How is World Book Day’s online learning features providing access to stories in 2021, and will children reap the same benefits?
World Book Day have held their iconic event (of the same name) with UK schools every year since 1997. They have proudly shared millions of stories with children in the UK each year, with a whopping 2.5 million shared in 2020. According to the charities CEO Cassie Chadderton World, 95% of children recognise and look forward to the event each year. The charity aims to foster reading for pleasure and all the benefits therein, especially for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
In 2021, World Book Day organisers had planned more outreach to school and public libraries, alongside a new monthly book club held online. It goes without saying that after the events of 2020’s lockdown and its continuation into early 2021, World Book Day will be a quite different event this year. Changes have made World Book Day 2021 an entirely online affair. Events will last from 1st February until 4th March, and will include “Share a Story” live events and YouTube readings, a “Share a Story Corner”, book clubs for each age group, and social media campaign encouraging authors, parents, and children to share images of themselves sharing stories. World Book Days £1 book tokens will be available to download online, and can be used in major supermarkets, independent and chain bookshops for an extended period.
These new digital avenues for World Book Day have the potential to make stories and reading even more accessible than ever before by expanding the range of activities and ways to get involved beyond the page. Storytelling after all has never been just limited to books, and even children who have barriers to literacy and reading such as dyslexia and learning difficulties should be able to enjoy stories through audio and visual mediums.
It has long been understood that stories are extraordinarily beneficial to a child’s development, even well into adulthood. Reading and hearing diverse stories can help to broaden a child’s world view, improve empathy for others, process their own emotions, build confidence, and improve communication and vocabulary. In adulthood, children with good literacy as a result of reading are higher achievers (both in school and the work place), and even have better health and relationships.
However, a large part of the benefit of stories and storytelling is the interaction children have with the adults who are partaking in the activities with them. The personal interaction of storytelling helps children build listening skills, engage eye contact, and it may even be this form of storytelling that prepares children to read above any other medium. Asking the child questions helps immensely in gaging their understanding of the story as well. If World Book Day were to make most of their activities online permanently, could children miss out on this essential part of their social education?
It may even be that by moving online, World Book Day greats a greater barrier for more economically disadvantaged children. Not every child may have access to the internet, nor may they have an adult that is willing or able to engage in reading and stories with them. Adults may have concerns about their own literacy or confidence reading, or, in the age of lockdown, a parent/carer working from home may simply not have the time to engage.
Bringing ‘real’ books to children who may have never owned their own book before has always been a central part of World Book Day and their mission. In these uncertain times where divides in socio-economic disparity has become even more pertinent, children will need the escapism of a good story more than ever. World Book Day’s digital events are certainly an excellent and innovative way to bring the magic of storytelling to all children through the hardest of times. However, no YouTube video will ever be able to replace a good book.
· BBC. 2021. Five ways stories build better children. CBeebies [Online]. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/joinin/how-stories-help-children-develop [Accessed: 6 February 2021]
· Comerford, R. 2021. Online readings rolled out for world book day. The Bookseller [Online]. Available at: https://www.thebookseller.com/news/online-readings-rolled-out-world-book-day-1234620 [Accessed: 30 January 2021]
· Comerford, R. 2021. World Book Day forges ahead in lockdown. The Bookseller [Online]. Available at: https://www.thebookseller.com/news/world-book-day-forges-ahead-lockdown-1234198 [Accessed: 30 January 2021]
· Eyre, C. 2020. World Book Day plans outreach with book club and library collaboration. The Bookseller [Online]. Available at: https://www.thebookseller.com/news/wbd-plans-outreach-book-club-and-library-collaboration-1220241 [Accessed: 30 January 2021]
· Isbell, R. et al. 2004. The Effects of Storytelling and Story Reading on the Oral Language Complexity and Story Comprehension of Young Children. Early Childhood Education Journal Vol. 32 №3 [Online]. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:ECEJ.0000048967.94189.a3 [Accessed: 6 February 2021]
· The Writers Bureau. 2021. Why are Stories Important for Children? The Writers Bureau [Online]. Available at: https://www.writersbureau.com/writing/Why-are-stories-important-for-children.htm [Accessed: 6 February 2021]
· Winters, A. 2021. Why is storytelling important to children?. BBC Teach [Online]. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/why-is-storytelling-important-to-children/zvqcnrd [Accessed: 6 February 2021]
