Reading Together Day – Thursday 16 July

The Reading Agency in the UK last week announced that Thursday 16 July is
Reading Together Day

According to the Reading Agency, the day will bring together collaborators including Authors Aloud UK, Arts Council England, ASCEL, BookTrust, British Library, CILIP, Coram Beanstalk, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Education, Dollywood Foundation, Libraries Connected, National Literacy Trust, Open University, Pearson, Publishers Association, School Library Association and World Book Day.

There’s a whole line-up of events taking place online throughout the day. One particular highlight that caught my eye is the reading of Doves of Damascus, a poem written by Syrian schoolgirl Ftoun Abou Kerech at 13:40 (@ace_national).

The aim of the Reading Together initiative is to bring families, friends, schools and communities together by “starting conversations, sharing stories, making connections, celebrating reading and having fun.” Here at the World Kid Lit Blog, we believe stories not only bring local communities together but by reading books written in different parts of the world and in different languages, we can learn more about other people and get conversation flowing about the global community at large.

So on Reading Together Day, we’d like to encourage you to find a book written in a different language or in a different part of the world and share it with someone else.

Here are three ideas to get you started:

• If you were planning a family holiday that’s been curtailed by the current pandemic, choose your virtual holiday destination and fly there with a book. Use our Books by Country resource to help you find that perfect location.  

• Take a look at our new 2020 list of books published this year. If you can’t get out to the shops, look out for the titles that are available as e-books, or support independent bookshops that are delivering.

• Perhaps you fancy snuggling up on the sofa and enjoy someone else reading to you. We’ve found these fabulous storytime videos for you and your little ones to enjoy together.

Let us know what books you’re reading together @worldkidlit #ReadingTogether or on our Facebook page.