It's that time of year again when the WHOLE WORLD gets ready for a book-bonanza as we celebrate World Book Day on the 4th March. Designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, celebrated in 100 countries around the globe children (and grown-ups) will be sharing stories and, of course, tons of brilliant costumes!
At Puffin, we're celebrating by offering pupils the chance to Meet An Author with our amazing line-up of virtual author visits taking place throughout the first week of March. Rashmi Sirdeshpande will be inspiring pupils with amazing real-life stories from her new book, How to Change the World. Jion Sheibani will show pupils how to draw their worries in a creative session inspired by her new book The Worries: Sohal Finds a Friend. Struan Murray will tell pupils everything he knows about creating fantasy worlds and give a behind the scenes look at the Orphans of the Tide series. You can join Nathan Bryon and Dapo Adeola in an interactive session featuring a quiz and draw-along based on Look Up! and Clean Up! And finally, Megan Rix will talk to pupils about detectives, working animals and sign language as themes in her new series Lizzie and Lucky. Find out more here.
It's British Science Week on 5th-14th March, celebrating everything wondrous about science, technology, engineering and maths. Organised by the British Science Association it's the ideal time to encourage young inventors in your class with our Science book list . Or try one of our STEM activities inspired by brilliant books: make a Lava Lamp with The Witches; discover the wonder of static electricity with Matilda's Floating Feat or do some Maths with her instead! The Blue Planet II resource pack explores our ocean habitats and for space exploration there's Look Up! by Nathan Bryon and Dapo Adeola.
International Women's Day takes place on 8th March, with this year's theme of #ChoosetoChallenge inviting all to celebrate women's achievements. Start the conversation by sharing a whole host of fantastic titles on our International Women's Day book list with stories of inspiring and unforgettable women from around the world. One young woman's actions were so inspiring she won the Nobel Peace Prize - find out about her with our Malala – Change the world with a magic pencil resource pack. Spark a debate with our specially created discussion questions centred on classic story Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.
On 21st March it's another global celebration - World Poetry Day where UNESCO recognizes the unique ability of poetry to capture the creative spirit of the human mind. Celebrate the opportunities poetry offers to help children express themselves and introduce them to wonderful wordsmiths like Benjamin Zephaniah, Roger McGough and Spike Milligan, from our poetry book list.
If your school is doing something inspiring to celebrate stories this month that you'd like to tell the world about, please contact [email protected] with 'Inspiring Ideas' in the subject line.