Planning a successful World Book Day can seem like a daunting prospect. Luckily, we have plenty of World Book Day ideas to help inspire you (none of which involve a fancy dress costume)...
For incurable book lovers, it’s like all their birthdays coming at once. For busy, experienced teachers, it can seem like a game of staffroom Russian Roulette (while dressed in a costume of your favourite book character).
It’s the moment when the headteacher or the literacy coordinator pops the question, “Who wants to organise World Book Day this year?”
Whether you are the sort of person to jump up and down with your hand in the air, squealing, “Pick me!”, or were just the last to slip further down in your chair, you will want to do the best for your school and especially the children.
What is World Book Day?
World Book Day is all about promoting reading for pleasure and giving every child the chance to have a book of their own. It’s a charity “on a mission to help change children’s lives by making reading together and reading for pleasure a habit for life.”
Reading for pleasure isn’t just fun – it’s powerful. Research from the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) shows that enjoying books is the single biggest indicator of success in life. It's even more predictive than family background, income or educational circumstances.
In other words, encouraging children to read can have a lasting impact on their futures.
UNESCO created World Book Day in 1995 as a worldwide celebration of reading and books, and it is now observed globally.
When is World Book Day 2026?
World Book Day falls on Thursday 5th March 2026, but it’s never too early to start planning. Schools that put in the effort can create memorable events that inspire children and foster a lifelong love of reading.
World Book Day ideas for schools
Make it an event
For many schools, the first thing on the to-do list is to get parents thinking about preparing a World Book Day costume for their child.
While you might have mixed feelings about this – especially when the outfits only have the most tenuous links to published works – it is undoubtedly a good way to secure engagement.
With any luck, you will get some truly impressive costumes, too. Just make sure you find a way to celebrate these and let the other pupils know which books they are paying homage to. You never know, someone might be inspired to go out and read them!
Get each kid reading
However you organise your day, never lose sight of the whole purpose of it – to get children reading. Therefore, you should try to pack your schedule with activities that focus on reading rather than dressing up.
Run a book week, share your favourite children’s book or favourite story and have children discuss their favourite character in literature, whether it’s The Gruffalo, Fantastic Mr Fox, Pippi Longstocking, The Worst Witch or the Very Hungry Caterpillar.
In case your mind has gone blank, fear not – we have a wide range of World Book Day resources to inspire you and make your life easier.
Write book reviews
Have you noticed how adults can recommend things until they are blue in the face, yet the factor that really seals the deal is a personal testimonial from one of their peers?
That makes World Book Day the perfect vehicle for launching a drive on book reviews. If you get your pupils to write book reviews and display them, they will soon be reading what each other has to say.
If they can see that their friends are rating books highly, there is a good chance that they will want to read them too.
Of course, you want the reviews themselves to look exciting, which is why we have created some attractive book review templates for you to use.
As an added bonus, the same resource pack includes “Fantastic Reads!” bookmarks on which pupils can write mini recommendations. These can then be slipped into the books before returning them to the class collection or school library as a very visible attention grabber.
School author visit
The Holy Grail for any World Book Day celebration is, of course, the author visit. As you might imagine, however, there will be thousands of schools all clamouring for the same big names.
That’s no reason to give up on the idea altogether, though. We have compiled a collection of lively podcasts from published children’s authors designed to be used in primary schools.
As well as containing the words, tips and ideas of the writers themselves, our Author in your Classroom podcasts come with free teacher notes, PowerPoints, planning grids, writing sheets and display items.
World Book Day activity packs
All aboard the Story Express
But there is so much more you could do with your World Book Day celebrations. For a wealth of ideas covering the whole school, look no further than our free World Book Day activities pack.
This 51-page activities pack features lesson plans, worksheets and resources for Years 1–6. Create a ‘travel by book’ role play and even run a whole-school 'Story Event'. Everything you need is included – just add books!
Creative ideas
This free resource pack features six creative ideas and ready-to-use PDF worksheets. From book vlogs and character masks to emoji quizzes and writing activities, everything comes with teacher notes to make planning simple and fun.
Library treasure hunt
Get pupils exploring books with this Library Treasure Hunt, perfect for Years 1 and 2. Children will search for items in fiction and non-fiction books, develop discussion skills and enjoy discovering your school or local library. There's also a KS2 version.
Home learning pack
This pack for Years 3-6 is full of fun World Book Day ideas to inspire reading for pleasure and creative writing. Children can explore authors, design book covers, write blurbs and reflect on their favourite characters. There's also a version for Y1 and Y2.
More easy World Book Day ideas
Find even more in our World Book Day resources guide.
As you can see, there is plenty of scope to make as much or as little of the day as you like. The best thing is that, with a little help from us, you will have everything you need to lay on a truly memorable event, if you so wish.
What’s more, we’ve done most of the work for you, which means you will have more time to relax on the weekends leading up to it. Who knows, you might even have time to lose yourself in a good book.
Sue Drury qualified as a primary teacher in 1999. Teaching pupils from Year 1 to Year 8, she has held a variety of positions including maths and English subject leader, year leader, and assistant headteacher. Sue has mentored students and NQTs, offering guidance and advice using her years of experience. She created many of Plazoom's literacy resources.