World Book Day on Thursday 1st March 2018 is a day all about celebrating the joy of books, sharing a story together, and for millions of children it’s the chance to spend the day dressed as a character from their favourite book.
To help you turn your child into their favorite character for the day we’ve put together some easy costume ideas with simple instructions and absolutely no sewing required. Read on and find out how to make costumes for Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s The Gruffalo, Chris Riddell’s Goth Girl, and many more best-loved book characters.
Easy The Gruffalo costume
Download the instructions and template to make your very own little Gruffalo.
Make your own Gruffalo costume
Dress up as Ladybird from What the Ladybird Heard by Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks
1. Wear all black clothes.
2. Make some wings using black and red card.
3. For extra effect you could use face paints to finish this costume off.
Dress up as Peter from The Detective Dog by Julia Donaldson and Sara Ogilvie
Peter is just wearing his normal clothes, but to make it special you could take in a toy dog or with a piece of wire and a dog lead, make a pretend dog. Don’t forget an armful of your favourite books!
Dress up as Mouse from The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
Dress up as Witch from Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
Dress up as Alice from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
This is simple if you have the right dress – a simple white or blue outfit teamed with a headband would work perfectly.
Dress up as Harbert from Old Hat by Emily Gravett
This one is really simple - just find your most fantastic hat and wear it to school!
Dress up as Broccoli Boy from The Astounding Broccoli Boy by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Especially great if you love your greens! Wear a pair of jeans and white t-shirt and then simply use face paint to colour yourself green. You could complete the costume by carrying some broccoli!
Dress up as Moone Boy by Chris O'Dowd & Nick V. Murphy
Find yourself a Moone Boy hat and then you can choose your favourite weekend outfit to wear. There’s lots of activities available which might add some magic to your costume on the Moone Boy website.
Dress up as Goth Girl by Chris Riddell
Simply wear your black clothes and add a purple feather to your hair. A toy mouse you can hold in your hand, would complete this costume.
Dress up as Andy or Terry from The 13-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton
There are so many floors in Andy and Terry’s Treehouse that you can make loads of exciting costumes! Wear your favourite outfit, and then bring along something from your favourite level of their Treehouse.
Props could include:
Something from the secret underground laboratory
A man-eating shark
Marshmallows from the marshmallow machine
A baby dinosaur from the baby dinosaur petting zoo
Dress up as a footballer from The Mighty Dynamo by Kieran Crowley and Marta Kissi
That's it! Just wear your favourite football kit!
For lots more ideas for costumes and ways to #ShareAStory this 1st March head over to the World Book Day website.