Happy World Book Day!
Today, 23rd of April, is the International Day of the Book. Today we celebrate authors, readers, illustrators and books, but also the wonders and benefits of reading!
ORIGIN
Do you know why the UNESCO (United Nations Agency in charge of Culture, Education and Science) chose this date? The 23rd of April has been a very common date in the literary world...
First of all, William Shakespeare, the father of the English language as we know it, died on the 23rd of April 1616. Shakespeare wrote world-famous plays like 'Romeo & Juliet', 'Hamlet' and 'Macbeth'; but, most importantly, he invented a lot of modern English words that we use today! We cannot know for sure how many words he invented, but he was the first author to use (and write down) 1700 modern words and historians have identified 422 that he definitely invented (for example, bedroom and elbow). Wow! If you are interested and want to read more about Shakespeare's contribution, you can read this article.
Secondly, and coincidentally, Miguel de Cervantes also died on the 23rd of April 1616. He is considered to be one of the most important Spanish-language authors ever, and his novel 'El Quijote' has been translated into 145 languages (the second-most translated book after the Bible). He too crafted many Spanish expressions that are used today!
Thirdly, other prominent authors have also been linked to the 23rd of April. William Wordsworth, a British Romantic poet, also died on the 23rd of April 1850. And Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, a Spanish-Peruvian poet, also died on the 23rd of April 1616.
So, can you see why the UNESCO picked this day for World Book Day?
BOOKS
As part of their celebration, the World Book Day website has published a series of free audiobooks for children and young adults. There are split into different categories: Young Fiction, Fiction and Teen. And you can find the link here: https://www.worldbookday.com/world-of-stories/
You can also find more interesting books aimed at Secondary School children (related to school subjects and not necessarily so) here: https://www.worldbookday.com/resources/secondary/
If you are a fan of reading on tablets or Kindles, you can find thousands of free books on the Project Gutenberg website. Again, the name of this website is no coincidence! The Gutenberg Press (invented by Johann Gutenberg in the 15th century) was the first mechanical press printer that allowed books to be printed in larger numbers - instead of having to be copied by hand and one by one!
I hope you honour today by picking up a good book (or listening to an audiobook)!
Best wishes,
Carla
P.S. Feel free to share what your favourite book is in the Comments section below! We'll be more than happy to hear from you and I am sure your schoolmates will appreciate the recommendations! :)
Comments