Did you know today, 5th March was World Book Day? And did you know it has been celebrated for 18 years?

We feel it is a great chance to celebrate the passion of reading, especially in English, for all our students, ex-students, their families, and our teachers. But is it an event or a celebration in their countries too?

It seems there is also a similar event on 23rd April in many countries. So, which one is the ‘WORLD’ event?

With a quick internet search, we can see that more countries celebrate the April date. There are events, competitions etc. in libraries, schools and other public places. And it also happens to be Copyright Day, not such a fun fact, or a fun event (unless you are an author or publisher).

And both events / dates are supported by UN and UNESCO. But the strongest correlation we can find with history and true events (and even cultural mythology) is the 23rd April date. Would you believe this is the date of Shakespeare’s death? He is one of the most famous British writers, who wrote in a form of modern English, which is actually quite old. But the British didn’t really create a festival to celebrate his life on his death date. British people might also notice this date is also Saint (St) George’s Day. He is a famous mythical hero in many countries, and we call him a ‘patron saint’. Interestingly, in a part of Spain, where George is called Jordi, in Catalonia, the local people were the first to connect the festival of St George’s Day with the death dates of a British/English writer and a Spanish writer, Cervantes, which were on the same April date.

Although World Book Day officially began in 1995, it was 1923 when those local Catalonians started giving books as presents. Present giving on 23rd April had been a tradition in some countries, as part of St George’s Day customs, included giving a red rose, to a lover. And where did this custom come from? Well the story of St George only really gets exciting when he kills a dragon (we did say this was a mythical hero, and a myth, a legend, probably not a true story!). Why kill a dragon? To save a princess of course. And then he gave a red rose from a bush where the dragon’s blood was spilled.

Well, that is a story, and a good one. It proves how much we all love stories, and books too.

So, who can tell us what the 5th March date is all about? Is it mostly in the UK only?

And a final bit of confusion, there is also International Children’s Book Day. Do you know the date of that one?