For National Children's Book Day

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Books I plan to give away during National Children's Book Day

July 16, apart from being the birthday of two of the loves of my life, is also National Children's Book Day (NCBD) here in the Philippines. The NCBD is an initiative of the Philippine Board of Books for Young People (PBBY - my, this post is turning out to have too many acronyms, isn't it?),  which is headed by fantastic librarian blogger Zarah Gagatiga. Tomorrow's highlight is the awarding of the Salangga Prize for a children's book writer, and the Alcala Prize for an illustrator.

And though the NCBD is just a day, the PBBY has been encouraging people to do something for it since a few weeks ago. They've also been doing capsule interviews of some children's book authors and illustrators, care of blogger Xi Zuq, who's also suggested ways of celebrating NCBD.

I'd like to celebrate the NCBD myself by doing something I've always wanted to do. So, this is what I posted on my Facebook account a couple of days ago:

What I plan to do on National Children's Book Day: 
I'm going to buy 10 children's books, a mix of secondhand and brand new, local and international. Then, I'm going to find random kids who don't seem to have enough to buy books. I'm going to ask the kid whether he/she wants a book, and if the kid says yes, I'm going to give him/her one.  
And then I'm going to make a wish on the Reading Fairy (I don't care if I made her up. I'm sure there must be one somewhere.) that the kid reads the book over ad over again. Or passes it on to other kids. 
Join me?

The other five books I plan to give away. I hope the kids I meet say "Yes."

Invitation still stands, if you're interested. And if you can't make it for the NCBD, don't worry. I'm sure the kids will appreciate it any day they get it. Still, it would be nice to let them know there's a national day for children's books.


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