All smiles as kids go crazy for World Book Day

Like every year, hundreds of children from across our area went to school dressed as their favourite literary character.

There were Harry Potters in Hitchin, a Mad Hatter popped up in Letchworth, and Darth Vader brought the 'dark side' to Martins Wood Primary School in Stevenage.

Wilshere Dacre Junior Academy in Hitchin took a more unique approach, and decided to test their pupils by getting them to dress a potato as their favourite book character.

Their headteacher, Sarah Smith, said: "We decided to stop making the pupils dress up for World Book Day. It puts pressure on parents and can take away from what makes the event special.

"I think World Book Day is massively important and a great initiative. It promotes reading and we want all of our pupils to read for pleasure."

A number of students and staff at The Priory School, Hitchin also posed as their favourite characters, with generous used book donations from pupils and parents to help top up the school's library.

Some pupils also celebrated the release of their new anthology 'Darkness & Dystopia', which is a collection of grim and dark short stories written by the students themselves.

Richard Mayers, lead practitioner of media and computing at the Priory who helped oversee the anthology, commented: "We are really proud of our students, I don't think it has sunk in for some of them!"

Wilshere Dacre Junior Academy, Hitchin got pupils to dress up potatoes. Picture: Kirsty Turner (Image: Archant)

At Weston Nursery and Primary School, the children became their very own authors for the day - crafting their own magical and mythical creatures.

The annual event, which began in 1995, celebrates reading and is marked in more than 100 countries across the globe.