World Book Day

Resource type: Event

Price band: Free

Key stage: KS1, KS2, KS3

Region(s): All of UK

World Book Day® is an annual celebration of books and the joy pf reading that takes place on the first Thursday of March each year. World Book Day® 2025 falls on Thursday 6th March 2025.

At the heart of World Book Day® are the £1/€1.50 book tokens that allow children and young people to choose a free book from a selection of exclusive World Book Day® titles. The books are available through participating booksellers and the vouchers can also be put towards the full price of a book or audio book of their choice. Editions of all the World Book Day® books in braille, large print and audio are also available.

The World Book Day® website provides year-round resources to support schools, families and the wider community to help children love reading, based on its six principles of Reading for Pleasure:

Being read to regularly.
Having access to books at home and at school.
Enjoying the freedom to choose what books to read.
Having time to read.
Having access to a community of trusted adults and peers with whom to share and discuss books.
Experiencing reading as a fun and enjoyable activity.

Resources for schools include:

Guides, celebration packs, assembly presentations, posters and reading for pleasure audits for Early Years, Primary and Secondary.
A bank of suggested activities from practitioners and partner organisations.
A design a National Book Token competition. There are three age categories – Up to 8 years, 9-12 years and 13-16 years – and the closing date for entries is 6th April 2025.
MC Grammar World Book Day songs and accompanying Rap Pack resource.
Introductory author videos for each of the World Book Day titles.
Reading recommendations.
Access to a selection of free audio books.
Details of how to get involved with the World Book Day Book Club.
Resources to support Scottish, Welsh and Irish schools in the new World Book Day Scotland, Wales and Ireland Hubs.
Resources to support schools who would like to run an in-school fundraising event to support World Book Day’s aims.

Cost: Free.

About World Book Day®: World Book Day® is a charity whose mission is to promote reading for pleasure, offering every child and young person the opportunity to have a book of their own.

Further resources:

Michael Rosen, Matt Goodfellow, Julia Donaldson and MC Grammar are just some of the authors featured in our roundup of online events for World Book Day Week. With draw-alongs, online quizzes and tips to help pupils create their own mini books, there’s something for everyone.
The National Literacy Trust has created oracy-based classroom resources to encourage pupils aged 5-14 to talk about their own reading through favourite books and characters. Download the Ultimate Character Champion Battle lesson plans with a free NLT membership.
Sign up for a World Book Day® writing adventure hosted by Pobble. With warm-up activities, a creative writing challenge inspired by pupils’ favourite books and accompanying resources, the 90-minute session is aimed at pupils aged 7-11 and will be hosted on Zoom.
Comics, magazines and newspapers can be a great way to provide reading choice and engage more reluctant readers. Buy a copy of award-winning newspaper First News for just £1 to trial in your classroom with a special World Book Day® offer.
Explore ways to harness the latest reading for pleasure research to encourage children aged 7-11 to develop a life-long love of reading with an online CPD course from the National Literacy Trust. Reading for Pleasure at KS2 is on 13th March and costs £160 (discounts for NLT premium members available).
Sign up for an online webinar from the English & Media Centre looking at ways to Promote Reading for Pleasure in secondary schools on 18th March. Cost: £45.
Watch World Book Day’s Overcoming Barriers to Reading for Pleasure webinar and vlog series created in partnership with the Reading for Pleasure team at the Open University for ideas on how to engage more reluctant readers.
Introduce your pupils to a host of new authors and hear their top tips for reading with a series of ‘Five Questions With…’ videos, created by Authorfy in partnership with World Book Day®. The videos are free to view and there is also an accompanying worksheet for pupils to answer for themselves.
Encourage young readers to find their next favourite read with the ‘Branching Out’ and ‘Book Match’ booklists and posters from Books for Topics and The Reading Teacher.
Help younger readers choose books that will match their reading interests and abilities with this fun animation from the National Literacy Trust.
Get involved with one of the many book award shadowing schemes to build communities around reading and introduce young readers to new authors.
Catch up on this CPD webinar with partners CLPE, the National Literacy Trust and the OU for ideas on how to engage parents and the wider school community in Reading for Pleasure.
Find out more about the latest research on developing a Reading for Pleasure culture in schools.
If you would like to include an in-person author visit as part of your plans for World Book Day®, there are a number of organisations that can help you. Don’t forget that authors get very booked up around World Book Day® so get in touch early!