YOUNGSTERS pledged to make reading at home a priority during a bumper book day.

Pupils at St John’s CofE Primary School, in Wellington, began World Book Day with a colourful assembly introducing a book fair and sponsored reading event.

The fair saw the children getting lost in a variety of books from fiction to factual, activity books to sticker books and after a good look around, they each made wish lists of their favourites.

World Book Day, which took place on March 2, also saw the launch of the school’s week-long sponsored read, with pupils pledging to read every day at home.

As well as helping with literacy, the events are raising funds to provide new books for the school, in Priory, Wellington.

The school’s literacy subject leader, Linda Roberts, said: “Children and staff enjoyed sharing The Day the Crayons Quit at the start of the day. This was then followed up with reading, writing and art activities in class.

“We want to promote the importance of reading for pleasure and all the benefits it can bring.”

Jamie Jones, an independent distributer of Usborne children’s books who helped organise the events, said: “It was fantastic to see the children so excited about the books.

"They were really enthusiastic about starting the sponsored read, so hopefully lots of money will be raised for new books for the school.”