AN 11-year-old has become a star on social media – by donning a dress for World Book Day.

Westhoughton youngster Nathan Bostock took David Walliams’ children’s novel The Boy in the Dress as his inspiration – donning an orange frock and wig.

The year six pupil at St Bartholomew’s C of E primary took his friends by surprise – and was shocked to receive attention from across the globe.

When his mum, 29-year-old Victoria Bostock, tweeted David Walliams with a picture of Nathan he retweeted it straight away.

The tweet has had 173 retweets and 681 favourites to date, and has reached people as far away as Australia.

Miss Bostock, of Bolton Road, said: “As it is his last year at the school and his last chance to dress up, we thought why not have a laugh, show off his personality and go out with a bang.

“With the school being as fantastic as it is, it went down a treat.

“Nathan wasn’t embarrassed at all, he is really confident. Although his friends didn’t recognise him.

“We were both amazed when the photograph went worldwide on Twitter. We were not expecting it to go so big - it gave him a boost before he left for school.”

Miss Bostock said she had been teasing her son by calling him "Natalie" and said she had bought him a speaker for his bedroom as a reward for his bold effort.

Nathan said: “It was a funny day. Nobody knew who I was — everybody was looking at me and didn’t recognise me.

“Everyone was very supportive though. It went with our school motto — fun and achieve, and it was loads of fun.

“It was my mum’s idea, but I thought it was pretty funny because I read the book and I really enjoyed it.”

Nathan’s not sure if he would wear a dress to school again, however. Next time he would like to come as another David Walliams character, Mr Stink.

He added that it would be good if David Walliams visited the school, a sentiment echoed by his headteacher Mark Johns.

Mr Johns said: “I think a lot of our other children would as well. Get him in the helicopter.”

On Nathan’s costume he said: “I just thought it was absolutely fantastic and it shows how comfortable he feels at school. We have a very supportive atmosphere.”

See more of Bolton's World Book Day pictures here.