The International Children’s Book Day is traditionally celebrated on 2 April, i.e. the birthday of the famous author Hans Christian Andersen, and students of Primary School Savremena decided to spend this day trying to draw attention to the need for reading, education, and erudition in their own, unique way.

Most people love books, which doesn’t mean that they don’t need to be reminded to read, or that reading habits should not be constantly nurtured.

Our curious students classified reading among their favourite pastimes. This is why the workshops organised in celebration of the International Children’s Book Day were met with great excitement, and as something that should be approached with considerable prior knowledge. Students’ bookshelves already teem with great titles whose meaningful characters convey various life, moral and educational messages. Reading, they say, is a world which once entered can never be left behind.

LITTLE LIBRARIANS AND FAITHFUL READERS OF THE LITTLE PRINCE

The time has come to establish a school library. Our students were given space where they could bring various books for months, from children’s books, poems and fables, to picture books and colouring books, and finally children’s magazines, such as the famous Zabavnik. With the help of their teacher, they carefully classified all of them by genre and assigned a unique number to each item.

Thus, all students of Savremena will be able to build up their habit of borrowing books from a ‘personal’ library, as well as their reading habit, and the habit of returning borrowed books. There are no words that could emphasise how important reading is today. Literature always leads to a high level of literacy, and quality books exalt the soul, and positively impact vocabulary, eloquence, imagination and self-confidence, helping children to adequately experience the world, their surroundings, and different situations they encounter.

Moreover, children are introduced to the world of art, where literature is just the beginning of a story – the story that will later lead them into the theatre, cinema, visual arts – only to return to books again. In that sense, literature is the basis for one’s relationship with art in general. This is why we at Savremena insist on reading, the written word, expression through poems and essays, and any other form of expression related to text, including literary fragments that represent a miniature version of art itself.

Thus, the students’ task was to find inspirational quotes from world literature, and famous thoughts that motivate them to read. Hence, the thoughts of Hemingway, Proust, Carlyle and others found their place on the panels in our school, whereas Exupéry’s literary wonder, The Little Prince, was also presented through illustrations – as proof that this book indeed lives among children who know well where Asteroid B612 is located, although many believe that books are slowly dying out in the digital age.