April 23rd is a great day for several reasons. First of all — it is our oldest son Micah’s birthday. Happy Birthday to him!

The other big thing is that today is World Book Day. 100 countries celebrate this day created by  UNESCO – The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. They proposed World Book Day as a day of celebrating the joy of reading for enjoyment. I am all for that.

Some World Book Day statistics:

1,207,937 – the number of reading sessions started on Bookly in the past year.

8.27 – the number of books per person by which book sales fell in 2001.

359,803 – the number of books and e-books added on Bookly between 2019 and 2020.

16,555 – the number of audiobooks added on Bookly between 2019 and 2020.

909,394 – the number of reading sessions started by female users on Bookly between 2019 and 2020.

350,485 – the number of reading sessions started by male users on Bookly between 2019 and 2020.

25–34 – the ages between which the most books are read.

80 million – the number of active users on popular book site Goodreads.

24% – the percentage of American adults who have not read a book in 2018. 

6 – the number of books by Dr. Seuss that rank among the top 20 bestselling children’s books of all time.

By the way, Bookly is an app that you can use to track your reading. I prefer Goodreads but I imagine they are both equally good at tracking and offering reviews.

Need a few more facts to help you make up your mind about the value of World Book Day? Here you go.

1. Reading is self-care. Reading reduces stress by 68%.
2. Books are personal. Children who own books are more likely to become regular readers than those who don’t have books at home.
3. It all adds up. Reading just 20 minutes a day equates to reading 1,800,000 words per year.
4. It builds fluency. .Reading is the best way to build your vocabulary and this is most evident in children.
5. Libraries are cool! Kids read 50% more books if they have a mini library in their classroom.

Tell me – what do you plan to do to celebrate World Book Day? Many places will be offering free e-book downloads so you can bet I will be checking those out. Let me know in the comments how you plan to celebrate. Remember to Comment for a Cause – Ohio Guidestone.