English Language Learners / Dual Language Learners / Multicultural Education Support – Language Lizard Blog

APRIL’S READING HOLIDAYS ARE PERFECT FOR DIVERSE CHILDREN’S BOOKS

April is a great month for book lovers! Not only do we have Drop Everything And Read (D.E.A.R.) Day, there’s also National Library Week and a whole host of reading-related holidays that celebrate books, poems and libraries.

 

Children’s Book Day

April 2nd of each year, the birthday of Hans Christian Andersen, is also Children’s Book Day. It’s a holiday that celebrates children’s book authors, promotes the importance of early literacy, and is a great chance to share your favorite book with the young readers in your life.

National Library Week

The second full week of April each year is National Library Week. It’s a time to celebrate our school and community libraries. Libraries have been using creative strategies to attract and meet the needs of their multicultural patrons. Many libraries have transformed themselves into centers of information and learning for their diverse communities.

National Library Week aims to make the public aware of the many services libraries offer, and the value and impact of those services to our communities.  Use #NationalLibraryWeek on social media to spread the word, and share what you love about your local library.

D.E.A.R (Drop Everything And Read!)

April 12th of every year, author Beverly Cleary’s birthday, is known as Drop Everything And Read Day. (The idea of D.E.A.R. Day was first introduced in her book Ramona Quimby, Age 8.) Families are encouraged to take 30 minutes (or more!) to enjoy books with their kids. Hopefully it will spark a love of family reading time all year-round!

School Library Month

April is also School Library Month – a celebration of school librarians and their programs. Interested in increasing the bilingual and multicultural book offerings in your classroom or school library? A bilingual lending library can inspire a love of reading in students, and increase parental involvement. Our post offers tips to help take your bilingual lending library from vision to reality.

Dia! Diversity in Action

April 30th of each year is the culmination of Dia! Diversity in Action. Dia! provides support to libraries by connecting their patrons to more bilingual/multicultural services and resources. The initiative is a “daily commitment to linking children and their families to diverse books, languages and cultures.”

Have you ever considered introducing a bilingual story time program for your school or library? Not only would a story time offer children who speak the same language a chance to gather, it would help all students with literacy, cultural appreciation and a sense of community.

Will you be celebrating any of April’s reading holidays? Comment below and let us know how!

“Toronto: book stacks at Toronto Reference Library” by The City of Toronto via Flickr is licensed under CC BY 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/gjDrZY

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