How to use your World Book Day tokens (2026)
Thanks to its many supporting partners, World Book Day will be distributing millions of £1 tokens across the UK and Ireland.
Registration for paper tokens is now closed for 2026 but digital tokens are available.
Primary schools are automatically mailed, there is no need to register unless you have previously opted out of World Book Day mailings. Secondary schools will need to register to participate
Once you have your token you can take it into your local bookshop or supermarket and either swap it for one of the twelve exclusive books written especially for World Book Day, or use it to get £1 off any full price book worth at least £2.99 or more. If you are using the digital token, either show it to booksellers on your phone or tablet screen or print it at home. Please do check with your local bookseller which method(s) they are accepting.
If you're based in Wales, you're in luck, there are an additional two books available and if you're in Ireland there's an extra book for you too OR you can use it to get 1.50 Euros off any book worth at least 3.99 Euros.
And the £1 books are also available in braille, large print and audio via Guide Dogs and RNIB.
Currently the tokens cannot be used online but parents/ guardians can use the £1 token when picking up essential shopping in chains that are open, such as major supermarkets and WHSmith. The World Book Day £1 books are a gift from booksellers, who fully fund the cost of the £1 book token redemptions. Bookshops are offering new ways to make the £1 books available, and bookshops will welcome families when they open again (the tokens will be honoured beyond 23 March – while stocks last).
The WBD tokens can be used at most large bookshop chains such as WHSmith and Waterstones plus all major supermarkets including Sainsbury's, Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, Marks and Spencer and hundreds of independent bookshops. But they're not accepted at all outlets, so it might be worth ringing ahead and checking to save you a wasted journey. There's a helpful list of participating retailers (including supermarkets) here. Bookshops will have different measures in place to make the £1 books available.
Contact your local bookseller for information about their opening times and ways to redeem the token before you visit.
World Book Day History
Run by the World Book Day charity, this is a much-loved annual event, with a mission of bringing children together to celebrate reading.
World Book Day was originally created by UNESCO and first celebrated in April 1995. The UK isn't the only country which celebrates World Book Day! It is celebrated all over the world on 23rd April but in the UK it always runs on the first Thursday in March. For more details on which countries celebrate World Book Day, check out the UNESCO website https://en.unesco.org/commemor....
So what are you waiting for? Make sure you sign up for a resource pack and don't forget to come back and review the World Book Day book on https://toppsta.com!
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