The importance of World Book Day
A lot of children feel that reading is something that is just for school. They don’t see how they need it in real life, and they certainly don’t see how anyone could get any sort of pleasure from it. That is a shame, since poetry, stories and all other forms of literature have been the secret tool people across the world and cultures have used to entertain themselves and escape from their ordinary lives.
I am a writer, but I am also a reader and before I was introduced to the internet, I was introduced to books. Books were my escape, books were my source of joy and books were the reason I figured out that I wanted to be a writer.
With that being said, I could go into talking about the benefits reading has on literacy and opportunities for children (which it does), and that is why World Book Day is important for everyone. But we all know that and I think you know that too.
The Theme for World Book Day this year is ‘Reading for Pleasure’, and something I want to highlight is how special and exciting it is to be able to have someone’s story from the past, or from the other side of the world, in your hands. World Book Day is important, because it reminds us that everyone has a story to tell, everyone has an experience we can get joy and learn from, and perhaps most the most important of them all, is that every reader has a story that shows them that they are not alone. You see, reading for pleasure comes when you connect with a story. Whether it be the characters, the plot or you fall in love with the world the writer has built. We gain pleasure through reading, by connecting.
In many ways, that is my own inspiration to write. Not just to tell the stories that inspire me, but to share the untold ones and help dormant readers find their spark. In my book Places: Important Sites in Black British History, it was important for me to show readers the different stories of Black British people – particularly outside of London. Growing up, many Black British children felt disconnected from the stories of Black British people, since it felt that the setting of those stories began and ended in London. We felt like we weren’t part of the collection. Simply pitches that didn’t make it through. What Places aims to do is not only highlight the stories of Black British people across Scotland, Wales and other parts of Britain, but also help readers in those regions feel connected.
I would like to end this blog, hopefully leaving you with a reminder of why we celebrate World Book Day, and that reading for pleasure starts through connection. I hope Places is able to be that key that opens the door to the vast and exciting world of literature for someone. I also wanted to provide a list of books and plays that have inspired my pleasure for reading as a reader but also a writer. I hope you have a good World Book Day and happy reading!
Melody Triumph’s rereads list
The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon
If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde
Teaching Community a Pedagogy of Hope by bell hooks
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Holes by Louis Sachar
Crow by Ted Hughes
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Decolonising the Mind by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire