THERE was no doubting what the most popular books are with pupils from Shalbourne School when they celebrated National Book Week.

The pupils were asked to celebrate the week by going to school dressed as their favourite book characters.

From a school with just 37 pupils there were no fewer than three Harry Potters and three Hermiones from the same JK Rowling best sellers.

And as if that wasn't enough of Potter mania, the staff proved just as predictable as well with Key Stage 2 teacher Kirsty Rogers going as the Quidditch tutor from Harry Potter.

But not all favoured the latest top selling books.

There was a variety of characters, said Ms Rogers, which represented some of the popular old favourites.

Surprisingly enough even comic fans were not left out.

For some obscure reason the school fielded a brace of Dennis the Menaces, proving that some favourites endure across the generations.

A competition to find the best character was won by another traditional favourite.

The prizes went to the witch from the Wizard of Oz in the infants' class, and by a brother and sister from the older class dressed as characters from the Big Friendly Giant.

During the day the pupils took part in a sponsored spell-in to raise money towards the purchase of more books for the school library.

They also had the opportunity to make purchases from a book stall.