Getting Musical on World Book Day 2024
In the UK and Ireland, today – 7th March 2024 - is World Book Day!
The inaugural World Book Day was held in the UK and Ireland in 1997. Since then, it has been instrumental in promoting the joy of reading among young people. World Book Day is a worldwide celebration of authors, illustrators, publishers, and readers. Moreover, it is a registered charity whose ultimate aim is to provide every child and young person with a book they can call their own.
It is recognized in over 100 countries, most of whom celebrate the day on April 23. Here in the UK, however, children in schools, bookshops, and beyond all over the country will be taking part in the event today: dressing up as favorite book characters, participating in activities, receiving book tokens, and having lots of creative, imaginative, and literary fun.
Amid all this creative buzz, what better time to get children outside and musical on the school playground?! Music and poetry have – since antiquity – been regarded as the sister arts, but music and stories are profoundly connected in their way. Integrating children’s literature into music time or music lessons by adding songs and sound effects to the stories and acting them out during the lesson will add some creative fun – nothing works quite like a good book and some loud noise when it comes to awakening the ardent imaginations of our children.
This World Book Day – let your children be driven to use their minds in new and vibrant ways as they explore their chosen books through a new lens. Whether you choose to engage young minds with the gentle rhythms of ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt,’ the wild, mystical melodies of ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,’ the silvery, supernatural sounds of ‘Harry Potter’ or the ferocious roars of Aslan in ‘The Chronicles of Narnia,’ let the music pour out of your children’s favorite stories today.
Enjoy some seafaring stories and transform your outdoor music area into a pirate ship, or make music to stories, songs, and rhymes about minibeasts. The possibilities for incorporating hungry caterpillars, witches, wizards, dragons, princesses, and other adventurous characters into music lessons are endless.
For children who may find reading challenging or uninteresting, discovering the musicality of language can be a fun and exciting way to engage with books. By exploring the rhythms and melodies hidden within words, they can discover a new way to enjoy reading.
Happy World Book Day!
