Home > Holiday Calendar > April > International Children's Book Day

International Children's Book Day
April 2

The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) sponsors this celebration (on or around Hans Christian Andersen's birthday).  It has been celebrated since 1967.

Goals:

• to promote international understanding through children’s books,
• to give children everywhere the opportunity to have access to books with high literary and artistic standards,
• to encourage the publication and distribution of quality children’s books, especially in developing countries,
• to provide support and training for those involved with children and children’s literature, and
• to stimulate research and scholarly works in the field of children’s literature.

Each year, a different National Section of IBBY is the international sponsor.  The sponsor selects a theme for the day and invites a prominent author from the host country to write a message to the children of the world and a well-known illustrator to design a poster.

2009
Host: Egypt 
Theme:  I am the World 
Poster design:  Hani D. El-Masri 
Message:  EBBY

See this year's poster at IBBY.

created on March 23, 2009