It provides a fantastic opportunity to focus on reading for pleasure, empowering children to read the books they choose, and hopefully embed a habit of reading that brings a range of benefits. Reading for pleasure means that children are far more likely to build the vital literacy skills they need to thrive. The National Literacy Trust’s 2024 annual literacy survey of 76,000 UK children, which explores young people’s reading habits, reveals that twice as many children who enjoy reading in their free time have above-average reading skills - 34.2% compared to 15.7% of those who don’t.  Reading for pleasure has many other benefits as well. The children surveyed who read in their free time at least once a month said: it helps them to relax (56%), to feel happy (41%), to learn new things (51%), to understand the views of others (33%), to learn about other cultures (32%) and to be confident (26%).

World Book Day UK began in 1998 when several million schoolchildren were given a special £1 World Book Day book token which could be redeemed against any book in any UK bookshop. A specially created World Book Day anthology priced at £1 was also published. Since then, World Book Day UK has followed a similar pattern, gradually growing each year to encompass more initiatives.  Perhaps the highest profile of which is the ‘tradition’ that children dress as their favourite character. Fantastic fun but finding a World Book Day costume has become a source of pressure for parents everywhere.  Pressure acutely felt in the Barker household this year, because my three-year-old daughter decided that she wanted to dress as Elsa.  I found this announcement challenging and made my position clear, Frozen is not a book, and therefore, in my opinion, Elsa is not an appropriate subject for World Book Day fancy dress.  World Book Day promotes reading not TV and film. Disney and Marvel do not need additional marketing, quite the opposite, screens are contributing to a reading crisis amongst young people. If I let her dress as Elsa, she may as well dress as Batman, Woody from Toy Story or Bluey. All characters promoted as appropriate World Book Day fancy dress by Sainsbury's and/or Asda!

Three things have forced me to reconsider my position. First, my inconsolable daughter returned from her room carrying not one, not two but three books featuring Elsa and Anna. Second, Mr Andrews informed me that, like so many other Disney films, Frozen has a classical basis, Hans Christian Anderson’s story ‘The Snow Queen’, first published as part of a collection called ‘New Fairy Tales’ in 1844, and therefore a case can be made that Frozen is in fact a book.  Third and most importantly, I discovered the theme of this year’s World Book Day – Read Your Own Way – and it slowly dawned on me that I was missing the point.  Children and young people’s reading is at crisis point.  The National Literacy Trust’s survey shows that two in three do not enjoy reading, the worst level in nearly 20 years. Fewer books are being borrowed from our school library and an increasing number of pupils with high mathematics and reasoning scores start school with a reading age below their physical age.  Research shows that young people feel that reading is something they have to do - a chore - rather than something they choose to do, and attitudes like mine toward my daughter’s choice of fancy dress - that there is a right and wrong way to read, and there are things that you should read and things that you shouldn’t - are contributing to this crisis. 

So, my daughter went to nursery yesterday dressed as Elsa and I have reflected on my own reading habits. 

Four children and a demanding job makes finding the time to read a challenge.  Extended periods of time to sit down and read for pleasure are few and far between. So, I usually have more than one book on the go at a time, typically one work of fiction and one non-fiction, currently – ‘The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle’ by Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami and ‘Black History for Every Day of the Year’ by David Olusoga. In my opinion, reading fiction requires time, time to immerse yourself in the plot, time to understand the characters and begin to see the world through their eyes and care about them and their story. The fiction I have enjoyed the most is the stories that I have read on holiday, when time is not at such a premium and there is an opportunity to immerse myself in a good book. 

Non-fiction however, is easier to dip into and read in smaller bite-sized pieces.  So, at the end of the working day, when the children are in bed, I read a chapter from whatever non-fiction book happens to be on my bedside table, but at the weekends and in the school holidays, I pick up a novel. There are also times when I’m simply too drained to tackle anything ‘worthy’ and on these occasions, when in the past I may simply have put on the TV or begun doom scrolling, I have learnt to turn to sporting biographies or children’s books. My enjoyment of Harry Potter is no secret, and I am impatiently waiting for the third instalment of Phillip Pullman’s ‘The Book of Dust’.   I have also given myself permission not to finish a book. Life is too short and there are too many amazing books waiting to be read to waste precious time reading something that you are not enjoying.  The younger me would have soldiered on.  I spent months carting Neel Mukherjee’s ‘The Lives of Others’ around and never managed to get beyond the first hundred pages - a harrowing description of the familicide of an Indian peasant no longer able to feed himself or his family - before finally throwing in the towel. 

More recently, despite having read and enjoyed ‘American Psycho’ I was far quicker to put aside Brett Easton Ellis’ ‘The Rules of Attraction’, an almost unreadable stream-of-consciousness college novel to which I have yet to return.  But not finishing a book doesn’t mean that you can’t go back to it later. Sometime after returning ‘The Lives of Others’ to my sadly ever-expanding ‘to read’ shelf - persuaded by recommendations from friends and critics - I returned to it in the holidays when I not only endured it but thoroughly enjoyed it.  On some occasions the book is wrong, but on others it is the timing and that was the case for Mukherjee’s brilliant novel. At the end of a long day, I simply didn’t have the emotional energy to read about starvation and suicide caused by another’s callous greed.

Having reflected on the way I read and realised there is no right or wrong way to read, I thought it might be interesting for the school to find out how members of our community read their own way and invited a few to speak in Wednesday morning’s assembly.

Senior Deputy Head (and former Head of English) Mrs Wyatt

I think a key aspect of reading your own way is to abandon any ‘rules’ that prevent you from reading. Personally, I’m a skipper. I think being prepared to skip or just scan over bits that don’t interest you is a key way of making reading more enjoyable. I’m prepared to risk the wrath and scorn of my colleagues by telling you that this is how I learned to love Thomas Hardy. His plots are terrific and deal with some extraordinary events and incredible characters - wives are sold off by drunk men, women’s reputations are ruined, embittered scholars spend their lives railing against a system that destroys them, but sometimes you have to be prepared to skip over some bits about the rolling hills or the farm machinery.

‘1984’ is one of the best books ever written, and I couldn’t recommend it to you more highly, but please do be prepared to skip most of chapter 9 which is about the main character, Winston Smith, reading a fictional political manifesto out loud to his girlfriend. Even she falls asleep in the middle of it. Don’t let it put you off. Skim read it and get to the great ending.

Even more radically, if you fancied reading ‘Ulysses’ by James Joyce, which is famously a difficult read, then rather than being like so many other people who give up halfway through, start with the final chapter. It’s a terrific piece of writing. It is a stream-of-consciousness monologue by the fabulous Molly Bloom where there are only 9 sentences in over 50 pages of writing. It gives a terrific effect of a great explosion of thought. You might then be inspired to find out why it is Molly who ends this book with her final word being ‘yes’ and read from the start.

There’s also an interesting link online where you can find out how long it would take you to read classic books. Hardy’s ‘Jude the Obscure’ will apparently take you 8h 14minutes and that’s without any skipping. So next time you find yourself in some horrible online abyss of mindless YouTube videos or beginning a new season of yet another TV series where ghastly contestants fight to be Alan Sugar’s business partner, then maybe read a classic book instead.

Head of School, Ray’an

As a scientist, my typical reading consists of long, complex extracts of medical research which, at times, can be an incredibly tall order to understand at the late hours of the night. So, as a means of relaxation, and conveniently timed with this year’s World Book Day, I started re-reading the Harry Potter series.

I flicked through the first few pages of The Philosopher’s Stone and almost instantly, I was back at 4 Privet Drive, in the cupboard under the stairs, ready to revisit Hogwarts, Diagon Alley and my favourite character, Hermione Granger. Slowly, but surely, I made my way through the Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban and the Goblet of Fire, and once again was enthralled by the mystery and thrill of JK Rowling’s creative genius.

But then, around halfway through book 5, it hit me. The excitement of turning the pages faded away, the font appeared smaller, and suddenly reading began to feel like a test of my endurance. So, I did what any person with zero patience would do and logged into Netflix and continued my journey through the Wizarding World on screen.

The dynamic visuals and intense soundtrack brought the pages to life and reignited my love for the series. After completing the ‘Deathly Hallows part 1’, it only felt right to return to the final book in the series to pick up on any subplots and details that were missed in the movies, bringing my marathon to a close. 

So, will I ever re-read the series in its entirety? Maybe, but this journey made me realise that the best way to experience a story is the way that works for you, so if you’re anything like me, it’s perfectly normal to alternate between the screen and the books, as long as you’re enjoying yourself along the way.

Senior Prefect, Charles

In my younger years, I always enjoyed reading Dr Seuss and Mr Men books. However, thankfully, I have now progressed from this and read many non-fiction books.  One way in which I read non-fiction books my own way is by dipping in and out of them. Currently, I’m reading ‘Prisoners of Geography’ by Tim Marshall.  A book which explores how geography shapes geo-politics, conflicts and power struggles.  It explains why geography limits leaders’ choices, affecting peacekeeping, war and economic development across the world.  This book is split into 10 isolated chapters, allowing me to skip chapters I’m not as interested in. Letting me read the chapters I’m most interested in, resulting in me being able to read more books than I would have been able to, if I had read every chapter. 

Although this may sound wrong to some of you, it certainly keeps me engaged and encourages me to read more.

Senior Prefect, Alex

This World Book Day, I have a confession to make. I started the Lord of the Rings trilogy, valiantly soldiering through the first book in about 8 months. 8 months you might think – yes it took a while. The rambling songs, otherworldly names and heavy world building bogged me down, reducing my reading speed to a snail’s pace.

And so, I began book two: The Two Towers. Another masterpiece of intricately woven descriptions, battles and ballads, with our great hero Frodo journeying across Middle Earth destined for Mordor. But weeks turned to months, and my motivation to read vanished over time. So, this is my confession: halfway through the book, I stopped – I couldn’t bring myself to read on.

But that is ok – it’s completely fine to not finish a book. You can read what you want, when you want, your very own way. I, for one, found another book that I quickly devoured and rediscovered my love for reading.

Senior Prefect, George

I have always enjoyed non-fiction storybooks, especially fantasy where following characters in another world can be a calming break from the world around us. However, as I have got older, I have found myself engrossed more in non-fiction books exploring the biological phenomenon all around us. One of these is called “Sapiens”, which delves into how the roles of culture, economics and technology have shaped our world and the evolution of mankind, as well as questioning their effects in the development of civilisation.

However, for this year’s World Book Day, I decided to dive back into the world of fantasy, which drove my early imagination and helped shape my childhood. I am currently re-reading a favourite of mine, “Battle Mage” by Peter Flannery. The story is set in a medieval-style land where demons arise from hell with armies of possessed and nobody can withstand the fear that pervades from them without the aid of a Battle Mage, who are born to take on these demons and sometimes have the aid of dragons.

Re-reading good stories has me constantly turning the pages to immerse myself in the narrative, finding new nuggets of information and can keep me entertained for hours at a time.

In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with re-reading some of our favourite books, as it helps us rediscover and enhance a passion that we have for reading and I would encourage many of you to do the same.

150 years ago, things would have been very different for a Warwick School pupil. Pupil’s personal reading choices would have been restricted by Victorian literary tastes and moral sentiments, accessing work from outside the carefully created literary cannon would have been almost impossible. Today we live in a world where reading has never been accessible, flexible or personal.  Almost every book ever written is instantly available on your device or e-reader.  Classics, graphic novels, poetry, plays, essays and articles – whatever you want whenever you want it - but as digital access to books has increased, fewer young people say they enjoy reading in their free time.

Research shows that those who read regularly perform better in school, have stronger empathy and experience less stress. It is vital that we encourage young people to make the most of their unprecedented opportunity to read their own way. Whether that is a thriller, manga, historical fiction or a sporting biography – it all counts.  Reading isn’t about ticking off a list of important books; it is about finding stories and ideas that authentically inspire you.  So please encourage your sons to pick up something they genuinely want to read. Not because they have to, but because they can. Push them to expand their world and improve their outcome – one page, one chapter, one book at a time.