PUPILS all over Swindon had a brrr-illiant World Book Day yesterday.

Hundreds of schoolchildren braved the cold conditions and dressed up in colourful costumes to enjoy a school day all about the joy of reading.

Key Stage 2 students at Mountford Manor were delighted when they received a generous donation of 30 books for their library from Hays Education.

Kieran McNeil, senior manager at Hays, said: “The children were really excited.

“We wanted to make sure they had the books they wanted so we spoke to the literacy leads to get suggestions - lots of Roald Dahl and Jacqueline Wilson.

“After the presentation, we had a storytime session reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”

“These sort of books are the ones I read as a child, they really capture the pupils’ imaginations and make them want to read.”

Youngsters at Ashton Keynes Primary School dressed up as their favourite witches and wizards for the day.

Headteacher Samantha Saville said: "It's all about celebrating and encouraging children to read.

"Everyone such a big effort with home-crafted costumes, including the staff.

"It was lovely to see them braving the elements and come to school, they were so excited about World Book Day and it's been fun.

"During assembly the children got to share who they were and talk about the book they brought.

"We had a treasure hunt to find characters around the school building, a special storytime in the library, and a Drop Everything And Read activity where the teachers would blow a whistle and the pupils would have to stop what they were doing and read for a few minutes."