World Book Day is a celebration! It’s a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and (most importantly) it’s a celebration of reading. In fact, it’s the biggest celebration of its kind, designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and marked in over 100 countries all over the world.
This is the 20th year there’s been a World Book Day, and today (2nd March 2017) children of all ages will come together to appreciate reading. Very loudly and very happily. The main aim of World Book Day in the UK and Ireland is to encourage children to explore the pleasures of books and reading by providing them with the opportunity to have a book of their own. That’s why we will be sending schools (including those nurseries and secondary schools that have specially registered to participate), packs of Book Tokens and age-ranged World Book Day Resource Packs (age-ranged into Nursery/Pre-School, Primary and Secondary) full of ideas and activities, display material and more information about how to get involved in World Book Day.
WHAT HAPPENS?
Thanks to the generosity of National Book Tokens Ltd, publishers and booksellers, we can send millions of book vouchers to children and young people (some 15 million, in fact: that’s one for nearly every child aged under eighteen in the country).
THEN…
They can take their voucher to a local bookseller and can use it to pick one of TEN (exclusive, new and completely free) books. Or, if they’d rather, they can use it to get £1 off any book or audio book costing over £2.99 at a participating bookshop or book club (terms and conditions apply).
We really look forward to seeing all the amazing costumes you’ve worn today on your school’s Twitter and Facebook pages – we’ll retweet our favourites. Be sure to use the hashtag #WorldBookDay!
St David’s Day is celebrated every year on 1 March.
It is the day when the people of Wales (or Cymru in Welsh), and others around the world, celebrate their patron saint, St David.
On the day, many people choose to wear Welsh national symbols, like a daffodil or leek. The original national emblem of Wales was the Leek (Cenhinen), over the years this was often confused with a very similar Welsh word Cehhinen Bedr which means daffodils and so the daffodil was adopted as a second emblem of Wales.
On St David’s Day, children enjoy traditional Welsh dances, sing Welsh folk songs (not just Tom Jones) and recite Welsh poems, and take part in school concerts or eisteddfodau. They might eat Welsh food like Welsh Rarebit (a kind of fancy cheese on toast) or Cawl (a traditional Welsh lamb stew that’s hearty and delicious, especially if you crumble in some Caerphilly cheese!).
Wales loves rugby and in recent years, including at last year’s European Championships, have gotten quite good at football thanks to a certain Gareth Bale and co. Snowdon (or Yr Wyddfa), is the highest peak in Wales at 1085 m and the principality is said to contain more castles per square mile than any other country in the world. Wales is often termed “the land of song” due mainly to its famous male voice choirs.
On Shrove Tuesday, people will be tucking into a pancake feast, as part of a tradition that has lasted for centuries. Traditionally, Christians would eat pancakes on the last day before Lent begins, to use up foods like eggs and milk, before starting 40 days of fasting for lent.
Now, Pancake Day is celebrated by people all over the world, and some people even hold pancake-flipping competitions. If you want to join in, you could try this basic pancake recipe, adapted from celeb chef Delia Smith, to make enough mixture for 12-14 pancakes. Yum!
But don’t forget to ask your parents or carers to help!
For the pancake mixture:
110g/4oz plain flour
pinch of salt
2 eggs
200ml/7fl oz milk mixed with 75ml/3fl oz water
50g/2oz butter
To serve:
caster sugar
lemon juice
lemon wedges
…or, you could get creative like in the picture above with fruit, chocolate spread, peanut butter – anything really!
Instructions
1. Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl.
2. Make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it.
3. Begin whisking the eggs.
4. Gradually add small quantities of the milk and water mixture, still whisking.
5. Whisk until all the liquid has been added and the batter has the consistency of thin cream.
6. Melt the butter in a pan.
7. Spoon 2 tbsp of it into the batter and whisk it in. Use the rest of the butter to grease the frying pan before you make each pancake.
8. Get the pan really hot, then turn the heat down to medium – be really careful doing this bit. You might want to get your parents or carers to help at this point!
9. Ladle 2 tbsp of the batter into the hot pan all in one go.
10. Tip it around from side to side to get the base evenly coated with batter.
11. After about half a minute, and when the bottom is golden in colour, flip the pancake over.
12. The other side will only need a few seconds to cook.
13. Slide the pancake out of the pan onto a plate.
14. To serve, sprinkle each pancake with freshly squeezed lemon juice and caster sugar.
15. Enjoy!
