Hundreds of kids celebrated World Book Day by dressing up as their favourite story characters.

A series of events to encourage the love of reading took place last Thursday across schools, libraries and other venues in Newham and Tower Hamlets.

At Stratford Picture House children crammed into the Salway Road cinema to watch The Biggest Book Show On Earth, streamed live from the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the Southbank, where authors were reading their work.

At the Idea Store in Chrisp Street in Poplar author Jaylen Grace dropped in to entertain youngsters with readings from her book Omzak The Space Cat Warrior.

At Keir Hardie Primary School in Canning Town children and staff alike

dressed up as their favourite book characters. In the different classes children shared their favourite stories, discovered ‘new’ authors, wrote book reviews and wrote stories themselves. An assembly was also held with prizes for the best dressed characters.