I want my money back!<\/p>\n
A week or so ago, I noticed on the BBC\u2019s website that World Book Day was being observed on March 3rd<\/sup> (\u201ccelebrated\u201d seems far too jolly a word for the way that Brits acknowledge such events, but \u201cscowled at\u201d seemed unduly disrespectful). So I thought, \u201cI\u2019ll write something based loosely on World Book Day.\u201d<\/p>\n So\u2026 I started my research, and thirty seconds in, I discovered that it\u2019s World Book Day in the UK only<\/em> on March 3rd<\/sup>. Most of the rest of the world (Sweden\u2019s another exception) observes it on April 23rd<\/sup>.<\/p>\n Come on UK\u2014World<\/em> Book Day? I denigrate the Americans for calling their baseball competition \u201cThe World Series\u201d even though there\u2019s only one country competing (two if you count Canada\u2019s Toronto Blue Jays), yet I find my former homeland\u2019s doing a similar thing with books!<\/p>\n BTW\u2026<\/p>\n The reasons for the World Series being so-called are wrapped up in myth, hype (surprise surprise) and confusion. The myth is that the series was originally sponsored by the New York World <\/span> newspaper. The hype is that the Sporting Life <\/span> publication hailed the 1884 winners of the Series as \u201cChampions of the World\u201d. The confusion is everything else.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n To be honest, I didn\u2019t know there was such a thing as World Book Day, but I should have guessed\u2014if there\u2019s such a thing as World Toilet Day (Nov 19th<\/sup>), then there must be a World Book Day; I mean, the two go hand in hand (although a different part of the anatomy might be more appropriate, but I\u2019ll resist the temptation). One parks oneself on the throne; one picks up a book. (One hopes that one won\u2019t be so positioned for the entire day though.)<\/p>\n Questions race through my mind, eluding my \u201cthought net\u201d like butterflies teasing a lepidopterist. I did catch a couple of thoughts though\u2014the two most frequent ones. (The cabbage whites of my mind?) Do books really need their own day? And why are there so many \u201cWorld xxxxxxx Days\u201d?<\/p>\n \u201cEvery dog has its day\u201d is a fairly well-known aphorism (apparently August 26th<\/sup> is Dog Day, and October 4th<\/sup> is World Pet Day, not that these are what the aphorism refers to), but the dog is man\u2019s best friend and arguably deserves its day, whereas books don\u2019t share that lofty status. So why was it deemed desirable or necessary that books be given their own day?<\/p>\n Before I offer my cynical opinion, let\u2019s look at the origins of World Book Day and some dates.<\/p>\n In Spain, Catalonians have observed April 23rd<\/sup> (also St. George\u2019s Day) as \u201cThe Day of the Rose\u201d since 1436. Apparently, this celebration was much like Valentine\u2019s Day (although without the \u201cassistance\u201d of Hallmark) and I strongly suspect it was invented by flower sellers or rose growers.<\/p>\n In 1923, booksellers in Catalonia wanted to honour the author Miguel de Cervantes (yah right!) who had died a mere 305 years previously, and used the fact that he died on \u201cThe Day of the Rose\u201d to connect him to that date. No doubt some wag suggested that they rename the day to \u201cThe Day of the Rose and Windmill*\u201d, but I can find no trace of a day of that name.<\/p>\n *Cervantes is famous for having written Don Quixote\u2014Don Quixote \u201ctilted at windmills\u201d at one point in the book. For those who\u2019ve never heard of Don Quixote, it\u2019s pronounced \u201cKi\u2019hotay\u201d, not \u201cKwiksoat\u201d. Perversely, the adjective that derives from the name, quixotic<\/span>, is pronounced \u201ckwiksotic\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In 1995, UNESCO decided that books needed their own day, and came out with World Book and Copyright Day<\/em>. I haven\u2019t yet found anything that states why UNESCO saw the need; all the material I\u2019ve read on the UN\u2019s and UNESCO\u2019s websites merely explain why April 23rd<\/sup> was selected (and no, it wasn\u2019t because nobody else had claimed it). April 23rd<\/sup> is the date on which Shakespeare died (and possibly was born), on which the aforementioned Cervantes died, and on which several other prominent authors were hatched or dispatched.<\/p>\n The supposed goals of the event are noble\u2014anything that promotes reading and increases literacy is a worthy cause. As for that \u201cand Copyright Day\u201d\u2014I bet that wasn\u2019t an afterthought. I\u2019m sure that wise people saw the writing on the wall (and being literate, could read it). It would have said words to the effect of, \u201cThe advent of the digital age heralds an era of rampant copyright abuse\u201d (assuming the graffitists\u2019 spray cans had that much paint in them). As a writer, I\u2019d like to reap the (financial) rewards of my efforts, so I applaud any concerted effort to raise awareness of and respect for copyright. How unfortunate that most organizations and events have dropped the \u201cand Copyright\u201d from the name.<\/p>\n So my cynical opinion of why we have a World Book (and Copyright) Day? I think the UN recognized the imminent onslaught of copyright infringers and put something in place that reminded people that copyright laws exist, using the promotion of increased world literacy as the vehicle. Feel free to rebut via a comment.<\/p>\n No \u2013 this is not a piece advocating the creation of a day devoted to X-rated imagery and text. The \u201cxxxxxxxx\u201d is algebraic\u2014it\u2019s a variable.<\/p>\n World Book (and Copyright) Day is just another in a long list of local, national and international days of observance\/recognition\/celebration. The number of world xxxxxxx days is quite astonishing. I\u2019m sure there are more than 365 of them, so clearly gay whales may have to share their day with art-nouveau<\/em> lattes.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a sample of days that are fairly-well guaranteed to raise an eyebrow. (I have no idea how authoritative my sources are!)<\/p>\n For a long list of bizarre and unique observed days, try this website<\/a>.<\/p>\n Apparently, the Brits observe \u201cWorld\u201d Book Day on March 3rd<\/sup>, because April 23rd<\/sup> clashes with the Easter school holidays. What does that matter? Books exist outside of schools. What\u2019s more bonding than a family reading together? Could it be that someone with far too much power for their IQ decided that books and schools are linked to the exclusion of all else? Are parents not to be trusted to interact with their kids and books? Or have we raised a generation of parents who either don\u2019t read or don\u2019t have time\/patience\/inclination to read with their kids?<\/p>\n Or do the Brits ensure that the event falls on a school day so that kids can discard their school uniforms in favour of dressing up as a character from a favourite book? Nah! That\u2019s too cynical, even by my standards!<\/p>\n But that\u2019s what they do in the UK, apparently. Instead of the neat row upon row of uniformed cherubs, schools become a holding tank for cats in hats, muggles dressed as Harry or Hermione, Cinderellas, Pinocchios, Scarecrows, Aslans, Wallys (aka Waldos in N. America) and goodness knows who else.<\/p>\n The pressure! As if Halloween isn\u2019t bad enough (although Halloween still hasn\u2019t reached North American levels (as far as I know)). What do kids whose parents don\u2019t help them participate do? What about those that can\u2019t afford to buy a costume and don\u2019t have the skills, time, imagination and\/or money to make one?<\/p>\n One suggestion might be to find a character who dresses really badly, or whose clothes are threadbare, patched and torn (maybe Oliver Twist, or Gordon Comstock from George Orwell\u2019s Keep the Aspidistra Flying; both books are favourites among the under-12s I\u2019m sure!). Another suggestion might be to go as Tarzan or Mowgli, although now we\u2019re getting into modesty issues. (But you have to admit\u2014 the costumes would be affordable and easy to make!)<\/p>\n A British comedian, one Joe Heenan, did the unthinkable and forgot about costumes for his kids this year. According to his Twitter posts<\/a>, he was going to send them to school in uniform with a hairdryer and a toaster. The connection he made with World Book Day? A catalogue retailer\u2019s catalogue\u2014pages 89 and 165, to be precise. I\u2019m surprised Argos is still using catalogues.<\/p>\n Mr. Heenan certainly showed some original thought, but I hope his kids were willing participants in a \u201cjust for laughs\u201d Twitter prank. If they really did show up at school with their small appliances in their hands, I hope that their teachers and fellow students saw the joke. If that had happened in the environment I grew up in (East London), the kids would have been ridiculed mercilessly, beaten up and their appliances taken to the pawn shop.<\/p>\n Not that anyone on my street would have possessed an electric toaster, I\u2019m pretty sure.<\/p>\n But back to books and book days. Books\u2014good things. Book days\u2014questionable. Despite the availability of e-books in all their various shapes and forms, you can\u2019t beat the real thing. My Kobo is great for travelling, especially as airlines continue to reduce baggage allowances to the point that they\u2019ll soon be measuring in grams. But the flight attendant will never tell you to stop reading your \u201creal\u201d book because it might interfere with the aircraft\u2019s control systems.<\/p>\n Those of us who read regularly take books for granted. We may question the need for a special day set aside for books. Unfortunately, it\u2019s the people who have easy access to books who mark the day\u2014those in most need quite possibly don\u2019t even know that World Book Day comes and goes each year.<\/p>\n Perhaps we need a World Communications Day to let the world know about all these World xxxxxxx days; now that would be one to celebrate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I want my money back! A week or so ago, I noticed on the BBC\u2019s website that World Book Day was being observed on March 3rd (\u201ccelebrated\u201d seems far too jolly a word for the way that Brits acknowledge such events, but \u201cscowled at\u201d seemed unduly disrespectful). So I thought, \u201cI\u2019ll write something based loosely on World Book Day.\u201d So\u2026… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[53,54,52],"class_list":["post-256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-notable-dates","tag-april-23","tag-day-of-the-rose","tag-world-book-day"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Meanwhile, Back at World Book Day\u2026<\/h1>\n
Do Books Really Need Their Own Day?<\/h1>\n
The Day of the Rose (and Windmill?)<\/h3>\n
UNESCO Steps In<\/h3>\n
World XXXXXXXX Days<\/h1>\n
\n
Meanwhile, Back in the UK on March 3rd<\/sup>\u2026<\/h1>\n
Dress-up (or Down)<\/h1>\n