On April 2nd every year, the world, and reading lovers, celebrates the International Children’s Book Day, which marks the birthday of the famous Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), who captured the hearts of children with his beautiful stories. Many of his books were translated into the world’s languages and printed hundreds of times Most of them turned into successful films, some of which are still shown today and attract young people, despite the fact that their texts were written more than 150 years ago.
Andersen was distinguished by his overactive imagination, charming language, simple words, and sometimes symbolic style of writing in order to deliver to his readers a wisdom or a lesson that young children could learn from, but in an amusing way that brings happiness to their hearts. His most prominent books include “Finger Mind”, “The Little Match Seller”, “The Steadfast Tin Soldier”, “The Snow Queen”, “The Little Mermaid”, “The Ugly Duckling”, “The Silver Shilling”, and “The Princess and the Pea”. “The Red Shoe”, “The Pen and Inkwell”, and many others.
International Children’s Book Day witnesses organizing literary events and activities for children, story readings and various competitions, in addition to distributing books to children, offering discounts on their purchases of books, and many other events that aim to inspire and encourage children to love reading and learning, drawing attention to children’s books, and celebrating Andersen’s legacy and timeless works, which are said to have been translated into more than 150 languages.
In recognition of his great role in instilling a love of reading in children, the International Council on Books for Young People launched an international award named after Hans Christian Andersen. It is sometimes referred to as the “Nobel Prize for Children’s Literature” and is awarded every two years to an author and illustrator of children’s books. The winners are honored at an official ceremony in which Queen Margaret II, Queen of Denmark, awards gold medals and cash rewards to the winners.
