THE Mall Blackburn has teamed up with the organisers of World Book Day to bring stories to life in the shopping centre.

It will host entertaining story-telling sessions starting on World Book Day, Thursday March 5, and ending on Sunday, March 8. This will include a quiet hour on Sunday morning.

A selection of books will be hidden around Blackburn town centre for children to find, enjoy and re-hide.

Little bookworms can also download a World Book Day bookmark to colour in and use free of charge.

As parents start the hunt for suitable fancy dress, The Mall is giving people the opportunity to bring along costumes from last year to swap for another one at its Ask Me Point.

Loraine Jones, general manager at the Mall Blackburn, said: “In this digital age it is vitally important that we still nurture a love of printed literature and I am sure that many of us remember how wonderful story time was at school. The story-telling sessions in The Mall will be great fun and will hopefully inspire children to pick up, and get lost in, a book!

“We are also excited about the books we will be hiding around the town centre and hope that they bring joy and wonder to those who find and re-hide them.

“Our costume swap will save parents time and money searching for a new costume but you don’t need to bring one in order to take one away, so it is open to everyone!"

Story telling sessions will be held at the Ask Me Point in Victoria Court from 1.30pm to 5.30pm, Thursday to Saturday, and 10am to 2pm on the Sunday, quiet hour 10am to 11am.