As World Book Day arrives in the county tomorrow, we look at its aims and benefits, plus Matilda the Musical gets a starring role...

The call to action to share a story lies at the heart of World Book Day - and generations of parents and children have reached for Roald Dahl’s captivating tales to do just that.

The national day on Thursday, March 7, when thousands of children will go to school dressed as their favourite story characters, encourages parents and carers to read and share stories with their children for just 10 minutes a day.

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Reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – eclipsing family circumstances, parents’ educational background and even income. According to the National Literacy Trust, if every child left primary school with the reading skills they need, the UK economy could increase by £30 billion by 2025.

As part of this year’s partnership between the Roald Dahl Story Company and World Book Day, children across the country will find Dahl’s famous young heroine, Matilda Wormwood, at the heart of the day’s celebrations as each of the 15 million book tokens given to every school child in the UK and Ireland is set to feature the literature-loving heroine.

And as part of the celebrations on the day, the Royal Shakespeare company’s cast of Matilda The Musical will present this year’s official World Book Day Bedtime Story.

At 7pm on Thursday, March 7 audiences around the world will be able to tune into the Matilda The Musical Facebook channel to watch an exclusive performance, including a reading from the book by Malinda Parris as the show’s librarian Mrs Phelps and a performance of one of the show’s iconic musical numbers Quiet, featuring Isobel Hubble, one of the four actresses who share the role of Matilda.

Matilda The Musical has now been seen by more than 9 million people worldwide and is the winner of more than 91 international awards, including 23 for Best Musical. Written by Dennis Kelly, with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin, it was inspired by Roald Dahl’s beloved book. Click here for the Facebook page.

THE DAY

Organisers of World Book Day want to create a ‘Christmas morning’ feeling around books and reading, encouraging children to use their imaginations and engage with the world of books in as creative a way as possible, and dressing up is one way to do that.

If your child is dressing up for the day at school send us your pictures at whatsoneditor@thekmgroup.co.uk or on Twitter @KMWhatsOn or @Kent_Online using #WorldBookDay

Children also receive a £1 book token from schools. According to figures, the book that one in four children ‘bought’ with their 2016 £1 book token was the first they had personally owned. Sharing stories together has long-lasting effects on a child’s future and can spark their imagination and help them become lifelong readers.

To find out more go online at at worldbookday.com where there are ideas, competitions and reading recommendations for all ages.