World Book Day
Ahh... books. To quote Ranchoddas Chanchad (aka Phuskukh Wangdu), books are simply "Instruments that record, analyze, summarize, organize, debate, and explain information; that is illustrated, non-illustrated, hardbound, paperback, jacketed, non-jacketed; with the foreword, introduction, table of contents, index; that are indented for the enlightenment, understanding, enrichment, enhancement, and education of the human brain through the sensory route of vision - sometimes touch."
But for many children, they are their first means of contact with a world beyond their surroundings. Children interact with books from a very young age daily. Be it textbooks, storybooks, or books for various activities, their lives are incomplete without books. Therefore, parents must encourage and teach their children to take good care of their books.
World Book Day is celebrated across the globe in various ways. Some plan a trip to the local library, classroom displays of famous, inspiring, and influential literary characters, or book-themed activities during lessons. World Book Day was created in 1995 by UNESCO to celebrate authors and their literary contributions to the world and world history and to encourage young minds to discover the unquenchable pleasures of reading. Children who manage to discover the joys of reading at a young age grow up with many cognitive advantages over their peers, increased reading speed and a better lingual knowledge being only two of them.
Apart from that, it is a shame that many children, however, do not partake in this joy. The absolute thrill of reading has no negative impacts on children. They find different worlds, characters, and perspectives. They are taught crucial and important life lessons by people that exist only in the small, dark letters of a tattered old book. Their souls go on adventures all over the globe and sometimes even the galaxy, while their bodies rest within the confines of their rooms.
Books do give knowledge. But there is nothing in this world that could trump the pure joy of reading, and each and every child deserves to experience this joy.