World Book day is far from just a day to dress your kids up as their favourite character from literature. It is a week long celebration of literature and there are free events and incredible opportunities across the UK to celebrate.
Find everything you need to prepare for your World Book Day celebrations in education settings and at home on the Celebrate World Book Day page, including a Primary School Pack, Secondary School Pack and Early Years pack, fun activities, resources, display and celebration materials.
There are also some fabulous competitions, including the ever-popular Design a National Book Token competition in partnership with National Book Tokens, and a chance to win a set of costumes for your school with Rubies.
DRESS UP FOR A LONDON EYE FREE RIDE!
In celebration of this year’s World Book Day the lastminute.com London Eye is hosting the UK’s highest dress-up party from 2nd to 5th of March!
They are offering 150 free rides a day for children (3-15 yrs) who visit dressed in costume inspired by their favourite literary characters.
Whether you’re a Dickens super fan, a Gryffindor at heart, a cheeky Tracy Beaker follower, or a Roald Dahl lover, you’re encouraged to embrace your inner bookworm while taking in the inspiring views over London.
How to claim your free child ticket
- Book a World Book Day promotion adult ticket* in advance below for a visit between 2nd to 5th March.
- Head to the London Eye Ticket office with your adult ticket and your child in book-themed fancy dress!
- A member of our team will greet you, verify your child in fancy dress and issue your free child ticket
- You can enter the queue to take flight above London.
The London Eye will donate £1 per adult ticket sold to World Book Day.
EXCHANGE UNWANTED FOR FREE BOOKS
Families can list their unwanted books and exchange them for a free one in a UK-wide book swap. Neighbourhood app Nextdoor is marking World Book Day with the community-based initiative.
Completely free to take part in, it is aimed at ensuring everyone and particularly families, can celebrate World Book Day without costing them any additional expense within the current climate. All families need to do is list their unwanted books on Nextdoor’s ‘For Sale & Free’ feature or collect a book nearby to them.
Families can also list and shop fancy dress and costume ideas locally, without buying these items brand new. Roisin O’Neill, head of community at Nextdoor says: “A quarter of items listed on Nextdoor are already free, therefore alongside books there’s also the opportunity for families to swap fancy-dress ideas, props, toys and exchange clothing items, to come together to celebrate World Book Day.
“We want to make it as easy as possible for families to enjoy the day whilst not having to worry about costs. And the For Sale and Free feature is a really simple and cost-effective way to do this.”
Nextdoor is completely free to download. To sign up or to find out more, visit www.nextdoor.co.uk
More about World Book Day
With a programme of exciting events, brand new activities for home and school, and a fantastic line-up of £1/€1.50 books, World Book Day on 2 March 2023 is shaping up to be the best ever.
See below for an exciting list of events and resources, starting with:
THE £1/€1.50 BOOK SELECTION
There’s a great line-up of £1/€1.50 books for 2023 that children can choose for free with their £1/€1.50 book token. With books for beginning, early, fluent and independent readers, there is something for everyone to enjoy. Alongside the 12 titles available across the UK, there are also two exclusive books for Ireland and a new World Book Day Welsh title.
The books will be available from booksellers from 16 February 2023 – find your nearest participating bookseller. The token redemption period is from 16 February – 26 March 2023.
Find out everything you need to know about the books and token exchange here.
For more information about World Book Day 2023, you can check out these FAQs.
EXCITING EVENTS FOR 2023
This year sees some great online events for you to integrate into your celebrations. For all the details visit the events page.
WORLD BOOK DAY WEEK: ONLINE EVENTS
- EVERYDAY ADVENTURE: Early Years (27/03/23)
- A special Early Years event with Sophy Henn exploring her book Lifesize Creepy Crawlies, developed in partnership with BookTrust.
- EVERYDAY FUN: Early Years (27/03/23)
- A special Early Years event with Tom Percival exploring his book Billy’s Bravery, developed in partnership with BookTrust.
- EVERYDAY ROUTINE: Early Years (27/03/23)
- A special Early Years event with Joe Wicks and his book Bedtime for the Burpee Bears, developed in partnership with BookTrust.
- BBC TEACH LIVE LESSON – WORLD BOOK DAY 2023 (02/03/23, 11am)
- Celebrating the joy of books, authors and reading for pleasure in a World Book Day lesson for 7-11 year-olds.
- BRADFORD LITERATURE FESTIVAL (02/03/23)
- On Thursday 2 March, the Alhambra Theatre will play host to Bradford Literature Festival’s World Book Day Celebration. Free for schools to attend, the event has morning and afternoon sessions featuring a star-studded line-up including MC Grammar, Sir Lenny Henry and Sophy Henn. Expect inspired storytelling sessions, performances, the opportunity to swap a book voucher for a £1/€1.50 World Book Day book and more.
- ‘The Great World Book Day Draw-Along with Dave the Pigeon’, suitable for KS1, and available to watch anytime from Monday 27 February, 9-9:45am. World Book Day and the National Literacy Trust presents the brilliant author/illustrator duo Swapna Haddow and Sheena Dempsey for this jam-packed event as they jump into the world of ‘Dave Pigeon: Bookshop Mayhem‘. Hear all about where they get their ideas, their top tips for creating your own stories, and get the chance to give it a go yourself in class with a live draw-a-long.
- ‘World Book Day: Being an Ally: Real Talk About Showing Up, Screwing Up, and Trying Again’ will be available to watch from Monday 27 February, 11-11:45am. World Book Day and the National Literacy Trust presents Natalie and Naomi Evans, contributors to ‘Being an Ally: Real Talk About Showing Up, Screwing Up, and Trying Again‘ and founders of the platform Everyday Racism. Together we’ll explore their part in Being an Ally, from the process of becoming a contributor to their own reflections on their writing.
WORLD BOOK DAY WEEK: IN-PERSON EVENTS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NATIONAL LITERACY TRUST
- ‘Boot It!’ author A.M. Dassu will visit Peterborough Football Club and speak about her book’s theme of racism in sport to 80 KS3 children.
- Sir Lenny Henry will visit his hometown of Dudley and read extracts from ‘The Boy with Wings: Attack of the Rampaging Robot’ to 600 children from local schools.
- Tom Percival will also attend an event in Swindon and read from his book, ‘Billy’s Bravery’ to primary years.
ADDITIONAL PARTNERSHIP ACTIVITIES
- #PassThePen CAMPAIGN, WITH BOOKTRUST
- Designed to help promote visibility, champion new voices and generate book sales, World Book Day 2022 authors will be paired with up-and-coming writers and illustrators from a diverse range of backgrounds. Expect to see Michael Morpurgo, Nadia Shireen and more hand over the reins of their social media accounts to some rising stars in children’s literature – watch this space.
- SCOTTISH BOOK TRUST
- Scottish Book Trust will ensure 3,000 picture books reach families directly through their Bookbug for the Home programme. The Explorer Resource Packs will also include digital World Book Day tokens providing access to books for more than 3,000 early years settings in Scotland.
- NATIONAL LITERACY TRUST
- In partnership with the National Literacy Trust, World Book Day is planning a range of special events across the country, creating opportunities for children to be inspired by their favourite authors and encourage a love of reading. The National Literacy Trust’s 15 Hub Areas in England will also work alongside local libraries and retailers to distribute 11,500 £1/€1.50 books to children and create other events with local communities, as well as two digital events to encourage more families to read.
BOOKSHOPS AND RETAILERS
Over 4,000 booksellers will take part in World Book Day 2023, hosting events and activities to inspire children and reach those less likely to be readers. Over 400 independent bookshops and retailers across the UK and Ireland including The Works, WHSmith, Waterstones, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Asda will be gifting the £1/€1.50 books and welcoming children, families, schools, and local communities to choose a book and discover more about the exciting world of reading.
£1/€1.50 tokens can be redeemed for any £1/€1.50 book from Thursday 16 February to Sunday 26 March 2023 in bookshops, bookshop chains and participating retailers. Alternatively, they can also be used as a £1/€1.50 contribution to any other book. The single-use digital token can also be downloaded from the website.
Be sure to keep an eye on your local bookshop’s website and social media channels to stay up to date with what’s on offer in your area or visit this events map.
FUNDRAISING FOR WORLD BOOK DAY
In the UK, up to 500,000 children (1 in 15) don’t have a book of their own. This goes up to 1 in 10 for children receiving free school meals. Having access to books and developing a love of reading for pleasure is vital for a child’s future.
World Book Day’s vision is to see more children, from all backgrounds, developing a life-long habit of reading for pleasure and benefitting from the improved life chances this brings them. By making a donation or raising funds for World Book Day, you can help to change lives through a love of books and reading.
MEDIA AND COMMERCIAL PARTNERSHIPS
- YOTO
- Yoto becomes World Book Day’s Official Audio Partner in 2023, providing free audio content on the Yoto App for children to enjoy. Audiobooks allow children who are reluctant or developing readers to access stories and books. Yoto will donate £1 from the sale of its Yoto cards to WBD, and partner with World Book Day on an exciting competition to win Yoto goodies.
There will also be a range of support from a huge number of partners in 2023 including long-term partner The Roald Dahl Story Company, Rubies, McDonald’s and MC Grammar, with more to be announced nearer the big day.
Alongside this, competitions, promotions and content spreads will run throughout the campaign period enabling children to enjoy World Book Day content across over 30 much-loved children’s magazine titles.
World Book Day welcomes the opportunity to work with partners who share our commitment to changing lives through a love of books and reading, and work with those who can help to do more to achieve the mission of promoting reading for pleasure and offer every child and young person the opportunity to have a book of their own.
If you love reading then read our 6 Ways to Make Money Reading article here.
