From taking part in school and library events to dressing up as their favourite literary characters, thousands of children celebrated the joy of reading on World Book Day last week (Thursday, March 6).
The day also saw the release of 10 new World Book Day titles, which can be exchanged for the £1 World Book Day book tokens given out by schools.
There are two Young Adult titles on this year’s list – Rock War: The Audition by Robert Muchamore and The Boy in the Smoke by Maureen Johnson.
Robert Muchamore, best known for his bestselling CHERUB series, marked World Book Day by hosting a virtual author event for pupils at his old school – Acland Burghley School in Tufnell Park, north west London.
The event was also streamed live to more than 500 secondary schools across the UK. Questions from the 35,000 pupils who took part in the Q&A session ranged from zebra wrestling and the FA Cup to how to get writing. One youngster even revealed that she had a tattoo of the CHERUB series on her ankle.
Meanwhile, 170 year 7 and 8 students at Acland Burghley received a free signed copy of Robert Muchamore’s new full-length book Rock War, the tale of three teenagers battling for fame and fortune in the music world.
In a separate initiative, the organisers of World Book Day have compiled a list of the best books for teenagers.
Dubbed the Writes of Passage – 50 Books that will change your life, the titles were voted for by 7,000 people. The top five are: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by JK Rowling, and 1984 by George Orwell.
To see Robert Muchamore’s virtual author event for schools, go to www.muchamore.com/live
A poster of the complete Writes of Passage list can be downloaded at http://bit.ly/1lENTok