Children give life to storybook characters

Grumpy had something to smile about yesterday when the little dwarf met up with some 450 other storybook characters, forming part of the world’s largest gathering.

Getting together at the Chiswick House School theatre, in Kappara, hundreds of children in fancy dress costumes lifted the roof with cheer as they counted down the last 10 seconds of the 10 minutes they spent together.

The children were attempting to break a Guinness World Record of the largest gathering of people dressed as storybook characters. The record which belonged to Higham Ferrers Junior School, of Northants, UK, when 359 characters got together.

Although the numbers indicate the pupils broke the record, the evidence still needs to be submitted to Guinness World Records for adjudication, as none of their judges was present.

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 more than 60 books from Maltese and English children’s literature. Noddy met up with Thomas the Tank Engine and Ali Baba with Ġaħan and they all played together. No two children dressed up in the same costume.

The event was tied to a literacy programme and all children were encouraged to read the book where their character featured.

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