The 5 Best Book Gifts for World Book Day

Reading is a huge part of my life – and it always has been. I love picking up a brand-new book or getting an old classic for my birthday.

World Book Day is all about sharing a love of reading. It encourages people to get reading for pleasure – and it’s the perfect time to treat the book lover in your life!

What is World Book Day?

World Book Day is a charity-run day that aims to get children reading books. Reading for fun is the biggest indicator that a child will grow up happy and successful – but only 1 in 3 children say they enjoy reading.

That’s why campaigns like World Book Day exist. They want to make reading fun, with events in schools, affordable book tokens, children’s competitions and free audiobooks for kids.

This year’s World Book Day takes place today – 6 March 2025.

The best book gifts for World Book Day

Let’s take a look at 5 book gifts for the book lover in your life – even if that’s you!

1. Book subscription

A book subscription is the gift that keeps on giving! You subscription service will deliver a book to your loved one every month or you can choose a more personal subscription if you want to treat yourself.

Some popular book subscription boxes include:

• The Beautiful Book Company
• Parrot Street Book Club
• Owl Crate

You could even create your own book subscription to save money. Get your friend 12 books and give them one per month. It will help them keep up their reading – and you can choose books you know your loved one will enjoy!

2. Voucher for a local bookshop

Last Christmas, I bought my mum a voucher for a new local bookshop. It covered the price of a new book – and we enjoyed a little browse together over the Christmas holidays.

This is a thoughtful gift for the book lover in your life – and it’s perfect if you don’t know exactly what your loved one would like to read next.

Choose an independent bookshop to give back to your local community. Your friend can wander the shelves and make your gift into a lovely experience.

3. Cosy reading kit

Create the perfect reading experience for your loved one with a cosy reading kit. Many online sellers offer reading kits, or you could make your own.

These kits usually include items like:

• Hot chocolate, coffee or tea
• Cosy socks
• Candles to create ambience
• Book merch like this cool Jane Austen jumper from Bookishly
• Bookmarks
• Books!

Your World Book Day gift will encourage you or your loved one to get reading. It’s all about creating the perfect aesthetic to sit down and enjoy a good book.

4. Colouring book

Colouring is a fun, relaxing activity. You can put on an audiobook while you colour – or listen to some calming music.

Get your loved one a colouring book to help them express their creativity and get inspired on World Book Day!

There are so many different colouring books, including ones with images of your favourite books, TV shows or films. You can even make custom colouring books of you and your family.

5. Lit magazine subscription

Although there’s no substitute for reading a good old-fashioned book, sometimes you want something a bit different.

You could get a one-off magazine copy or sign your friend up for a subscription. This is a great chance for your loved one to learn more about their favourite subject or read some new short fiction.

If you don’t fancy buying a magazine, you could gift an online journal subscription, buy Audible for your loved one or even gift a literary Substack subscription.

My book gift reading recommendations

There are lots of unique book gifts out there – but what if you want to go “old-school” and buy your loved one a book?

Here are some of my reading recommendations:

• ‘The Wonder Spot’ by Melissa Bank
• ‘On Writing’ by Stephen King – perfect for the writer in your life!
• ‘The Color Purple’ by Alice Walker
• ‘Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret’ by Judy Blume – good for young adults
• ‘I Capture the Castle’ by Dodie Smith
• ‘The Daily Stoic’ by Ryan Holiday
• ‘Saltwater’ by Jessica Andrews – beautiful prose-poem style excerpts
• ‘The Idiot’ by Elif Kaufman

Would you like one of these book-ish gifts? What are you doing for World Book Day? What is your favourite book?

Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below 🙂

Happy reading x