I LOVE World Book Day! I loved it when I was a teacher and I love it even more now I’m a storyteller and writer.
These days, the day has turned into a week as I find myself visiting a range of different schools to offer different activities to complement their World Book Day plans. This week I have been in swift succession: Little Red Riding Hood, The Queen of Hearts and Puss in Boots. I also did some Author Q and A sessions and some storytelling in my cloak to open a new Adventure Cave.
Some people raised concerns that (like many things) it had become more about how much money parents had spent on costumes rather than a real celebration of books. I never encouraged the children in my class to buy expensive outfits. Instead I made suggestions about how to make outfits from things they already had. My own dressing up box is bursting with outfits that have been cobbled together, found in charity shops or made from items to hand (I even have an outfit made from an IKEA bag which I wore to a Eurovision party once).
For me, World Book Day will always be about the books. I think it’s so important to encourage children to read books, enjoy books, talk about books and ask questions about books. Celebrating books by dressing up is just another way to promote discussions, reading and enjoyment. Bring on next year…
If you would like Little Lamb Tales to visit your school for storytelling, Drama workshops, Author visits or Creative writing workshops please email Jude at littlelambphonics@gmail.com or see facebook.com/littlelambtales or facebook.com/JudeLennonAuthor
