YOUNG bookworms brought their favourite characters to life in a competition to mark World Book Day.
Tracy Beaker rubbed shoulders with Ironman at a Mad Hatter's lunch party organised by librarian Samantha Watson at Bede Academy, in Blyth.
The lunch with literary quiz was one of a number of events at the academy's north and south sites to mark the national initiative, which has continued this week with a book fair.
Students were encouraged to dress up as their favourite characters with prizes going to Bradley Watson, 11, as a Creeper from Minecraft, and Andrew Mather, 12 as Luigi from Mario Brothers.
Mrs Watson said: "World Book Day a great initiative as it helps us raise the profile of the school library and brings in students who might not normally choose to come in. The events bring students together in a fun way and hopefully inspires them to try books they might not otherwise know about."
The next event on the literary calendar for Bede Academy is the Children's North East Book Award, in which a group of students from Year 7 and 8 will read, discuss and vote on the shortlist of books put forward by awards organiser Eileen Armstrong and a team of school librarians from around the region.
Mrs Watson explained: "Last year we took ten students to the awards presentation and some went on stage to introduce the shortlisted authors, and had their books signed. It's something we love to be involved with and we're looking forward to receiving this year's shortlist soon."
