History of International Children's Book Day
World Children's Book Day has been celebrated annually on April 2 for quite some time - since 1967. The initiator of the establishment of the holiday was the International Board on Children's Books (IBBY), and the idea itself belonged to the German writer Jelle Lepman , who once said:
“Give our children books and you will give them wings.”
The date was not chosen by chance - it coincides with the birthday of the main children's storyteller Hans Christian Andersen , who gave the world many wonderful fairy tales for all times. From the master’s pen came “The Ugly Duckling”, “The Snow Queen”, “Thumbelina” and many other works. By the way, the writer himself did not like being called a children's storyteller, each time objecting that he also writes for adults.
Andersen even ordered that not a single child be depicted on the monument at his grave.
Be that as it may, many generations of children have grown up and will continue to grow up on the books of the Danish writer. It would be difficult to choose a more suitable date to celebrate International Children's Book Day.
It’s interesting that children’s literature itself arose not so long ago—approximately in the 17th century. Until this time, children were mostly read the Bible and fables.
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