World Book Day 2026
Image Credit: ©eParenting
World Book Day is one of the most exciting days of the year for book lovers, and thois annual celebration of books and reading is back for 2026!
The date for World Book Day in 2026 has been announced as Thursday 5th March 2026.
As always, the day will consist of all sorts of book fun and activities, and children will be asked to come to school dressed up as their favourite characters from a book.
The aim of World Book Day in the UK and Ireland is to encourage children, young people and people pf any age toto explore the pleasures of books and reading by providing every primary age child with the opportunity to have a book of their own.
Each year, a collection of special books is published priced at just £1. This is to encourage children of all ages to get reading and have a book of their own.
Every child in a primary school across the UK are then given a £1 or (€1.5 in Ireland) book voucher to buy one of the specially produced books, or to put towards the cost of any other book. Home educated kids can join in too.
Each year a book is also published in the Irish and Welsh languages. These are usually only available to buy in Wales and Ireland respectively.
From major supermarkets in the UK, large bookshop chains and hundreds of independent booksellers, anywhere you can buy books could be joining in, so check out your local bookshop to see of you can use your voucher there.
The World Book Day £1 Books for 2026
Beginning Readers
One Big Family (Ladybird)
The Big Bang: Uh oh! Where did Casper go? (Dorling Kindersley) By Rose Ayling-Ellis with Katie Blackburn, illus Paddy Donnelly
Rita agus an tEachtrán (An tSnáthaid Mhór) (Ireland only) By Máire Zepf, illus Illustrated by Andrew Whitson
Un i Ti ac Un i Fi (Gwasg Rily Publications) (Wales only) By Aneirin Karadog, illus Matt Abbott Mae
Early Readers
Unicorn Academy: My Secret Unicorn Diary (Nosy Crow)
Funny FACTopia! (What on Earth!) By Christopher Lloyd & Kate Olesin, illus Andy Smith
Pablo and Splash: The Castle Quest (Bloomsbury)
Pia's Pet Club: Iguana Escape (Usborne Publishing)Written by Serena Patel, illus Emma McCann
Fluent Readers
Bear Rescue (HarperCollins Children’s Books) By Hannah Gold, illus Levi Pinfold
Bunny vs Monkey: Total Chaos (The Phoenix Comic Books - an imprint of David Fickling Books) By Jamie Smart
Skandar and the Secret Element (Simon & Schuster) by A.F. Steadman
Chaos at the Chocolate Factory (Puffin) by Sibéal Pounder, illus Emily Jones
Unbelievable Football: The Most Amazing World Cup Stories You Never Knew (Hachette Children’s Group) by Matt Oldfield, illus Ollie Mann
Milly McCarthy and the St Patrick's Day Pandemonium (Gill Books) (Ireland only) by Leona Forde, illus Karen Harte
The Doomsday Club: Shape-Shifters (The O'Brien Press) (Ireland only) by Kevin Moran
Against All Odds (Hot Key Books) by Nathanael Lessore
How Is World Book Day Celebrated?
Most schools in the UK take part by holding lots of book-themed activities and by encourage children to dress up as characters from their favourite book.
Here are some easy World Book Day costume ideas for costumes that you can put together from clothes your kids may already have, and items you can find around the house.
World Book Day was created to encourage children all around the world to get reading. The campaign has expanded it's reach in recent years from it's focus on younger children to include young adults and adults who struggle with literacy issues.