The £1 books revealed for World Book Day 2023

Posted on Friday, September 9, 2022
Category: News

The £1 books revealed for World Book Day 2023

World Book Day's £1 books for World Book Day 2023, which takes place on 2nd March, includes 15 £1/€1.50 book titles, including books in Irish and Welsh.


World Book Day 2023 Introduction

Lenny Henry, L.D Lapinski, Adam Kay and AM Dassu have joined the line-up of £1 World Book Day 2023 authors and illustrators encouraging children and families to read.



Reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child's future success - more than their family circumstances, their parents' educational background or their income. These are some of the activities that will encourage children to read for pleasure, and which World Book Day is supporting: 


- Being read to regularly
- Access to books at home
- The ability for children to choose what they want to read
- Having trusted adults and peers sharing and recommending books
- The reading experience being enjoyable
- Designated time to read


During its 25th birthday in 2022, booksellers and publishers gifted 2,000,000 £1/€1.50 books through World Book Day and the charity's digital events reached more than 500,000 children. 


Author L.D Lapinski said, "The WBD token is like a ticket to anywhere, with so many possibilities... and for some children, it may be the first solo literary journey they make.  Children having the freedom to choose what they want to read, and enjoying their reading experiences, is such an important step in falling in love with stories."


World Book Day's 2023 £1/€1.50 books


Beginning



Lifesize Creepy Crawlies by Sophy Henn  (Red Shed, Farshore)
Come on an interactive non-fiction adventure to discover how YOU measure up against some of the world's most incredible lifesize creepy crawlies - from the teeny tiny to the absolutely gigantic! 


Billy's Bravery by Tom Percival (Bloomsbury Children's Books)
Billy absolutely LOVES Nature Girl. She's his favourite superhero EVER! He has read all the books, seen all the cartoons, and he's even got his own Nature Girl costume! So when World Book Day comes round, Billy knows exactly who he wants to dress up as.  Then Billy hears a nasty voice in his head. What if his friends make fun of him? Can Billy be as brave as Nature Girl?  The perfect springboard for talking about anxiety with little ones.  


Bedtime for the Burpee Bears, by Joe Wicks co-written with Vivian French, illus Paul Howard  (HarperCollins Children's Books)
The Burpee Bears love to have fun - and that includes bedtime! From trying to brush their teeth without squirting toothpaste everywhere, to putting on their pyjamas the right way round, there's certainly a lot to keep everyone busy. But the best part of all is settling down together for quiet time.


Early


You Choose Your Adventure by Pippa Goodhart, illus Nick Sharratt (Puffin / Penguin Random House Children's Books)
Welcome to your adventure!   What will you wear?   Where will you go?    Who would you like to meet on the way?   Go on . . . YOU CHOOSE!   Discover a different story every time with this magical storytelling toolkit - let your imagination run wild!


Marvel Spider-Man the Amazing Pocket Guide, by Catherine Saunders  (DK)
Become an expert on all things Spider-Man with this bitesize pocket guide!  Discover everything you ever needed to know about Spider-Man and the Spider-Verse!


Dave Pigeon: Bookshop Mayhem, by Swapna Haddow, illustrated by Sheena Dempsey (Faber)
Dave Pigeon and his trusty sidekick, Skipper, are on the hunt for biscuits, as per usual. Biscuits and good stories.  Where better to go than a bookshop? Surely there'll be a healthy supply of both... Only, pigeons aren't exactly welcome in bookshops.  A laugh-out-loud story featuring a much-loved character, Dave Pigeon.


Fluent



The Boy with Wings: Attack of the Rampaging Robot by Lenny Henry, illus Keenon Ferrell (Macmillan Children's Books)
An Ordinary Kid on an Extraordinary Adventure - Tunde Wilkinson is an ordinary kid. He has awesome friends, sometimes embarrassing parents and needs to be careful his wings don't get in the way on the football pitch.
Wait...wings?  Oh yeah, Tunde is also a secret superhero...


Dragon Realm Adventure, by Katie & Kevin Tsang   (Simon & Schuster Children's Books)
12-year-old Billy Chan and his friends each share a bond with a dragon. When new dragons fall from the sky into the Human Realm, the group join forces to reunite them with their lost egg. But the Dragon Realm is filled with dangerous magical creatures and threats lurking round every corner. 


Kay's Brilliant Brains by Adam Kay, illus Henry Paker (Puffin / Penguin Random House Children's Books)
Containing 4,523,825 facts (this is a guess), Kay's Brilliant Brains is written and illustrated by the record-breaking Adam Kay and Henry Parker. It's a hilarious celebration of ten of the world's most ingenious geniuses and all that their brilliant brains achieved.


Strangeworlds Travel Agency: Adventure in the Floating Mountains, by L. D Lapinski (Hachette Children's Group)
It is the once-every-century Cloud-Wish Festival in the magical world of Strofadia, and Flick and Jonathan have travelled there from the Strangeworlds Travel Agency via suitcase to be a part of it.  At the end of the Cloud-Wish festival, the Cloud Dragon will appear to grant the wishes from the people of Strofadia - wishes it has been guarding for the last one hundred years.


Independent



Boot It! by A. M. Dassu  (Old Barn Books)
Sami and Ali dream of playing for the school football team. They practise in the park every day and work hard on their skills.  But acing the trials is the last of the boys' worries when they're made to feel they don't belong on the team because of the colour of their skin.  A powerful story of friendship and booting out racism.


Being An Ally: Real Talk About Showing Up, Screwing Up, and Trying Again, edited by Sharkirah Bourne and Dana Alison Levy   (DK)
This book is for everyone. Because we can all be allies.  As an ally, you use your power - no matter how big or small - to support others. You learn, and try, and mess up and try harder. In this collection of true stories, YA authors get real about being an ally, needing an ally and showing up for friends and strangers. 



Wales


Cyw title TBC, by Anni Llŷn published by Y Lolfa
Llyfr arall yn y gyfres Stori Cyw. Llyfr byr, syml, llawn lliw, am Cyw a'i ffrindiau.
Another title in the popular 'Cyw' series. A colourful book with a short, simple text about Cyw and her friends.


Ireland


Hazel Tree Farm: One Stormy Night by Alma Jordan, illus Margaret Suggs (The O'Brien Press)
It's the beginning of a new year on Hazel Tree Farm, and with it comes a burst of new life.  Peter helps Dad to bring baby lambs into the world, while his sister Kate falls in love with next door's fluffy chicks. But something is wrong with sheepdog Peg, and one stormy night, she runs away. 


Rita agus an Dragún (Irish language title), by Máire Zepf, illustrated by Mr Ando (Andrew Whitson) (An tSnáthaid Mhór)
Rita is a little girl with big ideas. When she becomes cross, she imagines she has a ferocious angry dragon who would make the world shudder. But the hot fire of anger can be tamed, and Rita knows how.


Links:  World Book Day