As many of our amazing volunteers will know, there's high excitement in primary schools all over the country today as pupils dress up as their favourite book character to celebrate World Book Day. But the event is about much more than an opportunity to wear mufti to school. WBD is on a mission to give every child and young person a book of their own. It’s also a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and (most importantly) reading. In fact, it’s the biggest event of its kind, designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and marked in over 100 countries all over the world. In the UK and Ireland, thanks to the generosity of National Book Tokens Ltd and to lots of publishers and booksellers, WBD sends millions of book tokens to children and young people - some 15 million, in fact: that’s one for nearly every child aged under eighteen in the country.
