The nine authors include the creator of Paddington Bear, Michael Bond; the writer behind Hollywood successes Stardust and Beowulf, bestselling author Neil Gaiman; the creator of the hugely successful CHERUB series, Robert Muchamore; and Jill Marshall, the author behind the sensational Spylet Jane Blonde.
Over 13 million school children will receive a World Book Day £1 Book Token which can be exchanged for a World Book Day £1 Book, throughout March, from over 3,000 participating bookshops and book retailers across the UK and Republic of Ireland. The £1 Token can also be put towards any book or audio book costing £2.99 or more.
The World Book Day £1 Book Token is sponsored by National Book Tokens and redemptions are funded by bookshops across the country.
Each World Book Day £1 Book is suitable for a different age range, from pre-school to 11+ years, so every child can enjoy at least one of the unique books being produced to celebrate this special day.
The nine World Book Day £1 Books are:
Paddington Rules the Waves by Michael Bond, Illustrated by R. W. Alley (2+ years)
An new counting picture book from the much loved author Michael Bond. Paddington Bear takes his bucket and spade to the beach but nothing goes quite according to plan, especially when, one by one, he is joined by ten hungry seagulls. Will Paddington's lunchtime snack be safe?
Princess Poppy: The Fancy Dress Party by Janey Louise Jones (3+ years)
Poppy is desperate to win the prize for the best costumer at Madame Angelwing’s annual Honeypot Hill fancy dress party. Will her cousin, Saffron make her the best costume? Will she be crowned a fancy dress princess? Find out in this special adventure with Poppy and her friends.
Magic Kitten: A Very Special Friend by Sue Bentley (6 + years)
Maddy is feeling really lonely now that her friends have gone away for the holidays and she is stuck at home with her broken leg in plaster. But then fluffy black and white kitten Flame magically appears and soon some very special friends come into both their lives. This book includes a special World Book Day version of the hidden magic words competition in all the Magic Kitten series. Find a secret message for Flame from his own world to win a special Magic Kitten prize from the publishers.
Adventure According to Humphrey by Betty G Birney (6+ years)
Ahoy, maties! Humphrey sets sail for World Book Day on his biggest adventure yet, journeying further than ever from his home as the classroom pet of Room 26. Helping his classmates Gaily, Richie and Kirk, Humphrey makes an unsqueakabley dangerous (and thrilling) voyage and comes face-to-face with a pirate.
Where's Wally? by author and illustrator Martin Handford (7+ years)
The hunt for Wally is on in this special mini-edition of the original eye-boggling Wally classic. Wally, along with his friends, is fiendishly hidden in every intricately-detailed scene. Hours of fun and games await in this miniature edition of the activity book that kick-started a worldwide phenomenon.
Jane Blonde: The Perfect Spylet by Jill Marshall (7 + years)
Jane Blonde is children's books favourite spylet, and this special World Book Day adventure is her most dangerous and exciting yet. When Janey is given access to a secret shop for spies, she's in spylet-heaven! But with some particularly nasty little spylets on the loose, having the latest spy-gear has never been more important for our heroine.
Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey (Ages 7- 12)
George and Harold are up to their old tricks again. Last time they hypnotized Principal Krupp into believing he was Captain Underpants. This time, they accidentally bring to life an army of carnivorous toilets and their evil boss, the tyrannical Turbo Toilet 2000. Can anyone save the school from the terrifying attack of the Talking Toilets? This looks like a job for Captain Underpants!
Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman (10+ years)
An exciting Viking adventure from multi-award-winning author Neil Gaiman where twelve-year-old Odd has to reclaim Thor's hammer, outwit the evil Frost Giants, who have conquered the city of the gods, Asgard, and release the Nordic gods trapped as animals in the forest before he runs out of time.
CHERUB: Dark Sun by Robert Muchamore (11+ years)
It's the last day of term. Three lads are clearing out their lockers, organising a sleepover and hatching a plan to splatter a girl with rancid coleslaw.
But things aren't what they seem.
One boy's father is a member of Dark Sun, a criminal organisation dealing in nuclear weapons technology. Another is a CHERUB agent, working for the British Government, sent to stop him.
The World Book Day £1 Books are also available in Braille. This year as in the previous decade, The Joseph Clarke School for the Visually Impaired, in London, has received sponsorship from 'Vision Charity' to produce free copies of the books in Braille. For further details contact Stephanie Goodman on 020 8523 4833.
- Ends -
For more information about World Book Day please contact:
Kate Wright Morris or Philip Abraham
at Colman Getty
Email: kate@colmangetty.co.uk / philip@colmangetty.co.uk
Tel: 020 7631 2666
Fax: 020 7631 2699
Notes to Editors
- World Book Day on Thursday March 6 2008 is the biggest annual celebration of books and reading in the UK.
- The World Book Day tradition began in Catalonia, Spain, where people celebrate St George's Day by giving a book and a rose to loved ones (St George is also the patron saint of Catalonia).
- £1 World Book Day Book Tokens are given to all primary school children, and offered to secondary schools and pre-school organisations (while stocks last). Pre-school organisations and secondary schools are asked to register online at www.worldbookday.com. Over the past decade, over 130 million £1 World Book Day Book Tokens have been distributed to schools.
- The £1 World Book Day Book Token can be redeemed between 3 March and 30 March (minimum redemption £2.99, one transaction per token, can be put towards any book or audio book of the purchaser's choice). In the Republic of Ireland, the World Book Day Token will be to the value of €1.50 and the minimum redemption will be €3.99.
- Nine specially produced World Book Day £1 books are published for World Book Day. Further details available at www.worldbookday.com. Eight million £1 books have been published since World Book Day began.
- National Book Tokens has been the principle sponsor of World Book Day for eight years.
- National Book Tokens are the only book vouchers to be sold and exchanged in over 3,000 bookshops across the country. This includes all the major chains such as Blackwell's, Books etc, Borders, British Bookshops, Waterstones and W H Smith, as well as local independents.
- Over £30 million worth of National Book Tokens are sold every year.
- National Book Tokens is committed to promoting literacy and the enjoyment of reading through its work with World Book Day.
- Book Aid International (BAI) is the nominated charity for funds raised on World Book Day. BAI believes in people's potential for self-development through education, the escape route from poverty. BAI supports literacy, education, training and publishing in the developing world, through relationships with partner organisations which include libraries, schools, hospitals and refugee camps. BAI provides over half a million books and journals each year to its partner organisations, and focuses most of its resources on sub-Saharan Africa where half the people live on less than a dollar a day.
- More information about World Book Day is also available from the WBD web site www.worldbookday.com sponsored by The Booksellers Association of the UK and Ireland.
- For the third year, a number of Quick Reads books will be published on World Book Day. Aimed at the 13 million adults who have lost the reading habit or have difficulty reading, 2008's Quick Reads will include books by Josephine Cox and Gordon Ramsey. More information on www.quickreads.org.uk
- Spokespeople for the World Book Day campaign and authors are available for interview through Colman Getty.
- World Book Day logos, photographs and book visuals - including the specially commissioned World Book Day 2008 illustrations by Emily Gravett - are available from Colman Getty.
