Across schools in Delyn, young people have been dressing up as their favourite character from a book or story as part of World Book Day. Photos promoting the day have been uploaded to social media and in the local news.

World Book Day is one of the leading campaigns to promote and offer every child the opportunity to explore literature and love reading.

The Member of the Senedd for Delyn, Hannah Blythyn said:

“It has been brilliant to see so many children heading off to school dressed up as their favourite characters, but more importantly, telling others who they are dressed up as, which book it is from, and sharing what their favourite stories are.

These conversations show how much young people love their favourite books and help other children find new books to read. If you’re looking for something new to read, I’d definitely suggest calling into Mold Bookshop, which has been named as a regional & country finalist in the Independent Bookshop of the Year award and also does a lot of work with schools.”

 

The World Book Day charity aim to change lives through a love of books and reading, offering £1 book tokens that are sent to schools and other educational establishments across the UK and Ireland.

Hannah Blythyn said:

“World Book Day isn’t just for children going to school, each of us a favourite book. Though I have recently been enjoying Lessons in Chemistry, my favourite book will always be Great Expectations.

We owe it to the next generation to promote a love of reading. It is important that parents get involved in world book day too, to help facilitate and nurture a love of reading. So many parents take the time to read to their children before bed, and that joy of experiencing a book shouldn’t stop as they get older.

The £1 book token can go a long way for some people. The cost-of-living crisis impacts every part of our budgets, so having that little bit off or exchanging a token for one of the £1 books can make all the difference.”

On World Book Day, the Welsh Government celebrated the new Welsh Language digital reading platform, which encourages children to read and improve their literacy skills in Welsh.

A new website is being developed, which will allow readers to click on specific words in Welsh for definitions and pronunciation. This will allow teachers and parents who are non-confident Welsh speakers to read Welsh with children, where it was not possible for them to do so with traditional books.

The Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles, said:

“I’m delighted to support this resource, which helps teachers and parents read Welsh with children. The Welsh language belongs to us all, and this resource gives more people access to contemporary Welsh language books and is a fun way of introducing Welsh literature to children.

Enjoying books from a young age is vital to embedding habits and literacy skills that will enable children to succeed throughout their lives.”