Coehlo, Donaldson and Dean on World Book Day 2025 £1 list

World Book Day has announced its list of 15 books, written by the likes of Joseph Coehlo, Stephen Mangan, Julia Donaldson and Benjamin Dean, to be made available for free with a £1/€1.50 book token on World Book Day 2025 (6th March 2025).

The line-up includes short stories from brands 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 Joseph Coelho. Other brands included in the list include the LEGO Group and Pokémon.

For more fluent and independent readers, Benjamin Dean’s stand-alone thriller This Story Is a Lie (Simon & Schuster) makes the list, alongside Tom Palmer’s The Soccer Diaries: Rocky Takes the Lead (Rebellion Publishing) and The Wolf Trials by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, illustrated by Manuel Šumberac (Hachette Children’s Group).

The full list of £1/€1.50 books chosen for 2025 are in the "Beginning" category: The Magic Balloon by Carl Anka, illustrated by Amanda Quartey, published by DK Children’s, in collaboration with Woke Babies; Bluey’s Little Book (Ladybird); Who’s in Acorn Wood? by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler (Macmillan Children’s Books) and Barbara’s Very Useful Guide to Moods by Nadia Shireen (Puffin).

In the “Early” category are: The Adventures of Paddington: Farm Escape! (HarperCollins Children’s Books); Pokémon: The Epic Pocket Guide (Farshore); All Poems Aloud by Joseph Coelho, illustrated by Daniel Gray-Barnett (Quarto/Wide Eyed Editions) and Fox & Son Tailers by Paddy Donnelly, published by the O’Brien Press.

Making up the “Fluent” category are LEGO: Our Amazing Universe by Jennifer Swanson and Arwen Hubbard, illustrated by Simon Pickard (DK); To The Soccer Diaries: Rocky Takes the Lead by Tom Palmer (Rebellion Publishing); The Fart that Broke World Book Day by Stephen Mangan, illustrated by Anita Mangan (Scholastic) and The Wolf Trials by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, illustrated by Manuel Šumberac (Hachette Children’s Group).

“Independent” readers can read This Story Is a Lie by Benjamin Dean (Simon & Schuster), while Ireland is represented with Ag Buzzáil sa Ghairdín by Áine Ní Ghlinn (An tSnáthaid Mhór). This year’s Wales pick is Gwyrdd ein Byd by Duncan Brown, illustrated by Helen Flook, published by RILY.

Cassie Chadderton, chief executive of World Book Day, said: “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.”

Millwood Hargrave commented: “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 directly 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.”