We have some celebration or the other set aside for every day of the year, some of them the most absurd ones, others I would want to celebrate everyday. So researching led to me discover that we do have Literary Celebrations To Last You the Whole Year!

March 2nd is Read Across America Day, set aside as such in honor of Dr.Seuss’s birthday. And I recalled I had just read about and talked about International Book Giving Day on February 14th.

This led me to looking for more literary holidays, as I do know there are many. And books as well as reading are totally, totally worth celebrating. Take it from one who celebrates them every single day!

So here are literary celebrations across the year, and across the world. For those that mention ‘National’ and some of the others also, they mostly refer to celebrations started here in the US (unless otherwise mentioned) but go ahead and use that as an excuse for another celebration no matter where you are.

To find out more details about each one, you can, for almost all of them, check on the NationalDayCalendar website. I have them all below by month – then by celebrations by month, week, and day/dates – with links where possible to the event or the National Day Calendar website and you can download the images I put together as a handy reference.

I am sure there might be a few more I can add, and I tried to recheck each of these on the National Day Calendar and/or googled it, but, on the other end, these are just fun excuses to use to celebrate reading and writing and books – all that is good!!

So dear reader, let me know if you find more that I can add to this list and I will!

January

National Braille Literacy Month (Louise Braille was born Jan 4 1809)

2nd week of January – Universal Letter Writing Week Last week of January (varies) – National Cowboy Poetry Gathering

2 – National Science Fiction Day (Isaac Asimov’s birthday) 18 – Winnie the Pooh Day 18 – National Thesaurus Day (Peter Mark Roget’s birthday) 19 – Poe Day 23 – National Reading Day 23 – National Handwriting Day 25 – Burns Night (UK/Scotland in honor of Robert Burns’ birthday – Auld Lang Syne anyone?) 25 – Multicultural Children’s Book Day Fourth Wednesday – #LibraryShelfieDay

February

Library Lovers Month

1-7 – Children’s Authors and Illustrator Week Second week – Freelance Writers Appreciation Week

1 – World Read Aloud Day 14 – International Book Giving Day 14 – Library Lover’s Day 16 – Reading Rainbow Day (LeVar Burton’s birthday) 26 – Tell a Fairy Tale Day First Saturday – Take Your Child to the Library Day

March

National Read Aloud Month

First Week – Read an eBook Week First Week – Return Borrrowed Books Week First Week – National Newspapers in Education Week First Week – Words Matter Week

2 – Read Across America Day in honor of Dr.Seuss’s birthday (by NEA) 4 – National Grammar Day 7 – World Book Day (in UK and Ireland) 14 – National Write Down Your Story Day 16 – Freedom of Information Day (James Madison’s birthday) 21 – World Poetry Day 25 – Tolkien Reading Day (the date of the fall of Sauron in the Lord of the Rings) 27 – National Scribble Day

April

D.E.A.R Month – Drop Everything and Read Month in honor of Beverly Cleary’s birthday on April 12th English Language Month School Library Month National Poetry Month

Varies each year: National Library Week Last Week – First Week of May – Children’s Book Week

2 – International Children’s Book Day in honor of Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday 10 – National Encourage a Young Writer Day 12 – D.E.A.R Day 13 – Scrabble Day 17 – International Haiku Poetry Day 18 – National Poem In Your Pocket Day 18 – Newspaper Columnists Day 23 – World Book and Copyright Day (UNESCO) 23 – National Talk Like Shakespeare Day (Shakespeare’s birthday); also English Language Day (UN) 27 – National Tell a Story Day 28 – National Great Poetry Reading Day Tuesday of Library Week – National Library Worker’s Day Wednesday of Library Week – National Bookmobile Day Thursday of Library Week – Take Action for Libraries Day and Celebrate Teen Literature Day Last Saturday – Independent Bookstore Day

May

Get Caught Reading Month (started in 1999 by AAP)

Second Week – Reading is Fun Last Week of April – First Week of May – Children’s Book Week

2 – Harry Potter Day (the anniversary of the Hogwarts Battle) 5 – National Cartoonist’s Day (It was on May 5, 1895 that readers of the New York World were delighted with what is considered the first modern comic strip) 12 – National Limerick Day (Edward Lear’s birthday) 20 – Eliza Doolittle Day (‘Next week on the twentieth of May, I proclaim Eliza Doolittle Day’- from My Fair Lady) 25 – Towel Day (in honor of Douglas Adams) First Saturday – Free Comic Book Day

June

Audiobook Appreciation Month GLBT Book Month

12 – Anne Frank’s birthday 16 – Bloomsday (the date of Ulysses) 27 – National Columnist’s Day (in memory of Pulitzer Prize winner Ernie Pyle)

July

Read an Almanac Month

4,5,and 6 – National Tom Sawyer Days (celebrated in Mark Twain’s hometown of Hannibal) 10 – Clerihew Day (to celebrate the Clerihew poetic form on it’s founder’s birthday) 30 – Paperback Book Day

August

Romance Awareness Month

2 – National Coloring Book Day 9- National Book Lover’s Day 10 – Love Your Bookshop Day 18 – National Bad Poetry Day 31 – We Love Memoirs Day

September

Be Kind to Editors and Writers Month National Library Card Sign-Up Month

Last week – Banned Books Week

1 – National No Rhyme (Nor Reason) Day 6 – National Read a Book Day 8 – International Literacy Day (founded by UNESCO) 22 – Dear Diary Day 22 – Hobbit Day (official birthday of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins) 25 – National Comic Book Day 25 – National Math Storytelling Day

October

National Book Month (started by the National Book Federation) Children’s Magazine Month National Reading Group Month

12-18 – Teen Read Week (started by YLSA)

6 – National Poetry Day (in UK and Ireland – changes annually) 6 – National Mad Hatter Day (from the label on the hat that says 10/6) 11 – Myths and Legends Day 16 – Dictionary Day (created in honor of Noah Webster’s birthday) Varies annually – Indie Author Day

November

National Picture Book Month National Life Writing Month NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month National Family Literacy Month Family Stories Month Memoir Writing Month

World Nursery Rhyme Week Second week – National Newspaper Week Third week – National Young Reader’s Week Third week – National Book Awards Week

1st Thursday – National Non-Fiction Book Day (in the UK) 1 – Author’s Day 1 – National Family Literacy Day 15 – I Love to Write Day (started by author John Riddle in 2002 in the US) 18 – High-Five a Librarian Day

December

Read a New Book Month Spiritual Literacy Month

1 – Sherlock Holmes Day (the day ‘A Study in Scarlet’ was published in the year 1887, per some sources) 10 – Dewey Decimal System Day 16 – Jane Austen’s birthday 24 – Jolabokaflod (Christmas Book Flood – Icelandic celebration of gifting books) First Saturday – Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day Day of Winter Solstice – Celebrate Short Fiction Day

And here are charts to download and print if you want.. I need to figure out a way to put it on one calendar but here it is right now – one image for four months each..

h/t: National Day Calendar and BookRiot/HereWeeRead/Bustle/Mental Floss/5minlib/Other sources

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