Myra here.
Last Friday, I celebrated International Book Giving Day (IBGD) by leaving a few of my precious books around several places here in Singapore. We are always excited to join the international IBGD community as we see it as the perfect time to share some book love. I simply placed a post-it note at the book cover saying “Take me home! I’m yours! Happy International Book Giving Day!”
Click here to be taken to the official page of IBGD.
I am also including in this post a few reading quotes that I often use in my own classroom as I share these photographs taken during Valentine’s Day, redefined now as International Book Giving Day.
Book One: Nanyang Technological University Faculty Housing
“The world was a terrible place, cruel, pitiless, dark as a bad dream. Not a good place to live. Only in books could you find pity, comfort, happiness – and love. Books loved anyone who opened them, they gave you security and friendship and didn’t ask anything in return; they never went away, never, not even when you treated them badly.”
― Cornelia Funke, The Inkheart Trilogy: Inkheart, Inkspell, Inkdeath
Book Two: International Community School, Singapore
“One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for 1,000 years. To read is to voyage through time.”
― Carl Sagan
Book Three: The Reading Room
“To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.”
― Victor Hugo
Book Four: West Coast Park
“There is no Frigate like a book
To take us Lands away,
Nor any Coursers like a Page
Of prancing Poetry…”
― Emily Dickinson
Book 5: West Coast Park Playground
“A wise reader reads the book of genius not with his heart, not so much with his brain, but with his spine. It is there that occurs the telltale tingle…”
― Vladimir Nabokov
Book 6: Waiting Shed near Clementi Area
Reading changes your life. Reading unlocks worlds unknown or forgotten, taking travelers around the world and through time. Reading helps you escape the confines of school and pursue your own education. Through characters – the saints and sinners, real or imagined – reading shows you how to be a better human being.
– Donalyn Miller, The Book Whisperer
For my 12 Year Old Girl
“Keep reading. It’s one of the most marvelous adventures that anyone can have.”
― Lloyd Alexander
Authors from Singapore celebrate IBGD
There were a few authors from Singapore who also helped spread the word about IBGD. Sarah Mounsey, an Australian author based in Singapore shared this in our Facebook Page:
Sherlock Sam and his Robot named Watson join IBGD!
The husband and wife tandem Felicia Low-Jimenez and Adan Jimenez (who go by the pseudonym A. J. Low) also posted this gorgeous poster on their Facebook page to help spread the word about International Book Giving Day.
More Book Love Shared in Singapore
One of my higher degree students shared her photos during IBGD with me. She and her kids gave away a few of their precious books around their condo lobby. Here are some of the photographs that she shared.
If you celebrated IBGD in any way here in Singapore, do let me know, so I can add your story in this post.
Gathering Books 
I love your pictures and your anonymous giving. I gave my 16 year old Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. I gave my 13 year old Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose. I gave my 9 year old March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell. I think all three read them within a day!
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So great you took pictures, Myra. Love it. I’m still imagining the look on someone’s face when they find the books! Thanks for sharing the beautiful quotes too.
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I love this day! 😀
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That’s awesome, such a cool idea 🙂
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