How to Celebrate World Book Day at Home

World Book Day is a well-loved and important day in the annual calendar for children. Falling every year on the first Thursday in March, it’s a fun day for our little ones to get creative and dress up as their favourite story book characters. However, there is a much more special reason behind why World Book Day was created than simply fancy dress.

It’s whole mission is to offer every child and young person the opportunity to have a book of their own. The organisers want to see more children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, with a life-long habit of reading for pleasure and the improved life chances this brings them.

World Book Day is all about encouraging young people to discover the pleasure of reading and to celebrate books. So how can you celebrate this years World Book Day from home? We’ve pulled together some fun ideas to get you started

Create a reading den

Everything is just better in a den right? Get your little one excited about story time by jazzing up a corner of the house into a reading corner den ready to settle down in and get lost in a story book adventure. We’re talking cushions, rugs, and of course, books. 

Tune in to Share a Story live

With lockdown and children not attending school at the moment, World Book Day have had to think outside the box on how to bring everyone together to still enjoy the joy of reading. So they are hosting free virtual events over 3 days for your little ones to tune in to over on their YouTube channel. These Share a Story live events will be fun and interactive book club session to try to encourage even more children to pick up a book and start reading for pleasure.

Their exciting Share a Story line up includes –

Wednesday 3rd March, 10.30am – Books that Make you LOL!
Starring: Humza Arshad, Alex Bellos & Ben Lyttleton (Football School), Jonny Duddle and Zanib Mian
Hosted by Kenny Baraka, motivational speaker

Thursday 4th March, 10.30am – World Book Day special – Bringing Reading to Life
Starring: Joseph Coelho & Fiona Lumbers, Tom Fletcher and Lydia Monks and special guest Rob Biddulph
Hosted by Nigel Clarke, TV presenter

Friday 5th March, 10.30am  – Books and the Real World
Starring: Sita Brahmachari, Jess French and Katherine Rundell
Hosted by Jessie Cave, actor and podcaster

Also on their YouTube, they have a range of 10 minute story sharing live book readings for all ages from some of our favourite authors and celebrities. Jacqueline Wilson, Dermot O'Leary, Tom Fletcher and Sophie Dahl to name a few. 

Fancy Dress

Just because your little one isn’t going into school or nursery for this years World Book Day that doesn’t mean you can’t still get them dressed up as their favourite story book character for the day. Get stuck in and have fun with it, imagine breakfast with the BFG, lunch time walk with Harry Potter and afternoon zoom classes with Peppa Pig. If you’re struggling for some inspiration, the World Book Day website has some brilliant ideas to get you going.

Free Audiobooks

This year World Book Day organisers are offering new free audiobooks for little ones to enjoy. Perfect if you’re reading together as a family, or if your little one is listening on their own, their next audiobook adventure is waiting. They’ve got a brilliant line up and options every little listener will love. There’s nothing better than snuggling up to listen to an audiobook together for some family time.

Little Tasks for Little One's

Our "little tasks for little one's" collection is bursting full of crafty tasks and boredom busters to keep your little ones entertained and having fun. We have added an exclusive World Book Day selection of tasks to the collection for your little one to enjoy. Let the fun begin by colouring in all those favourite story book characters and get creative by getting your little one to design their very own bookmark that they can use for story time.  Tag us in your creations on social @naturalbabyshower . 

Get crafty

If your little one is more of a do-er rather than a listener, then perhaps sitting still listening to a story isn’t for them. But that doesn’t mean they can’t get involved with World Book Day in their own way. Why not get crafty and get them to make their favourite story book character instead. They can then act out or role play a story created by themselves with their crafty character for the family. World Book Day website has so many imaginative crafty ideas for bringing story book characters to life. 

Top story book picks

We have also pulled together some of our favourite story time picks to help you and your family celebrate world book day and discover the magic of books again. From story books about inspirational characters, to environmental tales and audio book adventures, we’ve got a story for everyone.

Books that make a difference

Story time doesn’t need to be full of imaginative adventures or fictional characters to be fun, there is so much fun and value to be had from a book written to make a difference. Teach your little ones the importance of recycling, or how magical the ocean is in a fun way through our selection of story books designed to make a difference. Our top picks are;

"Little Turtle Turns the Tide" - The Orca Publications book follows the journey of a little turtle as he discovers the plastic problem the ocean is facing. All proceeds go to the environmental charity Surfers Against Sewage. 

"Recycling" By Lorna Freytag from Bookspeed Eco Baby encourages little ones to learn more about the importance of recycling in a fun and colourful way.

"Oceans" By Lorna Freytag from Bookspeed Eco Baby uses bright, bold illustrations and simple text to teach little ones about the ocean and how we can protect it.

Inspirational people

What better use of story time than to recite tales of those special and inspirational figures from the past and present that have made a huge impact on the world in their unique ways. From the inspirational Rosa Parks and >Mother Teresa to the national treasures David Attenborough and Captain Tom Moore. This World Book Day teach your little one about those special individuals who made a difference in the world. Discover them all here.

Audio adventures

Story time doesn’t have to include a physical book to be fun, educational or engaging, discover the world of audiobooks and you’ll never look back! Tonies are our go-to for audiobooks, Tonies is all about unlocking a world of audio adventures away from screens. Simply turn it on, pop a Tonie figure on top and let the adventure begin. There are so many characters and stories to choose from you’ll be spoilt for choice. It’s the perfect way to encourage your little one to enjoy story time independently. 

For the littlest ones

Your littlest one can get involved in the World Book Day fun too with our selection of early years books. Our top pick is Sophie La Girafe book of First Words.

So there you have it, World Book Day lockdown version! We hope you all to get stuck in, have fun and make story time magical again.