World Book Day - Thursday 5th March 2026
Scroll down for:
- World Book Day dressing up ideas
- World Book Day £1 Book Voucher
- National Design a Book Token Competition 2026
World Book Day Dressing Up - 05.03.26
The children are invited to come to school dressed as a book character or wear their pyjamas/onesie and can bring to school their favourite book to share with the class. Please do not feel like you need to order anything or buy an outfit from the shops – any nod towards a character will do e.g. a magic wand or scar painted on a forehead could work for Harry Potter. There are some ideas below from a previous World Book Day! If you have any costumes you wish to donate, please hand them into the school office.
World Book Day Voucher
Your child will be coming home with a World Book Day voucher. Children can swap their £1 token for any of the £1 World Book Day books or get £1 off a full price title, any full price book or audiobook (as long as the book or audiobook costs at least £2.99) at participating booksellers. The redemption period for World Book Day 2026 £1 tokens is until Sunday 15 March 2026.
You can redeem your World Book Day £1 book token at the following retailers:
- Your local independent bookseller
- Asda
- Blackwell’s (selected stores only)
- Sainsburys
- Tesco
- The Works
- Waterstones
- WHSmith
World Book Day Design a Book Token Competition 2026
How to Enter:
- Complete the template that was sent home from school. A copy of the template can be downloaded here.
- Return the design to the child's class teacher by Thursday 19th March
It’s time to GO ALL IN on reading and get creative! To celebrate World Book Day and the UK’s National Year of Reading 2026, our sponsors National Book Tokens are inviting children of all ages to DESIGN A NATIONAL BOOK TOKEN for their annual competition. This year’s winners will be selected by three very special guest judges: bestselling authors and illustrators Paddy Donnelly, Nadia Shireen and Sonia Leong!
The National Year of Reading theme, Go All In, is all about diving deeper into the things you already love through reading. Whether you’re passionate about football, animals, space, fashion, gaming, history, music or making people laugh, books can bring your interests to life in exciting new ways.
Challenge children to create a bold, eye-catching gift card design that celebrates their interests and shows how books help them explore ideas, spark imagination and go further through reading, and they could win prizes galore.
Six winning entrants will bag HUNDREDS of pounds for their schools and themselves so they can choose all the books they need during the National Year of Reading and beyond. Plus, one overall winner will see their design turned into a real National Book Token for every child in their class – and enjoy a visit to a bookshop to spend them!
So get the pencils, pens and paints ready… and let’s GO ALL IN this World Book Day.
CLICK HERE for more information