SLIDESHOW: World Book Day pictures as schools and nurseries celebrate pleasure of reading

From Harry Potter, Thomas the Tank Engine and Snow White to Batman, Captain America and The Hungry Caterpillar, youngsters donned their costumes to celebrate their favourite reads.

Schools and nurseries in Batley, Morley, Wakefield, Dewsbury, Mirfield and more had a fun day yesterday dressing up and taking part in activities throughout the day. Even the teachers and staff made a special effort.

World Book Day, now in its 19th year, is a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and, most importantly, a celebration of reading.

Thornhill Community Academy’s English teacher, Miss Holgate, said: “World Book Day just gives us all a chance to do something fun and creative and draw attention to the power of reading. It gets all the students interested and hopefully they will read one of the books that we are portraying in our costumes. It is also great opportunity to raise the profile of literacy across all subject areas and to highlight the importance of reading for pleasure.”