International Book Giving Day - February 14th 2014

What better way to show your love for a child than by joining in with International Book Giving Day.

International Book Giving Day is a 100% volunteer initiative aimed at increasing children’s access to and enthusiasm for books.

In 2013, International Book Giving Day was celebrated by people in Australia, Canada, South Africa, France, India, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, the Philippines, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Brazil, Egypt, Poland, Greece, Portugal, Mexico, Macedonia, Malawi, Hungary, Malaysia, Israel, Denmark, Thailand, Indonesia, Jordan, China, Puerto Rico and Bulgaria. We hope that people around the world will think about the best ways to help children in need in their communities.



Most of us take books for granted. However did you know that In the United Kingdom, one-third of children do not own books. Most children in developing countries do not own books and in the United States, two-thirds of children living in poverty do not own books.

I can't imagine my children not growing up with a book. Their bedroom looks like a branch of any bookstore and adding more by the day. I get a little bit obsessive you see. I remember reading the Puddle Lane books when I was small. 2 years of scouring charity shops and the Internet and my boys own the entire collection. We have the Oxford Reading Tree books too which have given the boys a great start in Literacy. Ben is currently reading at the top of his age group (and expected age by end of his school year and we're only in January). Noah at almost 3 has started picking the books up and trying to sound out the letters as he has seen his older brother do so it won't be long before he starts on the Early adventures of Biff, Kipper and Chip.

Noah's current books of choice seem to be Thomas (and yes, we do have the whole set) whilst Ben has really started enjoying The Gruffalo and other Julia Donaldson classics.

When I first heard of International Book Giving Day my reaction was "yay a guilt free chance to buy the boys MORE books". This prompted me to nip into WHSmith on my way home from work where they currently have 2 offers running on children's books "3 for 2" on all books and "Buy 1 get 1 for £1" on selected chart books. I went with the latter picking up 2 more Julia Donaldson ones they had been asking me for (they are sitting ready for bedtime treats).

 

Whilst shopping in there I noticed another promotion which, disappointingly, they don't appear to be promoting. Hidden at the top of a picture book stand there were 2 clip on boxes with cardboard in. I took one out and found it to be a fantastic new reward card.

For every children's book you buy (educational study guides not included) you get a star sticker.
- collect 4 stickers for a FREE Lego minifigure
- 6 stickers for a FREE pack of 12 colouring pencils
- 8 stickers for £10 off kids books (minimum spend £10). 

Ask in store for one if you can't find them on display. The T&C's on the back aren't very well worded but I think the promotion finishes on 24/12/14 so plenty of time to get those stickers if buying for International Book Day or birthdays (and Easter .... and Christmas).

So you don't have your own children, you aren't confident enough to buy a book and give to a child or a school .... perhaps you could arrange for a local pub or cafe to host a Beers for Books event?

What's a Beers for Books event? well you ask your friendly landlord/ cafe owner if they will donate £xp for every beer/ coke/ meal sold on 14th February. You could work to make this a really great occasion with raffle prizes, competitions, book swaps and/ or book collection point or whatever takes your fancy.

Turn up and have a fantastic time. Whilst donating the money to registered charity "Room To Read" .

I am currently looking for a local cafe to see if they can help us out with one of these and organise a story telling/ reading party at the same time. If you think you can help out me (are you in Sheffield City Centre locality) please get in touch.

Other ways of donating could be by:

- donating to the local Children's hospital

- giving to charity or a charity shop

- putting in doctors surgery/ dentist/ optician waiting rooms

Whilst many of the event ideas and suggestions on the website are Americanised it is very easy to adapt so anyone can make the day a hit whilst keeping reading at heart. Why not take a look, you are bound to find something you can do.

http://bookgivingday.com/