With World Book Day today, we’re looking back at the event that delights children but can be the bane of parents’ lives, with many having to make last-minute trips to the shops or attempt their own DIY creations.
The day is a charity event held annually in the United Kingdom and Ireland on the first Thursday in March.
Every child in full-time education is provided with a voucher to be spent on books, with the first event having being held in the UK in 1998.
The day is a spin-off of the original, global World Book Day organised by UNESCO to promote reading, publishing and copyright, and widely observed on April 23.
The date was moved for British children to avoid clashes with the Easter holidays and Saint George’s Day.
World Book Day typically involves children dressing up as their favourite fictional character and our main picture shows six-year-old Steven Holliday from Wiggonby C of E School as the white rabbit from Alice In Wonderland in 2016.
Another boy from Kidsunlimited in Barrow is pictured as a storybook ladybird.
In 2016, Beacon Hill School in Aspatria took World Book Day very seriously, asking students to decorate doors for a competition. Luke Strong and Jack Lawson are shown with their winning entry based on Where’s Wally? featuring all the staff and students.
Valley School pupil Alex Dakin bravely came to school as Horrid Henry while student teacher Bryony Hanson took on the guise of Winnie-the-Pooh.
Class seven from St Gregory & St Patrick's School in Whitehaven were resplendent in their costumes, which encompassed animals, superheroes and princesses.
Mayfield School took the opportunity of raising money for the children’s ward at West Cumberland Hospital. Louise Birkett is pictured with pupils Darcie Blaney and Bailey White putting money onto a big flower in Asda.
World Book Day took on a farming flavour at Abacus Children’s Day Nursery in Dalston while a book stall at Arlecdon Primary School allowed children to get their hands on their favourite reads.
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