VISION
More children, from all backgrounds, developing a life-long habit of reading for pleasure, benefiting from the improved life chances this brings them.

MISSION
To promote reading for pleasure, offering every child and young person the opportunity to have a book of their own.

In 2022, we celebrated 25 years of bringing books and a love of reading to children and young people. As part of our 25th celebrations:

• Over 2 million £1/€1.50 books were printed giving children and young people 15 exciting books to choose from and own,
• 1 in 5 children receiving free school meals said the book they ‘bought’ with their WBD book token was the first book they had of their own,
• 2 in 3 children (79%) took part in a World Book Day event or activity,
• 101k books donated by publishers, McDonald’s and the Arts Council were given to children least likely to have books of their own
• 500k children enjoyed our digital events programme.

We make a difference:

• Research found that 96.9% of children have heard of World Book Day and children who participate in World Book Day activities are more engaged in reading and books than those who don’t,
• 70% of early years settings and 77% primary schools said World Book Day is effective in fostering a reading for pleasure culture,
• 59% of primary school children find reading more fun as a result of World Book Day.

Read more about the difference World Book Day makes in Our Impact 2022

Exploring the impact of World Book Day on the reading lives of children in the UK 2019-2021

We commissioned The National Literacy Trust  to evaluate the impact of our work on the reading lives of children aged 8 to 11 in the UK.

This report covers research conducted between 2019 and 2021, which aimed to capture children’s perceptions of how the event supports their reading opportunities and influences their developing reading identities. Their work demonstrated that World Book Day welcomes children into the world of books and reading in two ways: by helping all children become book owners, many for the first time, and by supporting a variety of activities and experiences essential for building life-long readers. Read the full report here.