:00:00. > :00:15.It's Thursday afternoon. I'm Jenny, live with all of today's top
:00:16. > :00:21.stories. Coming up: we will be finding out what goes into a good
:00:22. > :00:24.read on World Book Day. We take a look at some of the
:00:25. > :00:28.colourful costumes you've been sending us to celebrate! And Team
:00:29. > :00:36.GB's flag bearer at the Sochi Games is the country's youngest ever
:00:37. > :00:39.Paralympian. This is Newsround. All day today you've been sending us
:00:40. > :00:42.pics of utterly amazing costumes because it's World Book Day, a
:00:43. > :00:45.global celebration of writers, illustrators and everything
:00:46. > :00:49.brilliant about reading. Loads of you have got in touch and I've been
:00:50. > :00:54.having a look at the favourite literary characters you've been
:00:55. > :01:05.dressing up as. Kicking off, we have Oliver as
:01:06. > :01:10.Mickey Mouse. Milo has gone all out with Rupert. Dorothy from the Wizard
:01:11. > :01:19.of ours and we have another Dorothy joined by snow-white. This is
:01:20. > :01:28.definitely the mad Hatter. So fear makes a brilliant gangster granny.
:01:29. > :01:31.That is Ben from gangster granny. Then we have Felix as Harry Potter.
:01:32. > :01:37.Brilliant costumes there thanks for sending them in. And there are
:01:38. > :01:41.plenty more on the website. So, just what is it that makes a really good
:01:42. > :01:49.story? Leah has been finding out. Earlier this morning in a brightly
:01:50. > :01:55.lit studio in Salford, I met the winner of the best story award for
:01:56. > :01:59.Blue Peter. What goes into making a really good book? I met up with
:02:00. > :02:07.Catherine to find out what goes into making a fantastic read. The first
:02:08. > :02:10.with the character. You need a character you feel strongly about.
:02:11. > :02:16.It matters you care what happens to them. The type of characters I like
:02:17. > :02:21.are the ones with a kind heart. I like them to be shy and then when
:02:22. > :02:28.they come to the end, they stand up for themselves. A good character is
:02:29. > :02:35.who likes to save people and destroyed the bad people. My second
:02:36. > :02:41.tip with the story, that makes you want to keep turning the page and
:02:42. > :02:46.stay up late to finish it and makes you care about it. An adventure.
:02:47. > :02:50.Something glorious back can happen in your book that maybe cannot
:02:51. > :02:55.happen in real life and will take you to places only books can take
:02:56. > :03:01.you. But the important thing is, pick up a book and get reading and
:03:02. > :03:06.write your own stories. Who knows, you could be picking up a top prize
:03:07. > :03:12.on World Book Day. Thanks Leah. So if you're a budding
:03:13. > :03:14.writer what's the best way to get scribbling yourself? We asked
:03:15. > :03:18.Children's Laureate and top novelist, Malorie Blackman. Write
:03:19. > :03:26.about the things you care about, things that make you laugh and cry,
:03:27. > :03:30.make you angry. Right about the story and think about your
:03:31. > :03:35.characters and maybe have things get worse in the middle before they get
:03:36. > :03:40.better at the end. And my third tip would be, don't give up.
:03:41. > :03:44.Next, let's get some of the day's other big stories. The latest from
:03:45. > :03:47.Ukraine is that today members of parliament for Crimea in the south
:03:48. > :03:50.of the country have asked for the region to become part of Russia. If
:03:51. > :03:54.Russia's leaders agree then in ten days Crimean citizens will be asked
:03:55. > :03:57.to vote whether they want to be part of Russia or stay within the
:03:58. > :04:00.Ukraine. Many people in the region consider themselves more Russian
:04:01. > :04:03.than Ukrainian. World leaders have strongly criticised Russia this week
:04:04. > :04:07.for taking control of Crimea using armed troops.
:04:08. > :04:10.Finally, with just one day to go until the Paralympic Winter Games
:04:11. > :04:12.start in Sochi, it's been revealed today that 15-year-old Millie
:04:13. > :04:15.Knight, will be team GB's flag bearer at tomorrow's opening
:04:16. > :04:18.ceremony. Millie is Great Britain's youngest ever Winter Paralympian and
:04:19. > :04:24.will compete in the Alpine Skiing event next week. She spoke earlier
:04:25. > :04:35.about how she found out she'd be flying the flag. This morning I was
:04:36. > :04:41.told I had a meeting. I wasn't sure what it was about. I thought I was
:04:42. > :04:46.in trouble. I was in the meeting and they were like, so, as you might be
:04:47. > :04:50.aware the opening ceremony is tomorrow and I would like you to be
:04:51. > :04:53.our flag bearer. It was amazing. Wonderful, congratulations Millie!
:04:54. > :04:57.That's all from me, Newsround's back at 6.55am. Blue Peter are
:04:58. > :04:59.celebrating World Book Day in about an hour.