FOCUS ON: WORLD BOOK DAY
Reading for fun
This year, World Book Day, the reading for fun charity, will be celebrated on Thursday 5 March 2026. Children throughout the UK will dress as characters from their favourite books and celebrate reading for fun.
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n 2025, over 23.5 million book tokens were distributed by World Book Day through schools, magazines and partnerships, showing the strength of the event among children nationwide. Providing a key date for dress-up suppliers and retailers each year, World Book Day promotes reading among children and provides access to books for all children through schools and partnerships, while promoting the fun and play aspect of books. For 2026, World Book Day has been rebranded and the charity has announced 16 new £1/€1.50 books from authors including Rose Ayling-Ellis, Hannah Gold and Jamie Smart. Much-loved family favourites Peppa Pig, Unicorn Academy and a new story inspired by one of Roald Dahl’s most beloved tales will also be available for free to children throughout the UK. Children were involved in selecting the titles, putting World Book Day’s commitment to children’s choice at the core of its work. The 2026 range of books appeal to a whole range of readers, from beginners to teens, to ensure the celebration is accessible to all. With just one in three children and young people saying they enjoy reading in their free time – a 36% decrease in reading enjoyment since 2005 – helping find the joy in reading is more important than ever. The opportunity for all children to have a book of their own is at the heart of World
Right: Smiffys’ The Very Hungry Caterpillar range launches in time for World Book Day. Below right: Rubies full-body monkey suit, part of the new Storybook range.
Book Day’s mission. Currently, almost one million children in the UK don’t own a book, which rises to one in eight for children eligible for Free School Meals. A quarter of children receiving Free School Meals said that the book they ‘bought’ with their World Book Day token was the first book of their own. Supported by long-term sponsor, National Book Tokens and working alongside publishers and booksellers, this year World Book Day will continue to build on its work to improve access to books, encouraging everyone to give children the choice and chance to develop that lifelong habit of reading for fun. Fiona Hickley, interim ceo of World Book Day comments: “World Book Day exists to help children find their own joy in reading. When children have the freedom to explore books and all forms of reading in a way that suits them, that’s when they gain the welldocumented wellbeing, educational and life-chance advantages of reading for fun. “Our research shows children avoid reading when pressured, so at World Book Day we seek to appeal to children with our
wonderful selection of £1/€1.50 books that are meticulously chosen to offer exciting options across popular interests and reading levels. Our aim is to ensure every child can discover their own kind of fun in the books.” A key element of World Book Day throughout schools and childcare settings is the chance for children to dress up as their favourite characters from books, with dress up suppliers offering a range of generic and licensed costumes for children to choose from. As the official dress-up partner of The World Book Day Charity, Rubies has introduced a ‘Storybook’ range which perfectly taps into the spirit of the event, by blending wild adventure with reality. Rubies is also offering new licences, including the smash hit KPop Demon Hunters this year, which can be seen in detail overleaf. For other suppliers, like Boland, there is a wide range of children’s costumes on offer which work perfectly for the event. Boland will soon be publishing a leaflet to highlight the key lines suited to the event for its customers. Widmann has also created a space for the event with a dedicated World Book Day selection on its B2B portal, in order to help customers build a strong assortment for the event. To find out what’s new for World Book Day 2026, turn over to the new products section.
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