The £1 tokens and £1 books give all children the chance to choose and own a book – for free.

World Book Day, in partnership with schools and others, distributes the £1/€1.50 World Book Day book tokens to children and young people.

In exchange for the £1 token children can receive a World Book Day £1 book for free, or get £1 off a full price title (€1.50 off in Ireland) any full price book or audiobook (as long as the book or audiobook costs at least £2.99 (or €3.99 in Ireland).

Children can swap their £1 token for any of the World Book Day books at booksellers (including supermarkets). Find your nearest bookseller.

Children can use the ‘Look Insides’ on each of the £1 book pages to help them choose a book.

The World Book Day books are a gift to children from booksellers and publishers.

The £1 books are also available for sale, for £1, from some retailers.

Booksellers take part in World Book Day because they want to help create the readers of the future. Bookshops are brilliant places to discover reading recommendations and to enjoy events with authors and illustrators.

Bookshops help create the £1 token and £1 book exchange that is so important to World Book Day and to children.

Bookshops give children the chance to experience choosing and owning a book – for free.

Booksellers buy the books and give them to children in exchange for the £1 token.

Your local bookseller might be on a high street or could be a supermarket – find your nearest bookseller. If you have any questions, please email wbd@education.co.uk

You can find more information in our Terms and Conditions.

World Book Day’s mission is to offer every child the opportunity to have a book of their own. We believe that every child should have the experience of choosing and owning a book – for free.

We work with partners such as the National Literacy Trust and Read for Good to make an extra effort to reach children in areas of disadvantage.

World Book Day’s work is based on the evidence of what encourages children to read for pleasure. This tells us there are 6 elements which support a child to read for pleasure

• Being read to regularly
• Access to books at home
• The ability for children to choose what they want to read
• Having trusted adults and peers sharing and recommending books
• The reading experience being enjoyable
• Designated time to read

These 6 elements shape and guide everything World Book Day does. You can read more about them here.

World Book Day’s aim is for the books we present to be for all children and families, and particularly to offer a gateway into reading for those who don’t currently see themselves as readers.

We use an approach to reading scales, developed by CLPE, that recognises that reading for pleasure develops at different times for all children – and that children less engaged in reading are likely to have a reading level lower than their chronological age.

The scale has age approximations for children making expected progress. You can see that, and more about our approach to encouraging reading, here.

Our partner charities BookTrust and Scottish Booktrust distribute the £1 token to families as part of their programmes.

You can also find the World Book Day £1 token in a range of children’s magazines. We also work with McDonald’s to include the £1 token with Happy Meals.

All the World Book Day £1/€1.50 books are available in braille, large print, and audio with help from RNIB, Guide Dogs, Calibre Audio and NCBI.

If you require one of these formats, please get in touch with the following contact numbers closer to World Book Day:

RNIB – Braille & audio versions (UK) 0303 123 9999

Guide Dogs – Large print (UK) 0345 143 1000

Calibre Audio – Audio versions (UK) 01296 432 339

NCBI – Braille, audio, large print (Ireland) 01 8642266 (or email library@ncbi.ie)

The World Book Day book tokens cannot be used for online purchases.

Bookshops help to create the £1 token and £1 book exchange that is so important to World Book Day and to children.

Booksellers give the £1 books to children for free in exchange for the £1 token. Online orders would include the costs of postage and packing, so would not be free.

Bookshops are brilliant places to discover reading recommendations and to enjoy events with authors and illustrators. Booksellers take part in World Book Day because they want to help create the readers of the future.

Your local bookseller might be on a high street or could be a supermarket. Find your nearest bookseller.

Children and families can start using their £1/€1.50 book token from Thursday 16 February until Sunday 26 March 2023.

On World Book Day, every child and family is invited to join the celebrations. This year, our theme is “Your World Book Day”, and we want celebrations to be inclusive and fun for everyone. There will be special live and online events, new inspiring video content for home and the classroom, as well as resources to engage children in reading.

See our schools and families hubs for free resources including audiobooks, activity sheets, discussion guides, and videos with the World Book Day £1 authors and illustrators.

World Book Day is on March 2^nd, but reading can be for any day! Have a look at our Book Club, Reading Recommendations, Free Audiobooks, and Share A Story Corner for reading fun all year round.

World Book Day can be celebrated in or out of costume.

Teachers tell us that dressing up is a good way for reluctant readers to engage with the day, and children say they love having their home reading celebrated at school. Children also say that others’ costumes are a good way to pick up reading recommendations, and that dressing up makes the day feel really special.

But, the important thing is that the day is fun and that children have the chance to talk about what they’re reading.

If you do include dressing up in your celebrations, you can use our tips to link it to reading for pleasure.

And there are lots of other ways to encourage booky conversations, such as making puppets or props for characters, stickers with character profiles for staff and students, or bringing books from home.

World Book Day is funded by our sponsor National Book Tokens, a wide selection of publishers, and through other contributions, donations from a range of companies and fundraising.

You can see our annual accounts here.

You can find out more about how the World Book Day £1 token and £1 books exchange works here:

You can find out how to fundraise for us here.

You can find out how to fundraise for us here.

Our fundraising page details all the different ways you can donate to us: via BACS transfer, cheque, by phone, or simply by donating online through our JustGiving campaigns.

Please note that we have two JustGiving campaigns: these are clearly labelled on our Fundraising Page to indicate where schools (and individuals raising money as part of school-organised fundraising) should donate, and where other individuals should donate.

World Book Day is a time for us all to celebrate reading together, but reading is for every day. Have a look at our Book Club, Reading Recommendations, Share A Story Corner for reading fun all year round.

You can also see our schools and families hubs for free resources including audiobooks, activity sheets, discussion guides, and videos with the World Book Day £1 authors and illustrators.

There are exclusive €1.50 titles for Ireland, including in the Irish language.

World Book Day materials, including €1.50 World Book Day book tokens are sent to schools in Ireland by the Irish Department of Education.

We work with a range of partners to make sure that all children can receive their €1.50 books and see World Book Day materials in Irish.

You can find out more about World Book Day 2023 in Ireland here. Please send enquiries to wbd@education.co.uk.

There are exclusive titles for Wales, including in the Welsh language.

We work with Books Council Wales to make sure that all children can choose a book in the Welsh language.

You can find out more about World Book Day 2023 in Wales here.

Primary Schools – you will be automatically mailed as in previous years; there is no need to register. If you have previously requested opted out of mailing you will not receive any WBD material. To check or update this wbd@education.co.uk

If you would like to check that your school’s details are correct please contact the World Book Day Helpline: wbd@education.co.uk

Secondary Schools (UK) – You are asked to register to participate. Please see the secondary school registration section on this site for all details and to check your registration status. There is a £30 administration fee payable.

Pre-Schools – You are asked to register to participate. Please visit the registration section of this site. We regret that individuals and childminders are ineligible.

For more information please visit our schools hub.

After the registration deadline please email wbd@education.co.uk with your school name to receive a link to our digital token.

Following feedback from schools, young people and parents, this year the World Book Day £1/€1.50 book tokens are digital for secondary schools.

Download our secondary schools digital book token information here.