It's International Children's Books Day!...

After a day of foolin' around, we get a day to celebrate the children's book.

Since the late '60s, the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) has celebrated International Children's Book Day on (or around) April 2nd, the anniversary of Hans Christian Andersen's birth, "to inspire a love of reading and to call attention to children's books."

From IBBY's website:

Each year a different National Section of IBBY has the opportunity to be the international sponsor of ICBD. It decides upon a theme 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. These materials are used in different ways to promote books and reading. Many IBBY Sections promote ICBD through the media and organize activities in schools and public libraries. Often ICBD is linked to celebrations around children's books and other special events that may include encounters with authors and illustrators, writing competitions or announcements of book awards.

This year's sponsoring country is Egypt and the poster is by Hani D. El-Masri. Click here for additional versions of the beautifully executed poster.

Hope you can read a book to a kid today to celebrate! I read this one to my son's preschool class. (They loved it.)