Children's Day, Book Day/El día de los niños, El día de los libros
April 30th and every day of the year
Children’s Day, Book Day, in Spanish, El día de los niños, el día de los libros, is a year-long commitment to celebrating all our children and to motivating them and their families to be readers, essential in our democracy.
Often known as Día, meaning day for our daily commitment, this literacy initiative, is a collaboration of national library and literacy organizations, educators, presses and readers creatively striving to share bookjoy and its importance. Culminating April Children’s Day, Book Day celebrations that unite communities, April book fiestas, are held in libraries, schools, homes, parks, etc., often on or near April 30th.
We encourage libraries, schools, universities, literacy organizations, and all who wish to promote Día to share these videos on social media, showcase them on your website, and share them with patrons, students and families.
The spots were created by Día Dynamos Christy Vasquez, a retired librarian and Thom Eberhardt, a retired screenwriter. As Sky City Productions, they created and filmed these spots to assist in promoting Día’s 20th Anniversary nationally. How generous of them to donate their creative talents for all of us to share!
In 1996, I learned about the Mexican tradition of celebrating April 30th as El día del niño, the day of the child. the day of the child. I thought, "We have Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. We need kids’ day too, but I want to connect all children with bookjoy, the pleasure of reading." I was enthusiastically assisted to start this family literacy initiative by REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking. The Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has also been an active partner. A new, enthusiastic national partner is First Book.
Among our other partners are ¡Colorín Colorado! (WETA), United States Board on Books
for Young People (USBBY), National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), Texas Library Association (TLA), Texas State Library and Archives Commission, State Library of Iowa, New Mexico State Library, Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature, Arte Público Press, Lee & Low Books, HarperCollins and Pomelo Books. We hope you find the information on the sidebar, particularly the planning booklet, helpful.
Let's share bookjoy!
Download Pat's 2016 Día Summary.
Enjoy this video of past April Día celebrations: