To everyone out there helping to promote reading for pleasure, writing for pleasure, creating for pleasure, we Etheringtons salute you.
For today is World Book Day!
To all the librarians, book sellers, teachers, parents, literacy coordinators, comedians, authors, illustrators, brothers and sisters and uncles and friends and famous peeps and nameless peeps and world leaders and freedom fighters out there in the public eye or the thankless wilderness, each striving to get books into the hands of children .... THANK YOU. We all have a part to play, small or large, and today is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the joy of reading.
But it's just one of the 365 days each year in which we must remember to bring words to life for the next generation. Owning a single book that they can genuinely call their own is a terrifyingly rare experience for a large number of children living in the UK, let alone elsewhere. Having access to reading materials and stories is vital, and there's much we can do to change this situation. Sharing stories verbally in the classroom and at home, supporting libraries across the country, donating books to schools, arranging visits from authors, setting up after-school comic clubs, etc, etc. The list is endless.
But that is for tomorrow. For today, go out and dress up. As Harry, as Catniss, as Frodo, as a Wimpy Kid, as the Grinch - and wave your books high! Reading is the right of everyone alive and we say High Five to that!
