WORLD Book Day returned for 2022 with children across the country dressing up as their favourite literary characters.

From Harry Potter and Where’s Wally to The Tiger Who Came For Tea, the walk to school looked a little different last Thursday morning.

The charity event is held annually in the UK and Ireland on the first Thursday of March.

And whether you dedicate weeks creating your child’s costume or face a last-minute panic before 9am every time, World Book Day is a day of magic and fun for many.

The event was created to promote reading from a young age with organisers claiming it is “the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational background or their income”.

Organisers said: “Our mission is to promote reading for pleasure, offering every child and young person the opportunity to have a book of their own.

“ We want to see more children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, with a life-long habit of reading for pleasure and the improved life chances this brings them.”

This year marks the event’s 25th anniversary – with the message for children ‘you are a reader’.

Royal Mail unveiled special postboxes celebrating authors and illustrators to mark the occasion which feature lines from books by Greg James and Chris Smith, Nadiya Hussain, Dara McAnulty and Martin Waddell, and with artwork from the likes of Harry Potter cover illustrator Jonny Duddle.

Royal Mail also marked the 25th anniversary with a special postmark.

Here, we look back in our archives at all of the wonderfully creative ways Tynedale’s youngest have celebrated the day of reading and writing in schools.

Do you spot anybody you know in our gallery?