International Book Day

The concept Instituto Cervantes came up with behind the Dia del Libro is elegant; exchanging roses for books. Beauty for beauty. Books are the final repository of human knowledge. Abraham Lincoln famously said, “Books serve to show a man those original thoughts of his aren’t very new after all.” One of the key components to building a nation, as Jose Rizal saw it, is knowing the past. In what else but books will it be discovered?

There is a reason why the first things banned under totalitarian regime are books. Heinrich Heine, a German author, pointed out, “Where one begins burning books, one will end up burning people.” Alfred Whitney Grisold wrote in The New York Times in 1959: “Books won’t stay banned. They won’t burn. Ideas won’t go to jail. In the long run of history, the censor and the inquisitor have always lost. The only sure weapon against bad ideas is better ideas.”

It has been long proven that introducing children   to   books at a young age is beneficial in their educational career. From the website www.readingfoundation.org: “While a country receives a good return on investment in education at all levels from nursery school and kindergarten through college, the research reveals that the returns are highest from the early years of schooling when children are first learning to read. . . . The early years set the stage for later learning. Without the ability to read, excellence in high school and beyond is unattainable.” The importance of reading and exposure to books crosses borders and cultures. It is a constant.

One of the key components of the UNESCO’s educational reform policy recommendations is: “(1) Provide at least one year of pre-primary education to all Filipino children.” In a report, also by The Reading Foundation: “Just 20 minutes a day reading aloud with young children strengthens relationships, encourages listening and language skills, promotes attention and curiosity, and establishes a strong reading foundation. These skills are essential for success in school and in life. It takes hundreds of hours of “lap time” for a child to acquire the pre-literacy skills necessary for learning to read early and well. From birth to age five, the pleasant activity of listening to and talking about stories trains a child’s brain, ears, and eyes for eventual success in learning to read.” Preparing our children for success later in life must involve government, non-government organizations and parental intervention and preparation at an early age.

April 24, 2010 is International Book Day, and Instituto Cervantes will be holding a variety of activities geared towards parents and children. Today is also the death anniversary of two of history’s greatest writers: Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare. Both died in 1616. Cervantes is of course the famous author of Don Quixote, who gave us the quixotic image of tilting at windmills. While Shakespeare left an enduring legacy of the greatest plays and stories in history. Along with a catalogue of words and phrases, such as from Romeo and Juliet: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose/By any other name would smell as sweet.”

Activities at Instituto will include: Pinta Historias or a day of painting and reading; a movie showing at 2 p.m.; a poetry contest at 4 p.m.; photography contests and Spanish language demonstration classes. In the evening, starting at 6 p.m., the UST Conservatory of Music will have a concert using Philippine music written during the Philippine Revolution. A Latin party, with the traditional food and music, will be the capstone to the day. We encourage booklovers to attend and parents to bring their children. We offer our congratulations in advance to all involved.

For more information on the Dia del Libro please call the Instituto Cervantes at 5261482 or visit http://manila. cervantes.es