Thursday 7^th March 2024 marks World Book Day in the UK. For over 25 years, this special day has been instilling a love for reading in children.

This year's theme is 'Read Your Way' & calls on everyone to let go of pressure & expectations, giving children a choice – and a chance – to enjoy reading.

World Book Day was created by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on 23rd April 1995 as a worldwide celebration of books and reading. It is marked in over 100 countries around the globe, with the first World Book Day in the UK and Ireland taking place in 1997. Over the years the charity has encouraged young people to discover the pleasure of reading.

What is World Book Day?

World Book Day aims to promote a love for reading and books, especially among young children. Celebrations take place all over the world, with various activities designed to encourage engagement with books and reading.

For more than 20 years National Book Tokens have proudly sponsored World Book Day with schools to offer book tokens to each child to receive a book of their liking from their local bookstores and publishers who have partnered with the organisation. Children can either use their book token to choose a free book from one of the new recommended books published to celebrate World Book Day or swap their token for £1 off any full price book or audiobook.

1 in 5 children receiving free school meals say the book they receive with their book token was the first book they had of their own. Last year, World Book Day distributed more than 50 million book tokens across the UK and Ireland through schools, magazines, and partnerships.

Encourage your students to utilise this fantastic and valuable opportunity.

Classroom activities to celebrate World Book Day

For teachers, World Book Day offers a unique opportunity to engage students with literature in fun and creative ways. From themed dress-up days where students come to school dressed as their favourite book characters, to book-sharing sessions, author visits, and writing competitions, there are many ways to celebrate this special day.

Early Years

Dressing up
There’s nothing better than dressing up for children aged five and under. At this age, it’s all about being creative, colourful and imaginative. Encouraging them to dress up as their favourite character is a great way for them to get involved and talk about their favourite characters and authors. We’ve put together some great World Book Day costume ideas which can be easily implemented.

Acting out
Young children love expressing themselves and it’s important in helping build confidence. You can encourage children to act out a scene from their favourite book or as their favourite character.

Fairy tale fridge magnets
Fairy tales play a crucial role in a child's formative years, aiding them in navigating emotions and contemplating life experiences from the comfort and safety of home. Create your own set of DIY fairy tale refrigerator magnets for a unique and enjoyable storytelling experience. All you need is cardboard, small magnets, scissors, colouring pens & pencils and some strong glue. 

Primary Key Stage 1 and 2

Book swap
Children in Key Stage 1 are just beginning to hone their reading abilities, it's crucial to motivate them to read their preferred books on World Book Day. A beneficial activity might be to ask each student to bring in their favourite book and exchange it with a classmate, ensuring each child gets to explore a new story! After they've read both books, encourage the children to illustrate their favourite characters from each tale. A supplementary activity could involve you bringing in your own favourite children's book and sharing it with the class through a read-aloud session.

Make bookmarks
Children love cute bookmarks to hold their place while reading their favourite books. With so many easy DIY bookmark ideas celebrate World Book Day by having everyone get creative in making their own special bookmark.

Picture the book
Draw a picture of a favourite book – either a character, a scene, an alternative book cover, or a cryptic clue. On the other side of the page, write the title. Get students to guess the title.

Book review competition
at Key Stage 2 level, children should have formed a good level of reading and be able to understand different concepts. Test their reading skills by setting a competition for the best book review. Get them to write a review on their favourite book – what it’s about, why they enjoyed it, who the main characters are and for a bonus point, to write an alternative ending!

Book trail
Provide students with hints and clues to find books hidden around the school building - the first to find can either keep or pass on!

Dress the windows and door
Encourage students to decorate the classroom door and windows with key information about their favourite book to promote discussions. They could use images, key quotations, character names, fun facts etc. to recommend their book.

Secondary Key Stage 3 and above

Getting older children engaged in World Book Day can be trickier – they may feel too old for it, or embarrassed if they show an interest. If they are going through exams and revision, they may feel the stress and pressure from it.  An effective activity for students of this age is to encourage them to pen their own tales, helping to expand their creativity. An enjoyable and amusing task related to World Book Day could involve the entire class collaborating to weave a story as a group. Endeavor to inspire older students to participate, but if they show hesitance, ask them to focus on a reading task during the lesson to maintain relevance.

There are lots more ideas and resources on the official World Book Day website, take a look here.