Ahead of the celebration on 7th March 2024, World Book Day can reveal the 15 new £1/€1.50 books as part of the charity’s commitment to encourage reading for pleasure.
The 2024 £1 World Book Day selection includes re-imagined classics, adventure tales, picture books and comic book and graphic stories, as the charity continues to create a £1 book line up that gives all children choice in what they read.
At the core of the charity’s work to change lives through reading is the opportunity for all children to have a book of their own. More than 500,000 children in England don’t own a book,[1] which rises to one in 10 for children eligible for Free School Meals. Of these children, one in five shared that the book they ‘bought’ with their World Book Day token was the first book of their own.[2]
Data from World Book Day Impact Report 2023 revealed the charity’s considerable effect on the lives of children across the UK. In 2023, over 2 million £1/€1.50 books were gifted to children by booksellers and publishers. A total of 50 million £1/€1.50 book tokens were distributed by the charity through schools, magazines, and partnerships and more, ensuring that as many children as possible had a book to enjoy and call their own. There were opportunities for all to get involved with the festivities, with over 4,000 booksellers and 1,930 libraries joining in with events, displays and activities and over 560,000 children enjoying digital events in partnership with the National Literacy Trust and Book Trust.
As reading for pleasure continues to be the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than family circumstances, parents’ educational background and their income[3], World Book Day aims to reach communities, families, and children in areas of high deprivation and low literacy. To further boost its reach and impact the charity’s newly published World Book Day Strategy 2023-2027 sets out how it will encourage more children, from all backgrounds, to develop a life-long habit of reading for pleasure, and benefit from the improved life chances this brings them.
World Book Day will continue to work with a network of partners to extend its reach and impact, including the National Literacy Trust, BookTrust, Read for Good and Libraries Connected. Last year, these partnerships resulted in over 90,000 £1/€1.50 books given to children in areas of high deprivation and low literacy across the UK and Ireland, with the charity looking to expand on this success in 2024.
Cassie Chadderton, CEO, World Book Day said: “Encouraging children to love reading for pleasure is our charity’s mission. It’s vital we reach more children than ever, so that every child can benefit from the improved life chances that reading for pleasure brings.
“We are thrilled to announce an exciting list of £1 book authors for 2024. We are confident that these fun and inspirational books will spark children’s interest in discovering more books and reading for pleasure!”
Mark and Roxanne Hoyle (aka LadBaby) commented: “We are over the moon to be part of World Book Day 2024! Having the opportunity to not only follow in the footsteps of some of the world’s greatest children’s authors, but to be able to do so while offering Greg the Sausage Roll: Lunchbox Superhero to children feels like a dream come true!
As a family we are passionate and committed to helping make a difference to children across the UK, so we couldn’t be prouder of this moment. World Book Day supports so many children and young people across the UK and Ireland and does incredible work to help provide books for those who otherwise might not be able to afford one.
Knowing that a World Book Day £1/€1.50 book could be the first book many children own is heartbreaking and honestly one of the reasons we’re so passionate about World Book Day and supporting the charity’s commitment to improving access to books for all children.
As two dyslexic authors, we know first-hand the importance of encouraging reading and how it helps us all to discover different worlds and unlock our imaginations in such incredible ways. We truly hope that Greg and his super exciting school adventure can help kickstart many children to find joy from reading this World Book Day and beyond.”
Tọlá Okogwu adds: “Reading is such an enormous source of joy and pleasure and something I enjoy sharing with the many children I meet as well as my own. Each year, World Book Day opens up the world of stories and endless imagination to thousands of children who might otherwise not have such an opportunity. I am incredibly proud that Onyeka will be a part of that and I can’t wait to explore the other books in this year’s line-up with my own children.”
[1] National Literacy Trust, Book Ownership in 2022, 2022 literacytrust.org.uk/research-services/research-reports/book-ownership-in-2022
[2] Unpublished data from the National Literacy Trust, 2022
[3] https://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/pisainfocus/48624701.pdf
