For another year, the IBBY organization celebrates International Children's Book Day, which, as we have mentioned many times, has been celebrated on April 2, the birthday of the writer Hans Christian Andersen, since 1967. This year, the honor falls to the United States, and here is its message for 2021.
The music of words
When we read, our minds grow wings.
When we write, our fingers sing.
Words are drumbeats and flutes on the page,
soaring songbirds and trumpeting elephants,
rivers that flow, waterfalls tumbling,
butterflies that twirl
high in the sky!
Words invite us to dance---rhythms, rhymes, heartbeats,
hoofbeats, and wingbeats, old tales and new ones,
fantasies and true ones.
Whether you are cozy at home
or racing across borders toward a new land
and a strange language, stories and poems
belong to you.
When we share words, our voices
become the music of the future,
peace, joy and friendship,
a melody
of hope.
Written by Margarita Engle
Poster illustrated by Roger Mello
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