Children in Islington will dress up as their favourite book characters and receive free books as Islington bookshops and libraries mark World Book Day on Thursday.
Islington Now spoke to bookshops, libraries and schools across the borough that will be giving children free books using book tokens distributed in schools.
Central Library is launching a “join your local library campaign”. Tony Brown, stock and reader development manager, added they will be looking out “for children dressed as their favourite book character”.
Join the British Library at Central Library tomorrow for creative fun inspired by World Book Day! #Reading #WorldofStories pic.twitter.com/Fg4DnZAx4t
— Islington Libraries (@Islingtonlibs) March 2, 2020
Meanwhile, Rasa Robinson, librarian at the Mildmay Library, said the library will be running a “Baby Bounce session” for children up to two years old between 11 and 11:30am.
In the afternoon, the library will hold a games club for families, with free book tokens handed out to children and their parents.
In Clerkenwell, Moreland Primary School will be “dressing up” for the occasion, and Head of School Catherine Lawrence says there will be “some actors coming in to read to the children”. She added, the school will be “launching their new reading passport, which encourages a love of reading through the school.”
Betsy Tobin, author and co-owner of Ink@84, an independent bookshop in Highbury Park, is hosting “local primary school children at the shop, where they can get a free book using their book tokens”.
Ink@48 has also prepared for the release of Hilary Mantel’s much-anticipated final novel of the Wolf Hall trilogy, The Mirror and the Light on Thursday. A small number of first editions will be available to pick up, but Tobin warns these will “go very quickly on the day”.
In the evening, the bookshop will be “hosting a big launch for a poetry collection celebrating traditional rural crafts in Britain, entitled Our Isles”.
However, some bookshops are scaling back on their celebrations this year. Last year, Waterstones held an all-day story-telling event for children and a treasure hunt for books. This year no activities are on offer.
Georgia Heanage also contributed to the story
