BOOK characters came to life as children across Bolton took part in World Book Day.

Hordes of excited youngsters dressed as their favourite book characters to take part in a school day dedicated to reading.

Pupils from Sharples Primary School were set the task of finding unusual book characters to dress as.

Business manager at Sharples Primary Pauline Clarke said: "Everyone has gone to a lot of effort and all the students and staff have got involved.

"We've got costumes from all sides we've got superheroes, Frozen characters, dinosaurs, princesses, Brave characters we have even got a female Dracula which is my favourite.

"Reading is very important to us here at Sharples and because we don’t have a local library in the area anymore we want to promote it at every possible chance, so getting involved in days like this is very important to us."

At Moorlands Day Nursery youngsters turned into aliens, minions and even wild animals for the day to join the fun.

Administrator Andrea Settle said: "They have all made a really really good effort.

"It's really important to promote reading from a young age because it increases their vocabulary immensely and allows you to get messages through in a sensitive and non intrusive way, its a really good resource to use.

"Children brought their favourite book in with them and we will be having circle time later together for them to talk about their books."

Meanwhile junior pupils at Bolton School Girls' Division delved into the past for inspiration for their book characters with a suffragette dressed character; Anne Frank and characters from book To Kill a Mockingbird.

English co-ordinator Mary Worsely said: "We've had all sorts of activities going on throughout the day and we've got a whole array of characters.

"We've had a Willy Wonka drama performance and an assembly talk by one of the girls on the book To Kill a Mockingbird. The girls are also creating their own characters and drawing them in the style of Quentin Blake.

"It's great because it shows the children the richness and diversity of language and brings the characters on the page to life."

"The junior library is the most used with children borrowing and reading books and we make a huge emphasis on reading and hook them from the minute they come in.

"While they do read on Kindles and iPads their passion for reading hasn't dwindled in any respect, in fact I think while there is all this visual stimulation they still really enjoy having a printed page."