As the name of this holiday implies, National Family Literacy Day is a day on which families are encouraged to read together. This holiday is observed on the 1st of November annually and aims to improve the vocabulary skills and reading comprehension of children. It has been bringing families together to read since the mid-1990s, so parents might want to take the opportunity to celebrate this holiday in their home.

The History Of National Family Literacy Day

National Family Literacy Day was enacted in 1994 by the U.S. Congress. They established this day after passing Joint Resolution 413. This holiday also kicks off National Literacy Month—a whole month dedicated to reading.

Books That Everyone Should Read At Least Once

Since we’re talking about literacy and reading with this holiday, we thought it would be a good idea to give everyone reading this holiday information on some of the best books available. Below are books that we feel everyone should read at least once in their lives. It’s not a complete list, but it is a good start.

• To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• The Lord Of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Diary Of A Young Girl by Anne Frank
• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• The Grapes Of Wrath by John Steinbeck
• Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck
• Lord Of The Flies by William Golding
• The Color Purple by Alice Walker
• Song Of Solomon by Toni Morrison
• Moby Dick by Herman Melville
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway
• A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy
• No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
• On Writing by Stephen King

Observing National Family Literacy Day

This holiday should be observed by parents taking the time to read with their children. But we feel it’s a holiday that shouldn’t just be celebrated on this day. We believe that this holiday should be a starting point for parents to begin a daily tradition of reading to and with their children. To spread the word about the importance of this holiday to other parents, you can also use the hashtag #NationalFamilyLiteracyDay on your social media accounts.

Of course, those aren’t the only activities that can be done on National Family Literacy Day. You can also take your child to your local library to get them a library card, start reading to your children at bedtime, create a trivia-style or spelling bee-style contest, and play Scrabble or other types of word games.