World Book Day costume ideas

Why we love it: Anything that involves the potential of matching sibling costumes is a winner for us. Just look at that little Oompa Loompa! We’d also like to point out that if your children are dressing up as characters from Charlie And The Chocolate Factory then that automatically qualifies you to be a serious and official chocolate taster – just to work out which bar they should use as a prop of course…

What you’ll need: You can make the top hat from cardboard and fabric easily enough if you have those to hand, and the rest can be cobbled together. Try charity chops for old fashioned tops or shirts, use one of your old scarves for the bow and look in the supermarkets for a dressing up jacket. Although, if you fancy it you could give this whole outfit a go on the sewing machine – we wish you luck!

Difficulty rating : 8/10

Picture: Mitch and Micky

Why we love it: When time is tight there’s nothing better than a quick fix costume, and this fits the bill. This costume comes with a crown and a dress, so we don’t think there there’ll be any complaints coming from your little princess if you suggest this.

What you’ll need: Some brown paper and really good sticking skills. It might also be good to pop this over their uniform if it’s still chilly come World Book Day, which we have a feeling it will be.

Difficulty rating: 3/10

Idea: Seeker of Happiness

Why we love it: This costume takes us back to reading the Pippi Longstocking books ourselves, plus it’s very easy. If you’ve got a little girl who is always getting herself in scrapes, we think they’d be perfect for this.

What you’ll need: The beauty of this costume is that we’re almost certain you’ll have all the items needed already in your cupboard. A layering of colourful clothes, some stripy socks and some orange hair spray will transform any little girl into the lovable Pippy.

Difficulty rating : 2/10

Picture: My Life At Playtime

Why we love it: Just look at those little faces! This costume obviously works best if you have a whole gaggle of girls yourself, but could also be fun for your child to do with their friends -and that way you could share the costume work with the other mums.

What you’ll need: This is a bit of a start-from-scratch effort but the results are really worth it. The simple smock dresses aren’t hard to do if you know your way around a sewing machine and the straw hats and white tights can easily be picked up from a high street shop.

Difficulty rating : 7/10

Picture: Erica Holland

Why we love it: Nothing makes a cuter costume than dressing your kids up as mini people! We love the simple but effective components and think any little boy would jump at the chance to be Frodo Baggins for the day. If you’ve got a few little people then there are plenty of ways to add to this theme. For little girls think the beautiful white elves and for boys think Gandalf.

What you’ll need: Some cardboard or plastic swords, colourful jackets or waistcoats, woolen scarves and a couple of homemade cloaks. These might seem tricky but you can whip them up from a large rectangle of fabric and a few stitches gathered around the neckline.

Difficulty rating : 5/10

Picture: Tumblr

Why we love it: There’s nothing more recognisable than a Dr. Zeus character and these classic costumes are sure to impress come World Book Day. If your child has been learning about The Cat In The Hat or Green Eggs and Ham then they’re going to love this idea.

What you’ll need: These hats can be made from either cardboard or felt and would only take half an afternoon to get through. The rest of the outfit is just a few pieces of clothing that be be put together from whatever is in your child’s wardrobe like an all black ensemble or a yellow dress and white tights. If you want to go all out you could make the whole outfits – just be prepared to give a whole day over to the process.

Difficulty rating : 3/10 for the quicky version.

Picture: Made

Why we love it: We’ve yet to meet a little girl who isn’t in love with Jane O’Connor’s character Fancy Nancy. In classic fairytale fashion there are jewels and frills a’plenty to this number, and your child is sure to jump at the excuse to be extra fancy for World Book Day!

What you’ll need: Like all the best costumes this can be made up from things you probably already have in the house. Raid the dressing up box for the fanciest frills you can find and put it all on together! As a final flourish a red wig is perfect, but we’re sure nobody will notice if you leave it out.

Difficulty rating : 2/10

Picture: Seeker of Happiness

Why we love it: This costume is perfect for World Book Day but can also be recycled come Halloween, saving us a job further down the line. Kids absolutely love the novelty of having eight legs and will be delighted at their new found form. We also think this is great for its crowd pleasing abilities – boys and girls both adore the idea of being a creepy crawly we’ve found and will happily play with their new found form for hours.

What you’ll need: An all black outfit for your little one and some old tights to stuff for the spider’s arms, (or is it legs?).

Difficulty rating : 4/10

Picture: Shaffer Sisters

Why we love it: Forget the predictable Alice costumes and opt for this instead! Dwarf your little one in a big cardboard box house and they’ll look like they’ve shrunk like the first few scenes of Lewis Carroll’s brilliant novel.

What you’ll need: All the usual Alice bits and bobs – a blue dress, white apron, white tights and a ribbon – plus a cardboard box. You’ll need to paint the box to look like a house, but this is something you can do with your child as a fun activity leading up to World Book Day.

Difficulty rating : 6/10

Picture: Misha Lulu

Why we love it: Before Disney transformed it into a movie, The Princess and the Frog was a classic Ladybird children’s book. This costume is super easy to put together and you may even be able to incorporate the clothes into your little-one’s daily wardrobe.

What you’ll need: A pink dress, a crown, a wand and a frog teddy. You could also use a pink top or jumper and pair it with some cute stripped tights or leggings and a tutu.If you can’t find a soft frog teddy you could always look for a more realistic looking plastic frog model instead!

Difficulty rating: 2/10

Why we love it: Going for a book that is a little different from the norm will make your little-one stand out from the crowd and they can tell all their friends about a new book they should read. Bee&Me by Alison Jay teaches children all about the humble bumble bee and its effects on the planet. Plus, this costume is very east to throw together!

What you’ll need: Some white wings, a black and yellow striped top (you could get a yellow top and use black tape or a marker pen to create the stripes), a yellow or black tutu and some yellow or black boots. We also recommend some black, yellow or striped tights or leggings to wear under the tutu/skirt.

Difficulty rating: 2/10

Why we love it: Little Bo Peep is a classic nursery rhyme and one the whole family should be able to sing along to. There are several children’s book inspired by the rhyme with many tracking her mission to find those pesky wandering sheep. If you’ve got two children this would make an adorable matching costume idea.

What you’ll need:A white dress with long sleeves and some thick white or cream ribbon to tie in a bow around the waist, arms and wrists. If you have enough you could also tie some ribbon around a white floppy hat for a pretty finishing touch. Wrap a walking stick in some beige ribbon and add some fresh or fake white flowers if liked. Then your Little Bo Beep is ready to go!

Difficulty rating:2/10

Why we love it: Everyone loved the story of The Tiger Who Came To Tea growing up, and what better character to pick for World Book Day than this extraordinary tea guest? This easy World Book Day costume will transform your little monkey into the cheeky fluffy tiger who has an appetite to match its giant stripes! 



What you’ll need: An orange long-sleeved shirt with black stripes (or, if you can only find a plain orange top, get crafty with either black fabric paint, pen or black ribbon and thread!) You will also need some face paint to complete the full fearsome tiger effect. Add a cup and saucer to really polish this perfect World Book Day look.

Difficulty rating : 5/10

Why we love it: The perfect costume for mums in a hurry or kids who aren’t keen on dressing up, this World Book Day character idea is super simple. Based on the adorably difficult character Little Princess in the book series by Tony Ross, the great thing about this costume is that there are so many different stories to choose from, so once you’ve got the two simple items needed for the basic outfit, you can accessorize depending on time and budget.

What you’ll need: An absolute must for this outfit is the distinctive yellow crown worn by Little Princess, and her simple, white, nightdress. The crown can be easily and quickly made out of yellow card if you don’t already have something suitable at home, and if you don’t want to pack your little one off for school in a nightdress on World Book Day, a long sleeved white dress or smock would also be perfect. Accessories could include a rosette (from story I Want To Win), a reading book (from I Want A Story) or even an old potty to take the character to one of her most famous stories (I Want My Potty!)

Difficulty rating : 2/10

Why we love it: All the best costumes can be found from bits you already have at home, and we’re yet to meet someone who doesn’t have everything needed to throw together a witch costume for their child at a moments notice! Plus, who didn’t love the story of kind, well meaning witch Meg and her pet cat Mog growing up?

What you’ll need: It’s time to dig out that witches costume – hat, cape and all! To really complete the outfit – and to copy the character as they appear on the cover of the book – you’ll also need a broomstick, cauldron and – if possible – a black and white toy cat!

Difficulty rating : 3/10