Schoolchildren took inspiration from their favourite book characters for their World Book Day fancy dress costumes.

Pupils from George Spicer Primary School, in Ladysmith Road, also hosted a book swap day in which they could exchange their books with each other.

In an action-packed day, pupils in Year 2 and 3 heard from author Keith Tilbury, who wrote The Wozard of IZ and Years 4, 5 and 6 took part in a workshop with writer Cath Howe, who wrote The Curse of The Highwayman and The Highwayman’s Revenge.

Headteacher Hilary Ballantine said: “We have celebrated world book day in the past few years but by having authors come in and holding a book swap showed how much the children enjoy reading.

“Reading has been an essential part of the curriculum; our results are very good and world book day is another way of celebrating that.”

“whether a child is picking up a book or playing a computer game; reading affects us every day and that is why we are putting a lot of time into World Book Day.”