World Book Day reveals 2025 £1 books to encourage more children to ‘read their way’

Ahead of World Book Day’s annual celebration to encourage reading for pleasure on 6 March 2025, the charity has revealed the 15 £1/€1.50 books that children will be able to choose for free, in exchange for their £1 token.

Children were involved in selecting the titles, putting World Book Day’s commitment to children Reading Their Way at the heart of its work. There are an exciting range of £1 books for 2025, appealing to a whole range of readers, from beginners to teens, for all to enjoy reading for fun.

At the core of the charity’s work to change lives through reading is the opportunity for all children to have a book of their own. Almost 1 million children in the UK don’t own a book, according to National Literacy Trust research, which rises to one in 8 for children eligible for free school meals (FSM). A quarter of children receiving FSM said that the book they ‘bought’ with their World Book Day token was the first book of their own.

The £1 book line-up includes short stories from firm family favourites Bluey and Paddington Bear for beginning and early reading abilities, as well as a search-and-find story from Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, and a selection of poems for every occasion from the 2022-2024 Children’s Laureate Joesph Coelho.

For more fluent and independent readers, Benjamin Dean captivates young adults with a standalone thriller, while Tom Palmer scores with ‘The Soccer Diaries: Rocky Takes the Lead’. Books featuring the beloved and globally renowned brands Pokémon and the LEGO® Group also feature in this year’s selection for children across the UK and Ireland to enjoy.

Supported by long-term sponsor, National Book Tokens, and working alongside publishers and booksellers, World Book Day will build on its work to improve access to books and encouraging everyone to give children the choice – and a chance – to enjoy reading.

Cassie Chadderton, CEO of World Book Day, said: “We’re encouraging children to Read Their Way, choosing what and how they read for themselves. When children have the freedom to explore books on their own terms, many more will benefit from the well-being, educational and other benefits that reading for pleasure brings.”

World Book Day 2025 author, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, added: “My World Book Day copy of STEALER OF SOULS by Dianne Wynne Jones still has pride of place on my favourites shelf. I remember the heady feeling of choosing it, handing over a token that came direct to me. This sense of ownership over stories is something that can’t be underestimated for children – the impact of choice, a book written specifically for the purposes of their enjoyment and selection.

To be a World Book Day author feels like a full circle moment, and a fantastic opportunity to enthuse the readers who most need books, exactly because they may not feel they are for them. I’m delighted to be a part of World Book Day – this time as an author – and support the charity’s cause in helping grow children’s imaginations and horizons, as well as their bookshelves.”

World Book Day’s Impact Report 2024 reveals how World Book Day influences the reading lives, and life chances, of children across the UK.  According to the report, one in five children feel judged for what they read, so World Book Day both enables and empowers children and young people to experience reading on their own terms, and as a hobby.

Reading for pleasure continues to be the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than family circumstances, parents’ educational background or their income. Last year World Book Day made sure 104,400 £1 books got directly to children in areas of high deprivation and low literacy across the UK, and over 2 million £1 books were gifted to children by booksellers and publishers across the country.

“One of the children…said that she didn’t have any books of her own at home but has got a World Book Day book now.”

World Book Day’s 2025 £1 /€1.50 books include:

Beginning

– The Magic Balloon by Carl Anka, illustrated by Amanda Quartey, published by DK Children’s, in collaboration with Woke Babies

– Bluey’s Little Book, published by Ladybird

– Who’s in Acorn Wood? by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler, published by Macmillan Children’s Books

– Barbara’s Very Useful Guide to Moods by Nadia Shireen, published by Puffin

Early

-The Adventures of Paddington: Farm Escape! published by HarperCollins Children’s Books

– Pokémon: The Epic Pocket Guide by Pokémon, published by Farshore

– All Poems Aloud by Joseph Coelho, illustrated by Daniel Gray-Barnett, published by Quarto (Wide Eyed Editions)

– Fox & Son Tailers by Paddy Donnelly, published by the O’Brien Press

Fluent

– LEGO® Our Amazing Universe by Jennifer Swanson and Arwen Hubbard, illustrated by Simon Pickard, published by Dorling Kindersley

– The Soccer Diaries: Rocky Takes the Lead by Tom Palmer, published by Rebellion Publishing

– The Fart that Broke World Book Day, by Stephen Mangan, illustrated by Anita Mangan, published by Scholastic

– The Wolf Trials by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, illustrated by Manuel Šumberac, published by Hachette Children’s Group

Independent: This Story is a Lie by Benjamin Dean, published by Simon & Schuster

Ireland: Ag Buzzáil sa Ghairdín by Áine Ní Ghlinn, published by An tSnáthaid Mhór

Wales: ‘Gwyrdd ein Byd by Duncan Brown, illustrated by Helen Flook, published by RILY