ICBD 2021

International Children's Book Day opens up the world of books and story in so many ways from place to place and child to child. USBBY is THRILLED to be the sponsor for 2021!
CLICK HERE to read the message and inspiration from author and poet,  Margarita Engle, and author and illustrator,  Roger Mello. The vibrancy they each create is a treasure.

To lead you into ICBD,  please delight in this poem from Margarita Engle:

The Music of Words
When we read, our minds grow wings.
When we write, our fingers sing.


Words are drumbeats and flutes on the page,
soaring songbirds and trumpeting elephants,
rivers that flow, waterfalls tumbling,
butterflies that twirl
high in the sky!


Words invite us to dance---rhythms, rhymes, heartbeats,
hoofbeats, and wingbeats, old tales and new ones,
fantasies and true ones.


Whether you are cozy at home
or racing across borders toward a new land
and a strange language, stories and poems
belong to you.


When we share words, our voices
become the music of the future,
peace, joy and friendship,
a melody
of hope.


Written by Margarita Engle
Poster illustrated by Roger Mello