THERE were plenty of colourful characters from literature as youngsters at a school dressed up as the characters from their favourite books as part of National Book Week.

The students from Crowlands Primary School in London Road, Romford donned themselves in the costumes of the fictional characters as part of the national event on Friday November 19.

Teacher Cathy Chaplin said: “It was a good week because the children really enjoyed it.

“It just gets them interested in books and it gave us a opportunity to encourage the children to get a love of reading.”

During the week, the reception children aged four and five also read a book called Aliens Love Underpants by Claire Freedman.

There was also a book fair held at the school and a competition for the best dressed book character.

Cathy said: “Book Week is really important because it is part of promoting the early literacy skills for the children.

“It was just a different book to look at and it just gave them a chance to explore different ideas raised in the book.”