Maria Caulfield, Member of Parliament for Lewes, last week attended a reception in parliament to celebrate World Book Day.
World Book Day was created by UNESCO in 1995 as a worldwide celebration of books and reading. World Book Day is marked in over 100 countries around the globe. World Book Day’s mission is to promote reading for pleasure and to create opportunities for more children from all backgrounds to experience choosing and owning a book.
1 in 7 pupils (16.1%) said that the book they ‘bought’ with their World Book Day book token had been their first book of their own. When surveyed in 2022, 42.6% of primary children said they read more books as a result of World Book Day and 35% said they talk more about books with their family and friends. With England being ranked fourth in the world for our children’s literacy, it is so important that children maintain access to books and reading materials.
Commenting, Maria Caulfield MP said:
“World Book Day is such an important initiative to encourage our young people to get into literature. It has been great to see children from across the constituency getting involved with events at school. I would encourage anyone still with a book token to use it and pick up a great book”
Children are able to spend their £1 book token up until 31st March. To find out which retailers are participating visit www.worldbookday.com/