Charity 'World Book Day' Announces Events And Activities In Run-Up To Celebration

An extensive collection of events, influencer-led activities and partnerships will ensure that more children than ever can discover a love of books and reading.

The charity World Book Day® is holding its annual celebration on Thursday 2nd March 2023, a day dedicated to ensuring all children can develop a love of reading.

World Book Day will give families and children a huge number of opportunities to mark the day in fun and affordable ways that are meaningful to them – in 2023, it’s YOUR World Book Day!

With reading for pleasure being the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational background or their income – it has never been more important to ensure all children can develop a love of reading. World Book Day exists to encourage more children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to benefit from a life-long habit of reading for pleasure.

World Book Day’s selection of £1/€1.50 books have been chosen with the help of children, for the first time ever. Including children’s voices in the selection process has been at the heart of making sure this year’s celebrations will be the most accessible and enjoyable yet.

Supported by long-term sponsor National Book Tokens and working alongside publishers and booksellers, World Book Day distributes over 15 million £1/€1.50 book tokens across the UK and Ireland every year through schools, nurseries, libraries, prisons and other charities. There is no cost involved at all in claiming a £1/€1.50 World Day Book.

 Cassie Chadderton, CEO of World Book Day comments:

“Our charity’s mission is to change lives through a love of books and reading. In 2023, as the cost of living crisis puts increasing pressure on families across the UK and Ireland, we are doing everything we can to ensure every child has access to a book at home. With reading for pleasure in decline and at its lowest levels since 2005, this is more important than ever.

"Last year over two million books were given to children by booksellers and publishers, and this year we can’t wait to celebrate with families, communities, schools and see how children make World Book Day their very own this year.”

Your World Book Day 2023 includes: 

World Book Day Events and Resources

World Book Day has developed six evidence-based principles that can be implemented easily by families to support children in adopting a lifelong habit of reading for pleasure:

1.           Being read to regularly

2.           Having books at home and at school

3.           Having a choice in what to read

4.           Finding time to read

5.           Having trusted help to find a book

6.           Making reading fun!

These principles underpin everything the charity does, sitting at the heart of our World Book Day events in 2023.

• BBC Teach, Live Lesson

A Live Lesson for 7-11-year-olds, will be shown live on CBBC and the BBC Teach website on World Book Day at 11am. Filmed in Batley, West Yorkshire this fun-packed lesson will explore reading for pleasure through interactive activities and feature some very special guests.

• World Book Day activity packs

There is a wide range of educational materials, downloadable activity packs and online assets and tools available for teachers, parents, carers and beyond, to bring reading for pleasure to life for children in exciting and relevant ways www.worldbookday.com/celebrate-world-book-day/

• World Book Day’s charity partnership events to reach more children

Early Years events with Joe Wicks, Sophy Henn and Tom Percival, with BookTrust

• Waterstones Children’s Laureate, Joseph Coelho will host special story time events for younger readers with some of our fantastic £1/€1.50 authors, which will be available to download during the week of World Book Day www.worldbookday.com/events
• #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!

• BookTrust are also distributing 82,000 £1/€1.50 World Book Day book tokens via their Bookstart coordinators in addition to distributing 2,000 books.

Online events include ‘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 the 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.

Additionally, for KS3, ‘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.

Alongside this huge list of events, 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 World Book Day 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.

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.  

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.

 Visit www.worldbookday.com for more information and come join the celebration!