📚 World Book Day 📚

For my GC it was The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
It delightful seeing the children going to school on WBD, all dressed up as their favourite character.

DGS2 loves The Very Hungry Caterpillar too, but went to Pre-school in his Gruffalo onesie.
To minimize costs for parents, DGS1’s school did a pyjama day instead.

My DGD dressed up as Dorothy (Wiz of Oz). She looked just the part,
Some of her class had to read to reception children. How lovely!

My daughter dressed up for her nursery class as Little Red Riding Hood with her teaching assistant as the woodcutter. He was struggling for a costume so she asked him if he had a plaid shirt and light dawned that he could wear that, his jeans and Timberlands and all he had to make was an axe! She also said that she had parents trying to pay for the book tokens that they gave out.

Last year my then 10 Yr old grandson decided he didn't want to dress up any more, so he made a book all about his self and went as his self, the teachers loved it

Such a happy, sunny day for World Book Day. It’s usually cold and wet! My little Grandson (4) was the Dalmatian from the book Hospital Dog. So cute. I used to be a little cynical about the whole concept, but seeing the local children all smiles, dressed up on the way to school was just great.
Koalama, what a clever idea.

We had a collection of Amelia Bedelia books and Berenstain Bear books that my daughter loved.

One of my granddaughters loved all the Topsy and Tim books, I read them so many times I was sick of them!

My 6 year old granddaughter loves world book day. She has just discovered the Harry Potter books,of course she went as Hermione. I just don't understand the controversy about the pressure parents are under to produce costumes that are time consuming to make or expensive to buy. The school doesn't put pressure on the children the emphasis is on the joy of reading books.

Every day is a world book day with my family. At 79 I still read before I get up, and before I put the light out at night and always have books on the go during the day too. Whenever we moved one of the first day important jobs was always to find the local library and to get a ticket for us all. The library is also the place where you find out about whatever interest you have so would find out about choirs and gardening clubs etc etc,

As to books that were special when my son was little were The tiger who came to tea, the very hungry Caterpillar, and of course the great Each Peach Pear Plum, which was also popular in schools when I was teaching. I even remember one of my favourite books from many years ago was The Secret Garden and then a vey old book called The Girl of the Limberlost. Plus Jane Eyre , which the fire scene frightened the life out of me when reading it late at night when I was meant to be asleep about the age of 8. Oh the joy of books for every age. Keep enjoying them at every age.

I used to work for a major book manufacturer and had access to their book sales shop, which meant my niece and nephews all had huge book collections as did my own children. My DS1 loved Winnie the Pooh and a book of nonsense poems, my ds2 loved fantasy books, my DS3, loved books about sport and my DD loved princess stories. My DGDs have inherited a large collection of books now and DGD2’s favourite just now is a counting book

My husband read the entire boxed set of Thomas the Tank Engine to our two sons and then read them The Hobbit. All three of them have great memories of bed time stories.

Does anyone remember A Wet Monday ? It began, Drip, Drip, Drip, if I remember correctly. My three loved it.

They als loved Mog and Topsy and Tim.

I taught at a lovely school in quite a deprived area. On ‘World book day’ I would say 90% of the boys came in their football kit. “ Well” they would say “I had a football book for Christmas”. Bless ‘em

I must be the only World Book Day anti person, not the concept itself I’m an avid reader myself , all my children could read before starting school however it’s the dressing up bit I disapprove of, if they must have a WBD just get the children to talk about favourite stories books etc , those who can write their own stories, even acting them out. Parents have enough to deal with, enough pressures on money and time without this dressing up day. Before anyone posts I might add I’ve worked both for a renowned publisher and as a TA in a primary school so I’ve seen both sides, especially the parents moaning in the playground.

Spanish Book Day is the 23rd of April and is celebrated as Saint George ( Sant Jordi ) and in Barcelona and Girona, a book and a red rose are given to special friends and lovers.

Beautiful holiday without a doubt.

Snow White

I am against all these "special days" there are now so many of them, that there is hardly a day left that isn't World-something-or-other-day!

And in any class of children there will be some whose parents cannot afford the time, or the money to help them dress up; some who because they are dyslexic don't read bedtime stories for the children, etc.etc.

Such children feel miserably different on these days.

Encouraging children to read should be done as part of their schooling without involving them in dressing up, or added expense to homes that cannot afford it.

My daughter’s favourite book when she was two was The Tiger Who Came to Tea. I had to read it every day that summer. She went on to be an avid reader.

I have never been any good at fancy dress, so World Book Day costumes were as simple as possible. One year, we had some nice dressing up costumes so we used those. My middle son was a knight and my daughter was one of many fairies. My oldest son was at a special school and they didn’t really go in for dressing up. I think one of the most imaginative, yet simple costumes was one an eight year old piano pupil of mine wore several years ago. Her favourite book was Enid Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree and she dressed up as the Saucepan Man. She had a black top and trousers, a saucepan on her head and two more around her shoulders. She made me smile when she told me that she had to take her saucepans off when doing her work.

madeleine, how I agree with you! Books are the backdrop to my life. I am passionate about libraries, read at every opportunity, and have done my best to pass on my enthusiasm to my children, grandchildren, and those I taught.
Books can be powerful and subversive, or comforting and diverting - and, with a library card, completely free..
Where I taught, WBD was celebrated by everyone coming in their nightwear , as a nod to " a book at bedtime" - so no cost to parents. If they wished, the child could bring a favourite book to talk about, but this was an option.
I loved seeing my GC setting off as Supertato, The Worst Witch, etc.
The secondary school my 11 year old attends suggested authors as the theme.
My GS went as Adam Kay.
As you can tell, I'm a WBD fan...oh and the token gives every child the chance to own their own book.
What's not to love?

I couldn’t be without my books, I have bookcases all over the house
The only snag it takes me a while to finish a book after losing my left side vision due to measles when there were no inoculation against the condition

My Gdcs thoroughly enjoyed the day - Gdd1 made a brilliant Cruella de ViL, Gds was Chewbacca (Star Wars) and Gdd2 was a Triceratops.
I don’t think dd bought anything, all costumes were borrowed or had previously come from charity shops. Apparently the school holds a ‘costume sale’ in advance, everything very nominally priced.

My 2nd cousin went to school as the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland easy costume just a pair of rabbit ears and a few lines for whiskers and black nose. DGD went as a character from the hunger games. She loves reading and reads every night