You’ve read a bunch of books about your culture. You’ve read a bunch of books about the places you’re traveling to. You’ve tried general books about places around the world. Now what? With the world at your fingertips, how do you figure out where to read about next? Try reading based off of the holidays. Since October is coming next, why not read about the Countries Celebrating Their National Day in October. Let me help you with that.
October National or Independence Days Around the World
Countries celebrate their national day or independence day in various ways. The days can be celebrated when the country gained independence from another country, but not always. The days can be celebrated on the same day each year, but not always. The days can be celebrated with parades or firework shows, but not always.
Regardless, for the purpose of this website, a national or independence day is a good day to think about learning about the country. Below you’ll see a table with the special October date and the country. The country links to the children’s books section of this site for that country if one exists.
| Date | Country (links to children’s books about that country) |
| 1 | Cyprus |
| 1 | Nigeria |
| 1 | Tuvalu: No books currently |
| 2 | Guinea |
| 3 | Iraq |
| 4 | Lesotho |
| 8 | Croatia |
| 9 | Uganda |
| 10 | Cuba |
| 10 | Fiji |
| 10 | Taiwan |
| 12 | Equatorial Guinea |
| 18 | Azerbaijan |
| 22 | |
| 23 | Hungary |
| 24 | Zambia |
| 26 | Austria |
| 27 | Saint Vincent and Grenadines: No books currently |
| 28 | Czech Republic |
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_independence_days
* the wikipedia article mentioned above states that the Laos independence from France was on October 22, however other sources state it’s later and Laos National Day is in December.
Other October Monthly Holidays
In additional to national days, there are months throughout the year where certain heritages are recognized. If you have a local heritage club, they may be hosting special events during this month. Here are some October Monthly holidays.
October is also:
- Global Diversity Awareness Month: children’s books about countries around the world
- Italian-American Heritage Month: children’s books about Italy
- German-American Heritage Month: children’s books about Germany
- Polish-American Heritage Month: children’s books about Poland
source: https://nationaltoday.com/october-holidays/
Halloween Around the World
If you’re looking for something specifically about Halloween, I found two great posts for you:
Can you think of other important holidays and cultural awareness things happening in October annually that I might have missed? Let me know in the comments.
Do you want to join other like-minded families who are interested in learning about other cultures via books and travel? Join our Facebook Group. I approve new members daily. It’s still small but growing.
