On the 2nd March 1995, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) decided that the World Book Day would be celebrated on or around the 23 April.
This date is significant because it is also the anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, amongst other prominent authors.
However, in the UK and Ireland the date varies between the 1st March to 8th March due to the Easter Holiday break.
When is World Book Day in 2023?
In 2023, World Book Day will be held on Thursday, 2nd March, with children in the UK and Ireland, from the ages of 3-16 joining together to show their appreciation and love of books.
The theme for this World Book Day follows the message “You Are a Reader”, and there will be a focus on reaching children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
What is the aim of World Book Day?
In the UK and Ireland one of the main aims of World Book Day is to encourage children to explore the pleasures of reading books and providing them with a voucher to choose one book of their own from a choice of 8-10 books provided.
Schools are given packs of Book Tokens and age-ranged World Book Day Resource packs full of ideas and activities, display material to promote reading skills.
The reason we celebrate World Book Day is to enjoy and join the authors and illustrators of different books to encourage reading among everyone.
At the last count there were over 100 countries worldwide partaking in this huge book reading festival.