On World Book Day children dress up as their favourite fictional characters.

Keep a careful look out this week and you may spot the Gangsta Granny, Harry Potter, Where’s Wally, The Gruffalo and many other fictional characters making their way to school.

Yes, Thursday 7th March is World Book Day and children will be dressing up to celebrate.

Conceived by UNESCO in 1995, World Book and Copyright Day seeks to encourage everyone, in particular young people, to discover the pleasure of reading. In the UK, World Book Day takes place on the first Thursday in March. Schoolchildren are gifted £1 National Book Vouchers and can purchase specially commissioned volumes. Available for purchase this year are picture books for youngsters, a Lego joke book, and for older readers stories by Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Marjorie Blackman.

Here at Jesmond Library we support any initiative that promotes reading. And what is even better, you don’t need a voucher to borrow a book from the Library – it is entirely free of charge!