Unlocking the fun of reading for children

We are a charity that operates in the UK, with a mission to promote reading for fun, offering every child and young person the opportunity to have a book of their own. We work to give more children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, a life-long habit of reading for pleasure and the improved life chances this brings. Our annual celebration, World Book Day, is celebrated at the beginning of March every year.

Find out more information about UNESCO’s ‘World Book and Copyright Day’, which is celebrated internationally on 23 April. Many countries use the day to celebrate books and authors and encourage access to books, but these activities are not connected to us.

Find out more on our about us page.

Visit our digital token page for more information on how to use them.

World Book does not carry any stock of the £1/€1.50 books. Booksellers buy the books directly from publishers or wholesalers.

Our participating retailer map will be available in December.

After the registration deadline please email wbd@education.co.uk with your school name for any further registration queries.

Primary Schools – You will be automatically mailed as in previous year; 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 – 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. Please note that there is a £30 administration fee payable for late registration.

Early Years settings – 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 educators page.

We work with Books Council Wales to have an exclusive £1 book title for Wales each year in the Welsh language and resources for teachers.

Dressing up is an effective way to encourage children (particularly reluctant readers) to engage with reading. It can help children to express their personal reading choices and share reading recommendations. Children being dressed up also changes the learning environment to one which is more playful. If dressing up isn’t working chose alternatives rather than modifying dressing up – additional themes or rules are a distraction from the purpose of book recommendation. 

The World Book Day £1/€1.50 tokens cannot be used for online purchases.

Booksellers buy the £1/€1.50 books to gift to children in exchange for their £1/€1.50 book token.

The £1/€1.50 tokens and £1/€1.50 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.

Find out more on our tokens page.