The school was abuzz with colourful characters as pupils expressed their pleasure in reading by dressing as characters from the books on their shelves.

From well-loved favourites to modern classics, the breadth of imagination was hugely impressive and prompted delighted shrieks of recognition as children spotted each other across the playground.

Pre-Prep children enjoyed a day of story book-inspired activities, including marmalade-making and letter-writing, a scavenger hunt, and ‘smelling’ expeditions followed by ‘Great Smeller’ inventions.

Prep School children gave passionate presentations about their favourite books and characters. Many enjoyed a book-themed choir session with Mrs Dance, and the Library was an extra special launchpad for both discussions about what makes books and their characters stand out, and calm appreciation of the power of the written word.

In Art, Mrs MacNicol led the creation of collages of popular fictional characters using hand-prints for the younger children and book cover prints for Prep School pupils. The resulting colourful creations are now hanging outside the library.

The high – or low – point of the day was a rip-roaring Staff Panto directed by Mrs Thomas. Her cast of frustrated drama queens threw themselves into the spirit of a modern version of Cinderella, prompting howls of laughter from watching pupils.

The performance ended as the day in assembly had begun, with children enthusiastically singing the World Book Day song. Huge congratulations to everyone for making the day such a warm, inclusive and entertaining celebration of the joy of reading.