insideSUSSEX Magazine Issue 14 - April 2016 | Page 19

ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT

World Book Night
23 April 2016

Reading: isn’t it wonderful? Isn’t it strange? Isn’t it incredible how we can stare
at a piece of paper covered with black markings and create some kind of a
new world within our heads? It’s remarkable, magical, and the charity The
Reading Agency wants everyone to experience it.
Let us introduce World Book Night – an annual
event held on 23rd April (which is the UNESCO
International Day of the Book, as well as being
Shakespeare’s birthday) – aiming to show
people that reading for pleasure can have
some truly beneficial effects.
Did you know, for example, that reading can
reduce stress levels by 68%? And that book
readers generally have a more satisfied outlook
on life? Or that parents are their children’s first
and most important reading role model?
On World Book Night, hundreds of volunteers
are given books – different books each year
– and their task is to give them away to those
who might not normally sit down with a good
story, or those who might not own many
books. It’s a chance for these volunteers to
share their love of reading, and a chance for
the lucky ones who are chosen to receive new
books to experience what it’s like to delve into
the pages for the first time.
Each volunteer will be sent 16 copies of the
book they’ve been allocated, and it’s down
to them to decide who – and how – to give
the copies away. Perhaps they will walk down

the road and spot likely looking candidates.
Maybe they’ll hold a local event where they
will read some of the book and give copies
away there. The choices are almost endless.
As well as F