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World Book Day reaches young readers across Ireland with the joy of reading for fun

Two young girls are sitting on chairs on a patch of grass and they are both holding books. The girls are pointing at each others books and smiling. One child is wearing a purple and grey outfit and the other is wearing a black and pink outfit.

PRESS RELEASE

Thursday 2nd March 2023

  • 14 World Book Day titles available in participating retailers in exchange for World Book Day 2023 token
  • 14,000 books delivered to charities across Ireland by An Post for free
  • All 14 World Book Day titles available in Braille, audio and digital formats through NCBI Library Services and Bookshare Ireland

A thrilling Irish-language story of one girl and her dragon, a stormy night on Hazel Tree Farm and a new bookshop adventure with the ever-popular Dave Pigeon – these are just some of the fourteen titles available to young readers this World Book Day, free in exchange for their World Book Day token.

The annual celebration of books and reading has teamed up with Children’s Books Ireland, Foras na Gaeilge and An Post in a joint effort to give every child access to brilliant stories. To mark the day, live school events with the Irish World Book Day authors and illustrators will be taking place in Windmill Lane, Dublin 2, with thousands of students tuning in nationwide via a livestream thanks to the support of Creative Ireland, Dublin City Council and Windmill Lane Studios.

Thanks to support from National Council for the Blind of Ireland, all Irish World Book Day €1.50/£1 titles are now available in Braille, audio and digital formats, ensuring that children with vision impairments and reading difficulties can join the celebrations along with their peers.

World Book Day 2023 titles

Irish titles for World Book Day 2023 


  • Rita agus an DragĂșn, scriĂłfa ag MĂĄire Zepf agus maisithe ag Mr. Ando (An tSnathĂĄid MhĂłr)
  • Hazel Tree Farm: One Stormy Night, written by Alma Jordan and illustrated by Margaret Anne Suggs

For beginners 


  • Billy’s Bravery, written and illustrated by Tom Percival (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
  • Bedtime for the Burpee Bears, written by Joe Wicks and illustrated by Paul Howard (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
  • Lifesize Creepy Crawlies, written and illustrated by Sophy Henn (Red Shed, Farshore)

For early readers 


  • You Choose Your Adventure by Pippa Goodhard and Nick Sharratt (Puffin, Penguin Random House Children’s)
  • Dave Pigeon: Bookshop Mayhem, written by Swapna Haddow and illustrated by Sheena Dempsey (Faber)
  • Marvel SpiderMan: The Amazing Pocket Guide, by Catherine Saunders (DK)
  • The Boy With Wings: Attack of the Rampaging Robot, written by Lenny Henry and illustrated by Keenon Ferrell (Macmillan Children’s Books)
  • A Dragon Realm Adventure by Katie and Kevin Tsang (Simon & Schuster Children’s Books)

For fluent readers 


  • The Strangeworlds Travel Agency: Adventure in the Floating Mountains, by L.D Lapinski (Hachette Children’s Group)
  • Kay’s Brilliant Brains, written by Adam Kay and illustrated by Henry Paker (Puffin, Penguin Random House Children’s)

For independent readers 


  • Boot It!, written by A.M Dassu and illustrated by Zainab ‘Daby’ Faidhi (Old Barn Books)
  • Being an Ally: Real Talk About Showing Up, Screwing Up, and Trying Again, co-edited by Shakirah Bourne (she/her) and Dana Alison Leavy (she/her) (DK)

World Book Day works closely with partners including booksellers across Ireland and the UK, over 35 publishers, Children’s Books Ireland, Foras na Gaeilge, BookTrust, National Literacy Trust, Publishers Association, Booksellers Association and Libraries Connected.

Together, they aim to improve access and gift books to more isolated communities through a wide-reaching book-gifting programme.

An Post will cover the cost of delivering 14,000 World Book Day books to children in Irish hospitals, direct provision centres, homelessness services and Travelling communities, reaching young readers in time for World Book Day.

Debbie Byrne, Managing Director, An Post Retail, said: ‘At An Post we believe in the power of words and reading to change lives and our goal is to create an Ireland where everyone from every walk of life can improve their reading and writing skills. That is why today to celebrate World Book Day, we’re delighted to be working with Children’s Books Ireland to deliver over 14,000 books for free to children across the country, because no matter what their circumstances, every child in Ireland deserves the chance to fulfil their potential.’

Elaina Ryan, CEO, Children’s Books Ireland, said: ‘World Book Day’s mission to change lives through a love of books and reading couldn’t align more closely with our own here at Children’s Books Ireland. We want to see an Ireland in which every child is a reader, where every young person can experience the life-changing benefits that reading for fun can bring. We’re delighted to work with such brilliant partners to bring forward that vision this World Book Day, and can’t wait to see which of the fantastic World Book Day titles young readers in Ireland choose.’

Cassie Chadderton, CEO, World Book Day added: ‘World Book Day exists to encourage more children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to benefit from a life-long habit of reading for pleasure; it’s positive impact cannot be underestimated. We’re delighted that even more of World Book Day’s resources are available in the Irish language this year, thanks to our partners at Children’s Books Ireland and Foras na Gaeilge. We want all children, families, schools and communities to feel welcome to celebrate the joy of reading, in ways that work for them.’

Seán Ó Coinn, CEO, Foras na Gaeilge said: ‘Reading is an essential component in the process of re-establishing and normalising the use of minoritised languages in society. Foras na Gaeilge’s partnership for the second year with World Book Day is an excellent way for us to bring our wide range of Irish-language books to a wider readership in Ireland and internationally, in a way that allows us to showcase the best in Irish writing and, we hope, change lives through reading.’

For more information on World Book Day titles, events and resources, visit worldbookday.com.

To access World Book Day titles through the NCBI Library Access Services, contact library@ncbi.ie. 

ENDS