The Northern Lights Library System Presents:
The 2017 Reading Dates Calendar
For use by library managers and staff, to provide ideas for new areas of promoting your library. Please feel free to use as much or as little of this material as you like, and have fun!
January
January is Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month in Canada
January 1st: Happy New Year!
January 1st: Last Day of Kwanzaa
January 1st, 1863: President Lincoln Issued Final Emancipation Proclamation
January 1st (1957): Gary D. Schmidt’s birthday (author of “The Wednesday Wars”, a Newbery Honor Book)
January 2nd (1932): Jean Little’s birthday (Canadian author of children’s books)
January 3rd (1892): J.R.R. Tolkien’s birthday (The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings author)
January 4th: World Braille Day
January 4th (1785): Jacob Grimm’s Birthday (Grimm’s Fairy Tales)
January 6th: Birthday of both Captain John Smith and Jedediah Smith
January 7th (1891): Zora Neile Hurston’s birthday (author and folklorist)
January 8th (1935): Elvis Presley’s birthday
January 11th (1935): Amelia Earhart completed solo Hawaii-to-US Mainland Flight
January 11th 2017: The American Library Association announces its annual book award winners
January 12th (1628): Charles Perrault’s birthday (author who wrote version of Cinderella on which Disney film is based)
January 12th (1908): Illustrator Clement Hurd’s birthday (Goodnight Moon was illustrated by him)
January 15th (1929): Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s Birthday
January 15th to 21st, 2017: National Non-Smoking Week (third Sunday of January)
January 16th (1968): Author Rebecca Stead’s birthday (“When You Reach Me” – Newbery Medal winner)
January 18th (1882): Author A.A. Milne’s Birthday (wrote “Winnie the Pooh”)
January 18th: Martin Luther King Day January 19th (1942): Pat Mora’s birthday (author of things like “Tomas and the Library Lady”, “Book Fiesta”, and “Love to Mama: A Tribute to Mothers”)
January 20th (1910): Animal Rights Activist Joy Adamson’s birthday
January 20th-24th 2017: ALA Midwinter Meeting – on one specific day, will announce winners of Major Children’s Book Awards
January 25th (1759): Poet Robert Burns’s birthday
January 26th: Australia Day
January 26th (1974): Shannon Hale’s birthday (author, “Rapunzel’s Revenge, graphic novel she wrote)
January 26th: Ashley Wolff’s birthday (illustrator of “Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th day”)
January 27th: Family Literacy Day
January 27th: International Holocaust Victims Remembrance Day
January 27th (1939): Julius B. Lester’s birthday (author, “John Henry”)
January 27th: Lewis Carroll’s birthday (author of “Alice in Wonderland”)
January 28th 2017: Chinese New Year
January 29th (1915): Bill Peet’s birthday (author and illustrator)
January 29th (1845): Poe’s “The Raven” was published
January 29th, 2017: World Leprosy Day (Last Sunday of January)
January 31st (1967): Bryan Collier’s birthday (illustrator)
Late January/Early February – 100th Day of School
February
Black History Month
Library Lovers’ Month
National Heart Month
February 1st: Children’s Authors and Illustrators Week (begins Feb 1st)
February 1st: Jerry Spinelli’s birthday (author of Stargirl, Maniac Magee and other young adult novels)
February 1st: Poet Langston Hughes’s birthday
February 2nd: Groundhog Day
February 3rd (1927): Joan Lowery Nixon’s birthday (author, mainly of historical fiction and mysteries)
February 5th: David Wiesner’s birthday (author and illustrator, won the Caldecott Medal for “Flotsam”)
February 5th to 11th, 2017: Eating Disorders Awareness Week (EDAW) (First Sunday of February)
February 7th: Laura Ingalls Wilder’s birthday (the “Little house on the Prairie” books)
February 7th: Ballet Day
February 8th, 2017: Chinese New Year starts today
February 9th (1944): Author Alice Walker’s birthday (wrote “The Color Purple”)
February 9th: Author Matt de la Pena’s birthday
February 10th: Author E.L. Konigsburg’s birthday (“Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth” – a Newbery Honor book)
February 10th: Illustrator Mark Teague’s birthday (“How do Dinosaurs Eat their Food”)
February 11th: Author and illustrator Mo Willems’s birthday
February 11th: Author and poet Jane Yolen’s birthday (“Owl Moon” one example)
February 12th (1809): Abraham Lincoln’s birth date
February 12th (1938): Judy Blume’s birthday February 12th: Jacqueline Woodson’s birthday (author)
February 13th: Author and illustrator Simms Taback’s birthday
February 14th: International Book Giving Day
February 14th: Valentine’s Day
February 14th: Illustrator Paul O. Zelinsky’s birthday (“Z is for Moose” was illustrated by him)
February 15th: Norman Bridwell’s birthday, creator of Clifford the Big Red Dog
February 15th: Presidents’ Day
February 23rd: Celebrate Digital Learning Day
February 18th: Author Barbara Jossee’s birthday
February 18th (1931): Author Toni Morrison’s birthday
February 19th: Louis Slododkin’s birthday (illustrator)
February 24th: Wilhelm Carl Grimm’s birthday (Grimm Fairy Tales)
February 24th: World Read Aloud Day
February 26th-March 4th, 2017: Freedom to Read Week
February 27th (1902): John Steinbeck’s birthday
February 28th: Lemony Snicket’s birthday
February 28th: Author Megan McDonald’s birthday (author of Judy Moody series and the Stink series)
March
In the United States, March is Women’s History Month (in Canada, it’s in October)
March is also “Music in our Schools Month”
In Canada, March is “Help Fight Liver Disease Month”
In Canada, March is also National Epilepsy Month and National Kidney Month
Red Cross Month
March 2nd: Dr. Seuss’s Birthday (in America, “Read Across America Day”)
March 3rd to 9th, 2017: Endometriosis Awareness Week
March 4th: National Grammar Day
March 5th (1946): Mem Fox’s Birthday (Australian writer of children’s books)
March 5th: Indigenous writer Leslie Marmon Silko’s birthday
March 5-11th 2017: Teen Tech Week (YALSA initiated this day, http://teentechweek.ning.com/page/faq)
March 6th (1959): Chris Raschka’s Birthday (American children’s books illustrator)
March 6-12th 2017: Women of Aviation Week (http://www.womenofaviationweek.org/)
March 8th: International Women’s Day (#IWD2017)
March 11th (1916): Ezra Jack Keats’s Birthday (American writer and illustrator of children’s books)
March 12th: On this day in 1901, Andrew Carnegie gave $5.2 million to New York City libraries
March 16th (1850): “The Scarlet Letter” was published
March 17th: St Patrick’s Day
March 20th: First Day of Spring
March 20th (1916): Bill Martin Jr’s Birthday (children’s books author)
March 20th (1937): Lois Lowry’s Birthday (author, wrote “The Giver”)
March 20th (1954): Louis Sachar’s Birthday (YA author, wrote “Holes”)
March 21st: World Poetry Day March 22nd (1846) Randolph Caldecott’s Birthday (English artist and illustrator, Caldecott Medal named in his honour)
March 25th (1964): Kate DiCamillo’s Birthday (author)
Marh 26th (1874): Poet Robert Frost’s birthday
March 27th: Easter Sunday
March 30th (1820): Author Anna Sewell’s birthday (wrote Black Beauty)
April
Autism Awareness Month
National D.E.A.R. Month in the USA (Drop everything and read month, but this isn’t the case in Canada)
National Garden Month
National Poetry Month
In Canada, National Oral Health Month
In Canada, Parkinson’s Awareness Month
April 1st: April Fools’ Day
April 2nd: International Children’s Book Day
April 2nd: Hans Christian Anderson’s birthday
April 5th: Author Richard Peck’s birthday
April 7th: World Health Day
April 10-18, 2017: Passover
April 11th: World Parkinson’s Day
April 12th: Beverly Cleary’s Birthday
April 12th (1952): Author and poet Gary Soto’s birthday
April 12-18: National Library Week in the USA
April 13th: Author Rita Williams-Garcia’s birthday
April 14th (1828): Noah Webster published his “American Dictionary of the English Language”
April 15th (1912): The Titanic sank on this day
April 17th: Author Jane Kirtz’s birthday
April 20th (1945): Mary Hoffman’s birthday
April 21st (1947): Author Barbara Park’s birthday (author of the Junie B. Jones series)
April 21st: Poem in your Pocket Day (carry a poem in your pocket in honour of National Poetry Month) April 22nd: Earth Day
April 23rd (1564): William Shakespeare’s birthday
April 27th: Coretta Scott King’s birthday
April 28th: Author Amy Hest’s birthday
April 28th (1934): Author Lois Duncan’s birthday (well-known for young-adult novels of suspense)
April 29th (1947): Poet Yusef Komunyakaa’s birthday (Pulitzer Prize winner)
April 30th: Children’s Day/Book Day
May
May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
Latino Books Month
May is Get Caught Reading Month
National Bike Month
National Egg Month
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
Cystic Fibrosis Month
Hepatitis Awareness Month
Lyme disease Awareness Month
In Canada, Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month, National Physiotherapy Month, Vision Health Month
May is Celiac Awareness Month
May 1st: Mother Goose Day
May 2nd, 2017: World Asthma Day (First Tuesday of May)
May 2nd: Teacher Appreciation Week
May 2-8th: Children’s Book Week
May 2-8th: Screen-Free Week
May 4th: Star Wars Day
May 5th: Cinco de Mayo
May 5th: Leo Lionni’s birthday (author and illustrator of children’s books)
May 5th: Holocaust Remembrance Day
May 8th: World Red Cross Red Crescent Day
May 10th: World Lupus Day
May 12th: International CFS/ME Awareness Day
May 14th, 2017: Mother’s Day May 14th (1944): Star Wars creator George Lucas’s birthday
May 14-20th: National Transportation Week
May 15th: L. Frank Baum’s birthday (author of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
May 15th: Artist and author Kadir Nelson’s birthday
May 20th: World Autoimmune Arthritis Day
May 20th: Author Mary Pope Osborne’s birthday (the Magic Tree House Series)
May 20th (1927): Charles Lindbergh began his transatlantic flight
May 25th: National Tap Dance Day
May 26th (1951): Sally Ride’s birthday (first American woman in space)
May 27th: Amelia Jenks Bloomer’s birthday
May 29th: Memorial Day
May 31st: Walt Whitman’s birthday
June
In Canada, June is Deafblind Awareness Month
In Canada, ALS Awareness Month, Brain Injury Awareness Month, and Stroke Awareness Month
June is adopt-a-cat month
June is National Safety Month
June 4th, 1956: Poet Joyce Sidman’s birthday
June 4th, 2017: National Cancer Survivors Day (First Sunday of June)
June 5th: World Environment Day
June 5th (1964): Author Rick Riordan’s birthday (wrote Percy Jackson and the Olympians)
June 6th (1954): Author Cynthia Rylant’s birthday
June 7th (1943): Poet Nikki Giovanni’s birthday
June 7th: Author Margi Preus’s birthday (“West of the Moon”)
June 10th, 1928: Author and illustrator Maurice Sendak’s birthday
June 12th (1942): Anne Frank received her famous diary
June 14th: World Blood Donor Day
June 15th (1939): Brian Jacques’s birthday (author of the Redwall series)
June 16th: Anniversary of Abraham Linkoln’s “House Divided” Speech
June 18th: Anniversary of the Declaration of the War of 1812
June 18th (1949): Chris Van Allsburg’s birthday (illustrator and writer, illustrated Jumanji and the Polar Express)
June 18th, 2017: Father’s Day
June 20th: Summer officially begins
June 21st: National Aboriginal Day
June 24th-30th: Helen Keller Deaf-Blind Awareness Week
June 25 (1929): Author and illustrator Eric Carle’s birthday (The Very Hungry Caterpillar) June 26th: Anniversary of the 1997 UK publication of the first Harry Potter Book
June 28th (1891): Author Esther Forbes’s birthday
July
July 1st: Canada Day
July 2nd: Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act OF 1964
July 2nd (1937): Amelia Earhart’s disappearance
July 2nd (1951): Author Jack Gantos’s birthday (“Dead End in Norvelt, winner of John Newbery Medal)
July 2nd (1919): Author Jean Craighead George’s birthday (“My Side of the Mountain)
July 5th (2016): Shark Week begins (2017 dates not yet confirmed)
July 7th (1941): Author Harriet Ziefert’s birthday
July 9th (1941): Nancy Farmer’s birthday
July 10th (1905): Author Mildred Wirt Benson’s birthday
July 11th (1899): E.B. White’s birthday
July 13th (1946): Anna Grossnickle Hines’s birthday
July 14th (1966): Author and illustrator Brian Selznick’s birthday
July 14th (1953): Author Laura Joffe Numeroff’s birthday (“If you give a mouse a cookie”)
July 17th,1947: Jack Kerouac embarked on his first cross-country road trip (author of “On the Road”)
July 18th: Mandela Day (for Nelson Mandela)
July 19th (1713): John Newbery was born (children’s publisher)
July 19th (1713): John Newbery’s birthday
July 20th, 1969: First human walked on the moon
July 21st (1899): Novelist Ernest Hemingway’s birthday
July 22nd (1898): Artist Alexander Calder’s birthday
July 22nd (1376): The Pied Piper led the children out of Hamelin
July 23rd (1929): Robert Quackenbush’s birthday
July 25th (1901): Author Ruth Krauss’s birthday July 26th (1923): Jan Berenstain’s birthday
July 27th (1945): Poet Paul Janeczko’s birthday
July 28th (1866): Author and illustrator Beatrix Potter’s birthday
July 28th (1932): Natalie Babbitt’s birthday (author of Tuck Everlasting)
July 29th (1945): Author Sharon Creech’s birthday
July 30th (1935): Paperback books were first introduced
July 31st (1965): Birthday of J.K. Rowling and Birthday of Harry Potter
August
August is MedicAlert Awareness Month, and Psoriasis Awareness Month
August 6th (1926): The first woman swam the English Channel
August 7 (1959): The first picture of Earth was taken by the US satellite Explorer VI
August 8th: International Cat Day
August 9th: National Book Lovers Day (in USA)
August 9th (1944): Author Patricia McKissack’s birthday
August 9th (1931): Science writer Seymour Simon’s birthday
August 10th (1962): Author Suzanne Collins’s birthday (The Hunger Games Trilogy)
August 11th (1921): Alex Haley’s birthday (author of “Roots”)
August 12 (1930): Poet Mary Ann Hoberman’s birthday
August 12th (1937): Author Walter Dean Myers’ birthday (author of “Monster”, award winning novel)
August 12th (1955): Author Ann M. Martin’s birthday
August 13th (1422): First English printer, William Caxton, was born
August 14th (1863): Birthday of Ernest Thayer, author of the famous poem “Casey at the Bat”
August 15th (1870): US Transcontinental Railroad was completed
August 17th (1786): Davy Crockett was born
August 19th: National Aviation Day (Birthdate of Orville Wright)
August 21st: Monarch butterflies begin their migration in the fall
August 22nd (1920): Science-fiction author Ray Bradbury was born
August 25th: Anniversary of the Release of the Movie version of the Wizard of Oz
August 25th (1959): Caldecott-winning illustrator Lane Smith was born
August 26th: Women’s Equality Day (given the right to vote in 1920)
August 28th: Anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s 1963 “I have a dream” speech August 29th (1952): Karen Hesse was born (author of the Newbery-winning “Out of the Dust”)
August 30th (1909): Anniversary of the birth of author and illustrator Virginia Lee Burton (Caldecott medal-winner)
September
September is Library Card Sign-up Month – getting a library card is a great way to start the school year
September is also “Children’s Good Manners Month”
September is also “Cat Month”
September is Arthritis Awareness Month, Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, and also Muscular Dystrophy Month in Canada
September 4th (1908): Richard Wright’s birthday (“Black Boy”)
September 4th (1998): Google was formally incorporated
September 5th: Author and poet Paul Fleischman’s birthday
September 5th: Labour Day
September 6th: Jane Addams’s birdhay (Winner of the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize)
September 8th: Poet Jack Prelutsky’s birthday
September 8th: Jon Scieszka’s birthday (author and “books for boys” advocate)
September 8th: International Literacy Day
September 9th: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Awareness Day
September 10th: Suicide Prevention Day
September 11th: Grandparents’ Day
September 13th (1916): Roald Dahl Day/his birthday
September 13th: Author Mildred Taylor’s birthday
September 15th: Author and Illustrator Robert McCloskey’s birthday (author of “Blueberries for Sal”)
September 15th-October 15th: National Hispanic Heritage Month
September 15th: Author and illustrator Tomie dePaola’s birthday
September 15th: World Lymphoma Awareness Day
September 16th: Author and illustrator H.A. Rey’s birthday (Curious George) September 17th (1883): William Carlos Williams was born
September 17th (1996): Anniversary of when Oprah Winfrey launched her book club
September 19th: Talk Like a Pirate Day
September 21st: World Alzheimer’s Day
September 21st: International Day of Peace
September 21st-27th: International Week of the Deaf (according to American website)
September 22nd: Hobbit Day
September 23rd: First Day of Autumn/Fall
September 24th (1896): F. Scott Fitzgerald’s birthday (author of “The Great Gatsby)
September 24th: National Punctuation Day
September 25th: Author Andrea Davis Pinkney’s birthday
September 25th: International Ataxia Awareness Day
September 25th-30th: Banned Books Week
September 26th (1775): John Chapman (aka Johnny Appleseed)’s birthday
September 27th (1840): Thomas Nast’s birthday
September 29th: World Heart Day
September 29th (1829): Scotland Yard was established on this day
October
October is National Bullying Prevention Month
In Canada, October is Women’s History Month (in the USA, it’s March)
In Canada, October is Autism Awareness Month
Worldwide, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Worldwide, October is Rett Syndrome Awareness Month and SIDS Awareness Month
October 1st: Author Tim O’Brien’s birthday (“A True War Story”)
October 4th (1862): Edward Stratemeyer’s birthday (creator of book series such as Nancy Drew)
October 5th: Birthdate of Louise Fitzhugh (author of “Harriet the Spy”)
October 4th, 2017: World Cerebral Palsy Day
October 6th: Author and illustrator Jeanette Winter’s birthday
October 9th – 15th: Teen Read Week
October 9th (1940): John Lennon was born
October 10th: World Mental Health Day
October 9th, 2017: Thanksgiving in Canada
October 14th: Author and Illustrator Elisa Kleven’s birthday
October 16th: World Food Day
October 16th: World Spine Day
October 16th (1758): Dictionary author Noah Webster was born
October 17th: Black Poetry Day
October 20th: “National Day on Writing”
October 20th: World Osteoporosis Day
October 21st (1929): Ursula K. LeGuin’s birthday
October 22nd: International Stuttering Awareness Day
October 23rd: Author Laurie Halse Anderson’s birthday October 25th (1881): Artist Pablo Picasso’s birthday
October 26th: Author Steven Kellogg’s birthday
October 28th (1914): Dr Jonas Salk’s birthday – he developed the polio vaccine
October 30th: Eric Kimmel’s birthday
October 31st: Halloween
October 31st: Sydney Taylor’s birthday
November
National Adoption Month
November is CPR Awareness Month
In Canada, November is also Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Month, and Osteoporosis Month
In Canada, November is Diabetes Awareness Month and Huntington’s Awareness Month
Worldwide, November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month
November is Picture Book Month (at least in the USA)
November 1st: World Vegan Day
November 1st: National Family Literacy Day
November 1st-2nd: The Day of the Dead
November 3rd (1957): Janell Cannon’s birthday (author of “Stellaluna”)
November 6th: James Naismith was born (inventor of the game of Basketball)
November 8th (1847): Bram Stoker’s birthday (author of “Dracula”)
November 9th: Author and Illustrator Lois Ehlert’s birthday
November 10th: Author Holly Black’s birthday (“The Spiderwick Chronicles”)
November 10th: Author Neil Gaiman’s birthday (Coraline)
November 11th: Remembrance Day
November 14th: Author Astrid Lindgren’s birthday (Pippi Longstocking)
November 14th: World Diabetes Day
November 17th: Author Christopher Paolini’s birthday (“Eragon” series)
November 18th: Mickey Mouse appeared in his first animated feature
November 21st: World Hello Day
November 25th: Author P.D. Eastman’s birthday (he wrote “Are You My Mother?”)
November 26th: Poet Jorge Argueta’s birthday
November 28th: Artist Ed Young’s birthday November 28th (1757): Poet William Blake’s birthday
November 29th: Author Madeleine L’Engle’s birthday (“A Wrinkle in Time”)
November 29th (1832): Louise May Alcott’s birthday (“Little Women”)
November 29th: C.S. Lewis’s birthday
December
December 1st (1955): Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus
December 1st (1949): Author and illustrator Jan Brett’s birthday (Christmas books)
December 2nd (1946): Author David Macaulay’s birthday
December 3rd: International Day of Persons with Disabilities
December 4th (1905): Author Munro Leaf’s birthday (“The Story of Ferdinand”)
December 5th (1901): Walt Disney was born
December 8th (1940): Illustrator Mary Azarian’s birthday (“Snowflake Bentley”)
December 10th (1830): Poet Emily Dickinson’s birthday
December 10th (1903): Author Mary Norton’s birthday (“The Borrowers”)
December 11th (1951): Author Pam Munoz Ryan’s birthday
December 11th: Astronomer Annie Jump Cannon’s birthday
December 16th (1956): Illustrator E.B. Lewis’s birthday
December 17th (1903): The Wright brothers made their first flight
December 19th (1928): Author Eve Bunting’s birthday
December 21st: Start of Winter
December 22nd (1939): Artist and author Jerry Pinkney’s birthday (received Caldecott Medal for “The Lion and the Mouse”)
December 23rd (1937): Author Avi’s birthday (“Nothing but the Truth”)
December 24th (1973): Stephenie Meyer’s birthday (Twilight saga)
December 24th to January 1st: Chanukah/Hanukkah
December 25th: Christmas
December 25th: “A Christmas Carol” was the first book to be transmitted over radio
December 26th-January 1st: Kwanzaa
December 27th (1904): Author and illustrator Ingri Parin d’Aulaire’s birthday
December 29th (1943): Author and illustrator Molly Bang’s birthday December 30th (1947): Author Jane O’Connor’s birthday