Happy World Read Aloud Day! ๐
#WorldReadAloudDay is celebrated on the first Wednesday in February and takes place on February 4 this year. This is a day dedicated not just to reading, but to the art and practice of reading aloud. Stories were passed down from generation to generation even before writing was invented. Oral forms of storytelling were the earliest way of preserving human knowledge, insight, and creativity. This day helps us bring this tradition back to reading while promoting literacy.
HISTORY OF WORLD READ ALOUD DAY
LitWorld is a non-profit organization working in the field of education, and literacy in particular. Their mission statement reads, โStrengthening kids and communities through the power of stories.โ Reading aloud has been proven to benefit children and their caregivers by improving spelling, as listeners hear the proper enunciation of words. It also increases social bonding and empathy where listeners relate to the characters in the stories. This is what the day seeks to achieve.
In 2010, they launched the first World Read Aloud Day to promote diverse voices and narratives around the world. Now itโs become a truly global movement with a record of having trended on Twitter and many celebrity endorsements. According to their website, the day celebrates โthe joy and power of reading and sharing stories,โ and โexpanding the definition and scope of global literacy.โ The good news is that the world is more literate now than ever before. The youth literacy rate for people between the ages of 15 to 24 increased from 87,286 in 2010 to 90,537 in 2019. There is a similar upward curve for adult literacy rates around the world.
There are still, however significant differences in literacy throughout the world, with Chad registering a female youth literacy rate of a mere 22% in 2016. There are also a few other countries in sub-Saharan Africa like Niger, Mali, and the Central African Republic that fare below 50% as recently as 2018. World Read Aloud Day is one initiative that seeks to address these inequalities.
WORLD READ ALOUD DAY TIMELINE
3400 B.C. โ 3100 B.C. ๐
The ancient Sumerians are credited with the invention of writing.
The Chinese edition of โDiamond Sutraโ has been credited as the first modern printed book in the world.
1932 The First Audiobook is Launched ๐
The American Foundation of the Blind starts producing audiobooks for people with visual impairments.
The First World Read Aloud Day
This global movement is kickstarted by LitWorld.
HOW TO OBSERVE WORLD READ ALOUD DAY
This is a great opportunity to pick your childโs favorite book and take turns reading it. Adding character to the protagonists of the story through voice makes the experience more entertaining. If you already do that and want to try something different, you could just retell the stories you may have heard from your parents and grandparents.
#WorldReadAloudDay was a top trending hashtag on Twitter in February 2020. Apart from the children, families, and schools that participate in the day across the world, celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker and Chelsea Clinton have also tweeted the hashtag to do their bit for literacy. This is a great time to join in and raise awareness around this important movement.
If you love to read but can never find the time to, listening to an audiobook is a great alternative. If youโre enthusiastic enough about the story, it may even motivate you to recount it to someone else. Gifting an audiobook or subscription to a child or friend is another way of inspiring the love of books.
