Among them were children at Wetherby Day Nursery, who brought in a copy of their favourite book and dressed up as one of the characters, enjoying telling their friends about their choices.

Meanwhile, children and teachers at Primrose Lane Primary School in Boston Spa also dressed up as their favourite characters.

Deputy headteacher Gill Wales said: "Children and staff made a special effort to get into role. Together, they made a wonderful collection of their favourite characters from books including classics such as Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland to more contemporary books like Winnie the Witch and Harry Potter.

"The dressing up day was part of our curriculum focus week on books, designed to encourage enjoyment for books and reading. Some of the activities involved the children in writing book and character reviews, story writing workshops and designing bookmarks.

"Days like this really bring the characters alive for the children and create an exciting stimulus, especially for more reluctant writers."

As part of the activities pupils held a Scholastic Book Fair to raise money for new books to replenish library stocks. The school has now reorganised and updated its guided reading books, offering a wide variety of new books to its children. A week of book-related activities culminated in a special parents' assembly, led by Year 5.