Reading And Literature Quotes To Celebrate International Children's Book Day

Sunday marks International Children’s Book Day, celebrated yearly since 1967 on or around legendary author Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday. The day aims to inspire children to love reading and bring attention to children’s books, backed by the nonprofit International Board on Books for Young People.

Only 53 percent of children aged three to five were read to daily by a family member, according to a survey by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. But being read to and having books inside a home has been shown to lead to higher scores in reading proficiency. Thirty-four percent of children entering kindergarten lacked the basic language skills needed to learn how to read, according to Reading Is Fundamental.

To spread a love of literature, share a favorite story with a child as well as these inspirational words about reading on International Children’s Book Day.

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” Stephen King

“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.” Oscar Wilde

“There are so many little ways to enlarge your world. Love of books is the best of all.” Jacqueline Kennedy

“We read to know we’re not alone.” William Nicholson

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“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” Frederick Douglass

“A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading.” William Styron

“The whole world opened up to me when I learned to read.” Mary McCleod Bethune

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” Dr. Seuss

“I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library.” Jorge Luis Borges

“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.” Lemony Snicket

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” C.S. Lewis

“If you are going to get anywhere in life you have to read a lot of books.” Roald Dahl

“Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you becoming convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.” John Green

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“To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.” Victor Hugo

“No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting.” Lady Montagu

“You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child.” Dr. Seuss

“Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.” Voltaire

“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it.” J.D. Salinger

“There is no frigate like a book, to take us lands away.” Emily Dickinson​​