Jasmine Birtles
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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.
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
The London Eye will donate £1 per adult ticket sold to World Book Day.
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
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:
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.
This year sees some great online events for you to integrate into your celebrations. For all the details visit the events page.
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.
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.
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.