The time has rolled around once again for another year celebrating World Book Day and Book Week. A chance for schools to celebrate creativity, make-believe and fun! People get into a right old tiz trying to find a costumes for a dressing up day like this. When working in As If By Magic, we would always advise a good rummage through the costumes to find something you like, then we’d all think up books to match it. So if you find yourself in a bind, try that!
Here’s a mix of characters and titles that might spark some ideas.
Aladdin – Traditional (Aladdin, the Princess, Genie)
Alice In Wonderland – Lewis Carroll (Alice, Mad Hatter, Tweedledum/Tweedledee, the White Rabbit, the Queen of Hearts, Cheshire Cat)
Aliens Love Underpants – an alien in some underpants, obviously! **new!**
Angelina Ballerina – Helen Craig and Katherine Holabird
Asterix – Asterix, Obelisk **new!**
The BFG – Roald Dahl (a giant or Sophie? or even The Queen?)
Bob the Builder
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas – John Boyne (thanks Beccy!)
Burglar Bill – Allan Ahlberg
The Cat In the Hat – The Cat, the children, Thing 1, Thing 2
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl (Charlie, Willy Wonka, Grandpa or an Oompa Loompa?)
Dictionary – wear all one colour and stick words/definitions over yourself?
Fantastic Mr Fox – Roald Dahl
Funny Bones
Gansta Granny – Granny!
Goldilocks – Goldie, a bear
The Gruffalo – The Gruffalo, his child, the fox, the owl, the snake, the mouse, the BIG bad mouse! **new!**
Harry Potter and the … – Harry, Hermione, Ron, Snape, Dumbledore, Voldemort, Hagrid, Luna Lovegood, Professor Lupin
His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman (Take a cuddly toy animal as your Daemon)
Horrid Henry – Francesca Simon
Jack and the Beanstalk – Jack, Daisy the cow, the Giant, the beanstalk itself
James and the Giant Peach – James, the Peach, the Centipede and numerous others
The Jolly Postman – Allen Ahlberg (Why not go as someone on his round?)
The Jungle Book – Rudyard Kipling
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - one of the children, Aslan, the White Queen, Mr Tumnus
Little Miss… – Sunshine, Naughty, Trouble, Chatterbox
Little Red Riding Hood – Traditional. (Little Red, the Wolf, or Grandma?)
Lord of the Rings – JR Tolkien (Where to start! Frodo, Bilbo, Legolas, Gollum, Gandalf)
Mary Poppins – Mary herself, Jane, Michael, Burt the Chimney Sweep
Meg and Mog – Helen Nicoll
Mr Men – Happy, Tickle, Topsy Turvy, Tall, Loud
Noddy – Enid Blyton (Noddy, Big Ears)
Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens (Oliver, Nancy, Fagin, the Artful Dodger)
Percy the Park Keeper – Nick Butterworth (thanks Sarah!)
Peter Pan – JM Barrie (Peter Pan, Wendy, Captain Hook, Smee, Tinkerbell)
Peter Rabbit – Beatrix Potter
Pinocchio - Pinocchio, Gepetto, Jiminy Cricket
Pippi Longstocking
Pocahontas – Joseph Bruchac
Puss In Boots – Traditional
Robin Hood
Room On The Broom – The Witch and the others!
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves – Snow White, dwarf, wicked queen
The Snow Dog - The Snowman, the boy, the dog
The Snowman – The Snowman, the boy
Spot – Eric Carle
There’s a Viking In My Bed – Jeremy Strong
Thomas the Tank Engine – The Fat Controller, plus cardboar dboxes to make yourself into an engine **new!**
The Three Mustakeers – Alexandre Dumas
Tin Tin – Herge
Tracey Beaker – Jacqueline Wilson
The Twits – Roald Dahl
The Very Hungry Caterpillar – A caterpillar, a butterfly, a leaf, a piece of fruit, a piece of junk food!
Twilight – Stephanie Meyer (Pale up, fang up and look a little off kilt!)
Watership Down – Richard Adams (Here’s some inspiration!)
Where the Wild Things Are – Maurice Sendak (I saw the best Max costume from a paper-thin all in one boiler suit and some card claws and ears!)
Where’s Wally – Martin Handford (Wally or Waldorf?)
The Wind In the Willows – (Moley, Ratty, Badger, Mr Toad)?
Winnie The Witch
Where’s Wally – not just Wally! There’s Waldo, and the Wizard and lots of other recurring characters!
Winnie The Pooh – Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin, Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Owl and the rest!
The Wizard of Oz – Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Professor Marvel, the Wicked Witch, Glinda the Good Witch
101 Dalmations – Dodie Smith (Cruella, a dalmation)? **updated!**
For anyone who doesn’t know, you can end up with a lot of friends on Facebook. It starts off as one or two old school friends, the ones you used to share a desk with Then their school friends find you and add you, the ones who never really spoke to you. Then their school friends find you and add you, the ones that used to bully you. But you can’t say no – it’s impolite, isn’t it?