St Paul’s CE Primary School celebrates World Book Day 2026

World Book Day, March 5, is an annual celebration of authors, illustrators, books, and the joy of reading.

St Paul’s theme was the ‘Wonderful World of Words’, with children demonstrating a word of choice displayed on their costumes.

Mrs Emma Hargreaves, the school’s assistant headteacher and English lead, told The Bolton News: “We had a special parade today, celebrating the wonderful words’ theme.

“The children dressed up as a specific word to help bring vocabulary to life.

“They researched their word, created a costume, and then paraded, promoting literacy and a love of words.”

Year One (Image: NQ)

Mrs Hargreaves explained that the theme allowed the children to explore words without the financial pressure of having to go out and buy a costume.

“It brings out the creativity in our children, and we find that they really engage with it.

“It turns vocabulary into a visual and fun event.”

Year Six (Image: NQ)

Mrs Hargreaves added that this year World Book Day falls within the National Year of Reading 2026, a UK-wide campaign designed to inspire more people to make reading a regular part of their lives.

“It’s all about encouraging a love of reading and reading for pleasure, something that we promote throughout the year with our reading ambassadors, reading café, and reading buddies.

“It builds that love of words, books, and reading for our children.”

The day began with the school gathering in the hall, where pupils showed off their word choices to friends and teachers.

Nursery and the ‘Little Saints’ (Image: NQ)

Each year group took to the stage to parade their words and applaud one another’s hard work.

Even the teachers had the chance to show off, much to the amusement of the children.

St Paul’s staff (Image: NQ)

The Bolton News then went to say hello to each year group, from nursery and the ‘Little Saints’ right up to Year Six.

Along the way, we met Year Three pupil, Precious, who had chosen the word ‘journalist’.

Precious gave us a special St Paul’s report on their World Book Day as she led us around the school.

With bright sunshine overhead, the children of St Paul’s celebrated the joy of wonderful words.