Once upon a time, at Chiswick House School...

Rupert Bear and Ġaħan met at the Chiswick House School in Kappara where they rubbed shoulders with Harry Potter, Alice in Wonderland, Wenzu and Rożi and other make believe characters.

A total of 453 characters came to life at the school this morning as pupils and staff attempted to break the Guinness World Record for the largest ever gathering of people dressed as different storybook characters.

The record, of 359 characters, is currently held by Higham Ferrers Junior School, of Northants, UK.

For the purposes of the record, all characters had to have appeared in books, and had to be pre-approved by Guinness World Records.

Characters were chosen from over 60 books from Maltese and English children’s literature.

The evidence will now be submitted to Guinness World Records for adjudication.

The students were encouraged to read the book where their character is presented and an exhibition of their favourite artwork, related to the stories they read, was also put up for the occasion.

The climax of the day was the final countdown, when all participants had to spend the last ten minutes together in the school theatre.

Three independent judges – former European Commissioner Joe Borg, the executive director of Allied Newspapers Adrian Hillman and the executive director of the National Book Council Sergio Grech, had the task of overseeing the event and reporting back to Guinness World Records for final approval.