September 8: Jack Prelutsky’s Birthday

Hooray! The silly, imaginative, popular children’s poet Jack Prelutsky was born in 1940 on this day. We can thank Prelutsky for playful poems and wordplay like “It’s Raining Pigs and Noodles” and “Miss Misinformation.”

Ways to Celebrate: Recite some Prelutsky aloud for laughs. Read Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry for inspiration and write your own poem.

Or find culinary inspiration in A Pizza the Size of the Sun, “Chocolate Covered Salami” or “Gloppe’s Soup Shoppe.”

Bookswain Fact: Prelutsky has written more than a thousand poems and was named the inaugural Children’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation in 2006.

September 8: International Literacy Day

September 8 was proclaimed International Literacy Day by UNESCO in 1965. It’s organized by the International Reading Association to bring attention to worldwide literacy needs.

Ways to Celebrate: Support a local, national, or international literacy organization, like ProLiteracy or Reading is Fundamental.

Bookswain Fact*: More than 774 million of the world’s adults (nearly two-thirds of whom are women) do not know how to read or write, and roughly 123 million children lack those same skills.