Writers Tricks of the Trade ISSUE 1, VOLUME 9 | Page 27

D OES Y OUR C OUNTRY O R C ITY C ELEBRATE
W ORLD B OOK D AY ?
Most of us have grown up with books of some form in our homes, our schools, and our offices. Some of us even
bring them to bed with us. In books, we often see ourselves as we experience the world through the eyes of the
characters. Books have a great influence on our individual identity and empathy.
I
t is safe to say that most human beings
are storytellers who document who we
are, where we have been, and where
we are going in words and pictures. Those
words and pictures give us stories of civili-
zations that existed before us. Some cul-
tures have threatened our books, sought to
destroy or burn them, but we fight to de-
fend them.
And so we come to the celebration of
books through World Book Day. Many of us
have never heard of it, so let’s look into
how it came to be and where it is celebrat-
ed the most.
Regardless of the kind of books you like
the most, the truth is simple—the world
would not be the same without books.
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE
Books have educated and inspired us for
thousands of years, and therefore World
Book Day is a well deser-ved holiday.
T HE H ISTORY OF W ORLD B OOK D AY
In today’s world, it is easy to produce a
book with glossy covers and creamy pages
even if you self publish. But thousands of
years ago, clay tablets were used. Later, the
move was made to papyrus. The Chinese
were the first to make something that re-
sembled today’s books in the 3rd century in
that their books consisted of numerous
thick, bamboo pages sewn together.
Fast forward to the mid-15th century,
when Johannes Gutenburg’s printing press
brought books into the industrial age. Now
P AGE 22
S PRING 2019