and buried on 23rd of April), Josep Pla, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega and birth anniversaries of the Manuel Mejía Vallejo, Maurice Druon and Halldór Laxness.
How World Book Day is Celebrated
One can get involved in celebrating the world book day by buying and reading some exciting and funny books from the market or popular book shops where all the favorite books based on brands, characters or authors are available. World book day celebration plays a great role in bringing kids closer to the books reading habits as well as creates interest in them to know about authors and other important things.
It was started celebrating throughout the world by the UNESCO for easily promoting the reading habits among kids, publishing and protecting the intellectual property using copyright. 23rd of the April has been a significant date for the world literature as 23rd of April of 1616 was the death anniversary of many great personalities.
The date has been decided by the UNESCO to pull worldwide people attention to pay tribute to the books and authors. It encourages people specially youngsters to read books, discover real pleasure and knowledge among books as well as creating new ideas for their extraordinary contributions towards the social and cultural development of the country or people. Giving a rose with each book purchase to the customer may motivate them to read books and feel respect.
World Book and Copyright Day celebration is specially carried out by the teachers, authors, publishers, librarians, all the public and private educational institutions, NGOs, working group of people, mass media and etc. Variety of programmes are organized on international level by the UNESCO National Commissions, UNESCO clubs, centres, associations, libraries, schools and other educational institutions.
Working group people are promoted for the library membership to get the collection latest books written by famous authors. Various activities like visual art, drama, workshop programmes and etc can aid more motivation to the people.
Significance of World Book Day
The date for the world book day celebration was decided by the UNESCO in the General Conference which was held in the Paris in 1995. Lots of interested people from almost 100 countries associated with voluntary organizations, universities, schools, public or professional groups, private businesses and etc. World Book and Copyright Day celebration attracts people from all continents and cultural backgrounds all over the world. It made them able to discover new ideas and explore their knowledge. Books are depositories of heritage, cultures, windows of knowledge, tools for dialogue, source of wealth and so many.
World Book and Copyright Day celebration has inspired lots of professional organizations from various countries and receives assistance from UNESCO. The worldwide member states of the UNESCO celebrate this event every year to promote the power of books among people in order to bring them together as well as disseminate variety of cultures to other people. The day is celebrated to promote education among young people as well as people living in underprivileged sections.
At this day, some young people including children are awarded for their better performance for novels, short stories or picture books promoting peace, tolerance, understanding and respect among each other for other cultures and traditions. A different poster is designed every year based on the particular themes of the year and distributed among people around the world. Posters are designed in such way to encourage people and children to read more books.
World Book Day Theme
- The theme of World Book Day 2019 is “Share a Story”.
- The theme of World Book Day 2018 was “Reading, it’s my right”.
- The theme of World Book Day 2015 was “Read the World”.
- The theme of World Book Day 2014 was “Be Smart-Read Books!”.
- The theme of World Book Day 2013 was “reading, publishing and the protection of intellectual property through copyright.”
- The theme of World Book Day 2012 was “Books and Translations”.
- The theme of World Book Day 2011 was “Evolution of Book Production, from Writing to Digital”.
- The theme of World Book Day 2010 was “International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures”.
- The theme of World Book Day 2009 was “Development of Quality Education and the Link between Publishing and Human Rights”.
- The theme of World Book Day 2008 was “International Year of Languages”.
- The theme of World Book Day 2007 was “Reading is the Key”.
- The theme of World Book Day 2006 was “Literacy Changes Lives”.
- The theme of World Book Day 2005 was “Reading is Forever”.
- The theme of World Book Day 2004 was “Reading: a non-stop Journey”.
- The theme of World Book Day 2003 was “Friends for Life”.
- The Theme of World Book Day 2002 was “Hourly Happy”.
- The theme of World Book Day 2001 was “happy hour”.
- The Theme of World Book Day 2000 was “Reading is refreshing”
- The theme of World Book Day 1999 was “Give a Book”.
- The theme of World Book Day 1998 was “Reading is Cool”.
World Book Day Quotes
“Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.” – Thomas Jefferson
“The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who’ll get me a book I ain’t read.” -Abraham Lincoln
“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.” – C. S. Lewis
“Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.” – Groucho Marx
“Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.” – Maya Angelou
“Ideally a book would have no order to it, and the reader would have to discover his own.” – Mark Twain
“There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.” – Oscar Wilde
“There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written.” – Oscar Wilde
“I am mortified to be told that, in the United States of America, the sale of a book can become a subject of inquiry, and of criminal inquiry too.” – Thomas Jefferson
“The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” – Saint Augustine
“You cannot open a book without learning something.” – Confucius
“Books constitute capital. A library book lasts as long as a house, for hundreds of years. It is not, then, an article of mere consumption but fairly of capital, and often in the case of professional men, setting out in life, it is their only capital.” – Thomas Jefferson
“It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what others say in a whole book.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
“I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done.” – Steven Wright
“Living is like tearing through a museum. Not until later do you really start absorbing what you saw, thinking about it, looking it up in a book, and remembering – because you can’t take it in all at once.” – Audrey Hepburn
“Every burned book enlightens the world.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“O Day of days when we can read! The reader and the book, either without the other is naught.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The book salesman should be honored because he brings to our attention, as a rule, the very books we need most and neglect most.” – Confucius
“He that composes himself is wiser than he that composes a book.” – Benjamin Franklin
“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” – Groucho Marx
“Miss a meal if you have to, but don’t miss a book.” – Jim Rohn
“There is no friend as loyal as a book.” – Ernest Hemingway
“The book you don’t read won’t help.” – Jim Rohn
“Every book is a children’s book if the kid can read!” – Mitch Hedberg
“I can tell you, honest friend, what to believe: believe life; it teaches better that book or orator.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“A book must be the ax for the frozen sea within us.” – Franz Kafka
“A book is good company. It is full of conversation without loquacity. It comes to your longing with full instruction, but pursues you never.” – Henry Ward Beecher
“I read a lot of obscure books and it is nice to open a book.” – Bill Gates
“There is a great deal of difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and the tired man who wants a book to read.” – Gilbert K. Chesterton
“A book is never a masterpiece: it becomes one. Genius is the talent of a dead man.” – Carl Sandburg
“Hungry man, reach for the book: it is a weapon.” – Bertolt Brecht
“A book is a garden, an orchard, a storehouse, a party, a company by the way, a counselor, a multitude of counselors.” – Charles Baudelaire
“Finishing a good book is like leaving a good friend.” – William Feather
