Nurseries and schools celebrate World Book Day

Launched in 1997, World Book Day was designed to foster a love of books and reading among children.

As part of the annual event, which is sponsored by National Book Tokens, children of all ages are able to buy books for £1, or €1.50 in Ireland.

For World Book Day, National Book Tokens with book publishers and booksellers and in partnership with schools and nurseries all over the country, distribute over 15 million £1/€1.50 World Book Day book tokens to children and young people (that’s almost one for every child/young person under 18 in the UK and Ireland) every year.

The picture books available this year are:

Rocket Rules! By Nathan Bryon and Dapo Adeola published by Puffin (Penguin Random House Children’s)

Dinosaur Roar and Friends! By Peter Curtis and Jeanne Willis published by Macmillan Children’s Books

Hey Duggee: The World Book Day Badge by Studio AKA published by Ladybird (Penguin Random House Children’s)

Traditionally, World Book Day sees children and people of all ages dress up as their favourite literary characters.

This year World Book Day worked with Orinoco,The Oxfordshire Scrapstore based in Banbury and Oxford to explore making costumes using materials that otherwise would have been thrown away.

The National Literacy Trust (NLT) linked up with more than 100 partners to inspire and delight children with the wonder of books – including hundreds of businesses, publishers, booksellers and authors. 

The literacy charity is distributing 60,000 books to encourage children to read for pleasure as well as producing a host of activities for schools and communities to take part in. 

Jonathan Douglas, chief executive of the National Literacy Trust said, ‘World Book Day is an important moment to inspire and delight children with the wonder of books and a powerful platform to reinforce the importance of building literacy skills for life. Through our fantastic partners, we’re able to reach more children in schools and communities than ever before, providing support to those that need it most.

‘Everyone has a role in raising literacy levels throughout the country and World Book Day is a fantastic opportunity to bring all our supporters together.’

Fifteen of the NLT’s Hub areas across the country will also be working in partnership with local libraries and retailers like McDonald’s to distribute books. Between 2 - 15 March, £1 book tokens will feature on every  World Book Day themed Happy Meal box. 

In Manchester, the NLT distributed 2,400 books across four libraries with author story telling sessions, while in Peterborough a ‘Bunny’s on the bus tour’ included story telling sessions, fun craft activities and book giveaways.

Meanwhile, in Middlesbrough the trust was running a  World Book Day competition with Middlesbrough library services, for a chance to win a bundle of books and  distributing 2,400 books. 

More information and resources

World Book Day book tokens will be valid from Thursday 17 February – Sunday 27 March 2022.

National Literacy Trust resources focusing on ‘story telling’ and ‘reading for pleasure’ as well as fun activities for families to do at home. 

25 ways to celebrate World Book Day and develop a lifelong reading habit. 

Children's books - for reviews and tips from Nursery World, including our 12-part series on picture books from Andy McCormack.