The Ultimate Guide To World Book Day 2024
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9 months ago
Celebrate the joy of reading
An annual celebration of books? We’re sold. Every March, World Book Day celebrates the joy of the written word, and there’s plenty to get involved with in 2024. From £1 books to online interactive storytelling, there is plenty to enjoy and to encourage children to pick up a book and start reading.
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When Is World Book Day?
Thursday 7 March 2024. World Book Day takes place on the first Thursday of March every year. In 2025, it’ll be held on 6 March.
What Is World Book Day?
World Book Day is an annual charity event held in celebration of books in the UK and Ireland, with the hopes of encouraging more children to read. World Book Day has been celebrated in the UK every year since 1998, with online events in the pandemic. It is the UK’s version of UNESCO’s World Book Day, which is celebrated internationally on 23 April and promotes reading, publishing and copyright. In the UK, 23 April is St George’s Day, and it often coincides with the Easter break when children are not in school, so the date was nudged to earlier in the year to avoid the clash. The Republic of Ireland adopted the UK version a few years later.
How To Celebrate World Book Day 2024
Support Your Local Independent Book Shop
Sage advice for all seasons, but World Book Day is the perfect excuse to head into your local independent book shop and splurge on a few new reads. Here are our favourites in London.
£1/€1.50 Books
On World Book Day, every child in full-time education in the UK and Ireland is provided with a special £1 voucher (or €1.50 in Ireland) to be spent on books, with a selection of books available for free in exchange for the voucher across a range of ages. In 2024, these books include Elmer and the Patchwork Story, Marv and the Ultimate Superpower, The Amazing Edie Eckhart: The Friend Mission, The Doomsday Date and even a selection of Welsh language titles, and are available for £1 each from 15 February–31 March, or for free when kids have their token. See the full range of books here.
Fancy bagging another free book? Tokens will also be available on World Book Day themed Happy Meal boxes at McDonald’s.
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Free Audiobooks
World Book Day is collaborating with audiobook provider Yoto for another year, providing a selection of totally free audiobooks for youngsters to enjoy. Click here to get started.
Join Or Host A Book Club
Children can pay homage to their favourite book, author or character with World Book Day’s annual book club hub, featuring author videos (also available on YouTube), book extracts, reading recommendations and book club snack recipes. Find out more here.
‘The Tiger That Came To Tea’ DIY Teacups
Looking for some fun-filled activities? Maggie & Rose, the original family member’s club, has plenty of enjoyable recipes and crafts to celebrate World Book Day. Try recreating salt-dough tiger teacups, inspired by beloved children’s book The Tiger That Came To Tea by Judith Kerr. All you’ll need is a tennis ball sized piece of clay or salt-dough, drop of water, orange and black paint and a paintbrush (or you can use your fingers).
Method:
- Break off a small piece of clay and roll into a long sausage shape. This will be the handle of your teacup.
- Roll the rest of your clay into a ball. Push your thumb down into the middle of the ball, then gradually make the hole wider, flattening out the inside and pinching around the edges to your cup shape.
- Attach the handle using a little water to stick each end to your cup.
- Paint your cup orange all over. Once dry, use a paintbrush or your finger to paint black stripes onto the cup, just like a tiger.
If you’re feeling extra creative, you can bake feta, olive and sun-dried tomato scones to get the tea party started. maggieandrose.com
Get Dressed Up
World Book Day is famed for dressing up, with kids donning the clothing of their favourite fictional characters. Read WBD’s advice for 2024 here.
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