Costumes and Creativity for World Book Day
There were costumes and creativity all round, when our schools took part in this year’s World Book Day on Thursday 5 March.
Pupils at Burnham Market Primary explored art, drama, and film, as well as dressing as their favourite fictional characters for the annual event.
World Book Day became ‘Word’ Book Day at Firside Junior School, where children dressed to represent a word, giving them the chance to express their imagination and creativity.
Meanwhile, there was magic in the air at Garrick Green Infant School, when the pupils arrived wearing pyjamas, in keeping with the book-based theme chosen for this year’s event.
Caterpillars, scarecrows, Teletubbies, aliens, and even superhero potatoes met in the playground at Heather Avenue Infant School, where children drew inspiration for their costumes from The Hungry Caterpillar, Supertato, Teletubbies, The Scarecrows’ Wedding, and Aliens Love Underpants.
Elsewhere, at Kinsale Infant School, the pupils enjoyed a visit from award-winning author James Campbell, whose Funny Life series includes The Funny Life of Pets, The Funny Life of Teachers, and The Funny Life of Football.
There was a creative flavour to World Book Day at Kinsale Junior School, where the children designed their own book-themed, celebratory decorations for the event.
Students at Hellesdon High School also celebrated the occasion, with a variety of competitions, challenges, and creative opportunities happening on World Book Day itself and beyond.
Pupils from Reception to Year 6 arrived at Burnham Market dressed as their favourite literary characters.
“At Burnham Market, we marked the occasion with a fantastic dress-up day, where every child could come to school as a beloved character from a story they love,” said Senior Teacher Ashley Williams.
“Throughout the day, each class also took part in a range of inspiring World Book Day activities.”
Each year groups took on their own World Book Day creative challenge, with Years 5 and 6 designing outsized book covers to decorate the school library; Years 3 and 4 bringing Cressida Cowell’s How to Train Your Dragon to life through drama and film; and Years 1 and 2 making their own original, illustrated characters inspired by picture books; while the Reception pupils explored a variety of World Book Day stories through imaginative drama and play.
“To make the day even more special, the whole school had the opportunity to visit a pop-up bookshop opening exclusively for the children in the afternoon,” added Mr Williams.
“It was a truly brilliant day of reading, creativity, and celebration.”
The creative approach at Firside also extended to members of staff, who dressed up for the occasion.
“World Book Day is always a firm favourite date in our school calendar at Firside, and, over the last few years, we have tried to think creatively about different ways to mark it,” explained Assistant Head of School Lucy Seagrave.
“From decorating potatoes to World Book Day hats, we decided we needed another fun way to engage the children with the day, so this year we decided on ‘Dress as a Word Day’ to celebrate the power of words.
“Once again, our pupils – and staff – amazed us with their creativity, with costumes including word costumes for ‘rainbow’, ‘adventurous’, and ‘magical’.”
The creativity continued, with themed activities taking place throughout the day, and the pupils even able to choose lunch from a bespoke World Book Day menu.
The children also had the chance to use their World Book Day vouchers – all while raising money for the school library.
“As part of our World Book Day celebrations, we also welcomed the visiting Scholastic Book Fair, which gave children the opportunity to buy new books, using their World Book Day vouchers to reduce the cost, and, by doing so, helped to raise money for the school to buy new books too,” added Mrs Seagrave.
“At the last check, we had taken sales of over £1,200, meaning we have got over £600 to spend on lovely new books for our school library for all the children to enjoy.”
The children at Garrick Green drew inspiration from a particular story for World Book Day, which brought a touch of magic to the occasion.
“Across the school we focused on the story The Magic Bed by John Burningham,” explained Head of School Liz Banner.
“We shared the story in all of the classes, then did some drama sessions based on the books, and some of the children wrote about an adventure they would go on if they had a magic bed. The children came to school dressed in pyjamas.”
As well as dressing up, the pupils at Heather Avenue also received a visit from ‘Funny Life’ author Mr Campbell.
“The author visit turned into a lovely highlight of the school’s World Book Day celebrations, thanks to the wonderfully energetic James Campbell,” said Executive Headteacher Stacey Coleman.
“The children were instantly captivated by his love of stories, poems, and wonderfully wild ideas.”
On World Book Day itself, there was also the opportunity for pupils to use their World Book Day tokens, when Norfolk Children’s Book Centre visited the school.
“I think the special thing about World Book Day is that it celebrates the world of books and reading, and reading is a vital gift for our children,” added Ms Coleman.
“It opens their minds to the world around them, while giving them a safe space to explore and understand their own emotions.”
Mr Campbell made an equally good impression at Kinsale Infant, where he spent time with pupils from Reception to Year 2.
“Events like this are so important to help start a love of reading and writing at a young age,” said English Lead Martha McGibbon.
“James captivated our children with his imaginative tales of adventure and funny stories full of laughter. We feel very lucky he was able to visit us.”
The visit came ahead of World Book Day, when children and staff alike arrived at the schoolgates dressed as their favourite fictional characters, while a range of themed activities took place across the day.
“World Book Day is always a highlight of the Kinsale Infant calendar,” added office manager Marie Clarke.
“We all love a chance to get creative with costumes, and celebrate our love of reading.”
At Kinsale Junior, children across all year groups at the school contributed pieces to the colourful World Book Day bunting, with hand-made designs inspired by their favourite stories, book covers, or characters.
“This year the pupils were invited to create a piece of bunting depicting a children’s book, which created a colourful display in the library following World Book Day,” said Head of School Jo Philpott.
As well as drawing inspiration from their favourite fictional heroes and heroines, the children were encouraged to dress as them, with members of staff also joining in the fun.
“Pupils and staff always enjoy the opportunity to dress up as book characters, which gives them the opportunity to bring books to life, and sparks conversations about literature,” continued Mrs Philpott.
“Staff also shared some of their favourite children’s literature classics with pupils on the day.”
The annual event, which coincided with the National Year of Reading initiative, came to a close with each child receiving a World Book Day token that many planned to spend at the following week’s Scholastic Fair.
“World Book Day was an extremely exciting day celebrated at KJS during this National Year of Reading in the UK,” added Mrs Philpott.
“World Book Day is primarily focused on fostering a lifelong love of reading, and enhancing literacy through creative, interactive experiences, whilst aligning with our English curriculum.”
At Hellesdon, World Book Day was bigger than ever, with literary-themed activities taking place throughout the week.
“World Book Day is so important at Hellesdon High, because it gives us an opportunity to talk about reading and share brilliant stories all day,” said Acting Head of English Beth Wyer.
“We have an amazing cohort of readers and regularly talk about the importance of reading. The day is all about sharing the love of books, taking part in fun activities to engage our learners, and finding new genres or new authors to explore to develop our reading habits.”
‘Decorate Our Doors’ saw each Key Stage 3 tutor group transform their classroom door into a display recommending their favourite books to others, while Book Bingo challenged students to read enough books to complete the bingo-style card by July.
Each lesson began with a chapter from the award-winning book Wild East by Norwich-based author Ashley Hickson-Lovence, while Heads of Year shared their favourite reads during assemblies throughout the week.
Other activities included a lunchtime Book Scavenger Hunt, a Reading Cafe, a Book Swap, and the chance to make a ‘book hedgehog’ at the school.
“World Book Day is an important moment in the secondary school calendar, because it reminds us that reading is not just a lifelong skill that shapes academic success, creativity, and wellbeing, but also provides enjoyment,” added Literacy Coordinator Charlotte Beardmore.
“By celebrating reading together as a school community, we help students recognise that books are not simply tools for exams, but gateways to knowledge, empathy, and opportunity.”