![November 12 is National Chicken Soup for the Soul Day [Image: Enokson/Flickr.com]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/11/12/660x290/b_502x220x82/november-12-is-national-chicken-soup-for-the-soul-day-image-enoksonflickrcom_1684341.jpg "November 12 is National Chicken Soup for the Soul Day [Image: Enokson/Flickr.com]")
Chicken Soup for the Soul Day is celebrated every year on November 12. This is an unofficial holiday following the official federal holiday of Veterans Day that was celebrated on November 11. This particular day pays tribute to all the books in the series and to all those who have shared their inspirational stores over the years. There is a reason for the name of the books. The founders wanted the books to provide the same results that grandmother's chicken soup does. The purpose of the books is to soothe and give comfort to those who need it the most.
Origin of the series
The day is also a day to honor the two motivational speakers, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, who authored the first Book. They did not write the stories themselves. Instead, they compiled the inspirational true stories they collected from people who had attended their motivational speeches and engaged in various conversations about what was important to them.
Canfield and Hansen's first book contained personal stories from people who did not know each other but were connected by the similar stories they shared. The first publication was on June 28, 1983. That was over 20 years ago, and today about 110 million copies have been sold throughout the United States and in Canada.
After the success of their first book, Canfield and Hansen published others under the same title. Then they added different groups of people to the original title, such as "Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul," "Chicken Soup for the African American Soul," and "Chicken Soup for the Breast Cancer Survivor's Soul" and many others.
Today, there are more than 200 titles available in bookstores and online. More than likely, at least one of them include a group you belong to.
Message from the books
The inspirational books over the two decades have served a dual purpose. First, they allow ordinary people to share their interesting stories with the world. Secondly, it gives readers a way to be encouraged by what they read as testimonies from others.
Even though the messages are written about different situations, the main theme of them all is that we can be thankful for who we are as well as who we can become.
There is probably at least one of the books in most households. Do you have a "Chicken Soup for the Soul" book in your library? If not, it would be a very good idea to buy one for yourself or put it on your wish list to receive the ideal gift.
