LOVERS of literature will be singing its praises all this week to celebrate World Book Day.

Local math-rockers Nairobi, singer-songwriter Bethany Weimers and Glaswegian guitarist RM Hubbert will all be rejoicing in the beauty of books when they play an intimate show at the Albion Beatnik Bookstore in Jericho tomorrow night.

Organiser Sebastian Reynolds said: “I have put on gigs in chapels, art galleries and jazz clubs but never a bookshop so I thought, what with it being World Book Day I would broaden my horizons.”

The international celebration of reading, which takes place this year on Thursday, is aimed at encouraging more people to pick up a book. Millions of vouchers for free books will be given out at schools, in newspapers and at shops, while children’s authors including Tony Robinson, Anthony Horowitz and Shirley Hughes will take part in a reading “extravaganza”, streamed live on the day for schools across the country.

Albion Beatnik owner Dennis Harrison said: “In an era when more people are shopping online, bookshops have a new role to play in encouraging people to read, and reminding them that reading is actually a tactile experience.” Nairobi guitarist Pete Hughes said: “For me, music and reading go hand-in-hand, they’re both about creating and exploring new worlds.

“Discovering your new favourite band is just as exciting as discovering a new author.

“Go into a independent book shop, and just pick something up at random- you never know what you might discover.”

Primary schools across Oxfordshire are hosting their own events this week. Today Mary Stokes-White, author of Major, the Oxford Dog, took her famous canine friend to visit children at St Nicholas School in Old Marston .

And tomorrow, year seven students at Gosford Hill School will be playing the ace reporter by interviewing author Stephen Bowkett.

On Thursday, children’s education specialists RM Education, in Abingdon, will be hosting a slightly different reading event to exploit the rising trend in hand-held technology.

The firm has invited children from St Nicholas C of E School in East Challow to come dressed as characters from their favourite books, and film a video podcast using green screen technology to create background scenery to suit their story. Ebooks will also be on offer for children to experience reading a book on a tablet computer.

Head of RM Books, Alan Hodgin, said: “Children love books. They also love technology and they increasingly expect to be able to access everything via a computer. “We want to show them they also can access fantastic books through their devices, as well as video, games, social media and of course, their schoolwork.”