109 easy last-minute World Book Day costume ideas
We've loads of brilliantly simple costume ideas for World Book Day. There's no sewing involved (although there may be some glue!) and we've included lots of clever ways to re-use princess, witch and pirate outfits, as well as great props for children who don't want to do dressing up.
World Book Day is on Thursday 2 March in 2023, although many schools and nurseries may decide to celebrate it on Friday 3 March to round the school week off with some costumed fun. If you’re looking for easy, last-minute World Book Day costumes that are simple to put together but look fantastic, we’ve got a great selection for you right here.
Our no-sew costumes can be made using things you'll probably already have at home (or could quickly order online). We've even included ideas for re-purposing costumes you may already have – including pirate, witch and skeleton outfits, fairy and ballerina costumes and princess dresses.
And, of course, if your child really doesn't like dressing up, there are plenty of ideas for 'costumes' where the main character in the book wears regular, everyday clothes – so all your child will need to do is hold a prop or maybe just brandish a copy of the book.
For each of our World Book Day costume ideas, we've listed out what you'll need to create it, including props and clothes (and a link to buy the book, if you don't have it already). Plus, where we can, we’ve included a pic of a child in the costume, as shared by one of the brilliant parents in our Facebook community, so you can get an idea of the finished 'look' you're after.
Here's our pick of easy, last-minute World Book Day Costume ideas you can put together super-quick...
1. Paddington
What you'll need:
- Red hat
- Blue coat or blue clothes
- Red socks
- Suitcase (optional)
Buy Paddington
2. Supertato
What you'll need:
- Black belt with cardboard S stuck on the buckle
- Brown clothes
- Mask (band of black paper with eye holes cut out)
- Red material/shirt for cape
- Play veg
Buy Supertato
3. Charlie Bucket's Golden Ticket
What you’ll need:
- An old pillowcase
- Gold paint (or pick a yellow pillowcase!)
- Fabric/maker pen for writing words
Buy Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
4. Gangsta Granny
What you'll need:
- Bandit eye mask (or paint one on with black face paint). Or glasses – see our downloadable step-by-step instructions
- ‘Granny style’ blouse or cardy (do you have one?)
- Black skirt
- Old slippers
- Tights that are too big, so they can wrinkle around the ankles
- Sack-style bag filled with scrumpled up paper (so it’s not too heavy)
- (If you're feeling creative) A granny wig – see our downloadable step-by-step instructions
Buy Gangsta Granny
5. Mr Twit from The Twits
What you'll need:
- A fake beard (buy one online or make one with dark brown wool)
- Dark, messy clothes
- A paintbrush and pot
Buy The Twits
6. Burglar Bill
What you'll need:
- Stripey jumper
- Flat cap
- Bandit eye mask (often comes with superhero costume) or draw one on with face paint
- Swag bag filled with crumpled-up paper (or cuddly toy!)
Buy Burglar Bill
7. Alice in Wonderland
What you'll need:
- Blue dress
- White apron/pinny
- Hair bow
Rather be the Mad Hatter? You can find a range of ready-made Alice in Wonderland-themed costumes for kids of varying ages on FancyDress.com.
Buy Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
8. Sparkle Boy
What you’ll need:
- Tutu
- Top and jeans
- Bead necklace
- Sparkly nail varnish
Buy Sparkle Boy
9. Mr Bump
What you'll need:
- Blue top and trousers
- Bandage (if you have one) or toilet roll (if you don’t) to wind around your child’s head and middle
Buy Mr Bump
10. Wednesday Addams from The Addams Family
What you'll need:
- A dark dress
- A white collar — use a school shirt underneath the dress
- Black tights
- Black shoes or boots
- Black lipstick or face paint (optional)
Buy The Addams Family: Story of the Movie
11. Peter Rabbit
What you'll need:
- Blue jacket
- Brown trousers
- Face paint or eyebrow pencil – to draw on bunny whiskers
- Bunny ears – made with cardboard and taped to a headband
- Bag of carrots (optional)
Buy The Complete Adventures of Peter Rabbit
12. Wally from Where's Wally?
What you'll need:
- Stripey hat
- Stripey top
- Stripey socks or tights – if you have them
- Round glasses – use the downloadable glasses template from the Gangsta Granny costume, above, and colour them black
Buy Where's Wally?
13. Harry Potter/Hermione Granger
What you'll need:
- Black cape (often comes with Halloween dressing-up costumes)
- White shirt
- Normal school trousers/skirt, stick (for a wand)
- Stripey tie or scarf
- For Harry only: glasses – use the downloadable glasses template from the Gangsta Granny costume, above, and colour them black
- For Harry only: red face paint or lip pencil to draw on his forehead scar
Want to add Hedwig or a broomstick? We've 20 more Harry Potter costume ideas for kids
Buy Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
14. Tracy Beaker
What you'll need:
- Red stripey top
- Messy dark hair (use washable spray-on hair dye or a wig, if your child's hair isn't the right colour)
- Sleeveless denim jacket (optional)
15. The Snail and the Whale
What you'll need:
- Black T-shirt
- White fabric paint (to draw on the snail trail message)
- Toy snail (to glue or pin onto the shoulder of the T-shirt)
- Stuffed whale toy (optional)
16. Witch from Room on the Broom
What you'll need:
- Red top
- Dark coloured trousers or skirt
- Black cape
- Witch's hat and broomstick, if you have them
- Wand made from yellow card on a stick
- Toy cat (optional)
Got a witch costume? Here are some more witch ideas...
17. The Worst Witch: add a toy cat and a (messy) broomstick
18. The Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz: accessorise with green face paint and an evil cackle
19. The cover star of That's Not My...Witch: she has green hair, if you fancy having a go with some washable, spray-on hair dye.
20. The witch from The Witch's Vaccuum Cleaner: as long as your Hoover doesn't weigh a ton!
21. Madame Olympia from Which Witch?: add a spot of make-up to get her super-glam look
Pic: Tara B
22. Happy Birthday, Blue Kangaroo
What you'll need:
- Pink clothes
- Pink ribbon in hair
- Blue kangaroo toy (optional)
Buy Happy Birthday, Blue Kangaroo
23. Billionaire Boy
What you'll need:
- Grey trousers
- Big white top
- A wallet full of money (make fake notes with paper or use Monopoly money)
Buy Billionaire Boy
24. Aliens Love Underpants
What you'll need:
- Underpants worn over trousers
- Alien antennae or headband (optional)
25. Mr Bean
What you'll need:
- Grey or black school trousers
- Tweed blazer
- White shirt
- Tie, preferably red
Buy Mr Bean: A Day at the Beach
26. The white mouse from the 'That's Not My...' book series...
What you'll need:
- White cardie and trousers OR white onesie
- White paper ears – attach them to a headband
Buy That's not My... books
27. The Cat In The Hat
What you'll need:
- Black leggings
- Black T-shirt
- White gloves
- Red scarf
- Stripey hat – you can make this using a tube of white card and then adding a rim and painting on red stripes
- Whiskers – drawn on with an eye pencil or face paints
Want something even easier? Try this ready-made Cat in the Hat costume. We love the cute tail!
28. The Man on the Moon (A Day in the Life of Bob)
What you'll need:
- White onesie (you can get astronaut-themed ones online)
- Blow-up alien
29. Noddy
What you'll need:
- Red top
- Blue shorts and socks
- Yellow fabric to knot around the neck
- Blue bobble hat (or you can make a more pointy blue felt hat)
- Red cheeks – use blusher or red face paint
30. Interstellar Cinderella
What you'll need:
- Cardboard box ‘jetpack’
- A tool (eg toy spanner) or tool box
- Goggles
- Ordinary clothes
31. Jack and the Beanstalk
What you'll need:
- Shirt
- Light brown trousers
- Crown (optional)
- Beanstalk made from a painted cardboard tube and green leaves cut out of cardboard
32. George’s Marvellous Medicine
What you'll need:
- Red top
- Spoon covered in tin foil
- Old shampoo bottle with ‘George’s Marvellous Medicine’ label
Buy George’s Marvellous Medicine
33. Willie from Goodnight Mister Tom
What you'll need:
- Flat cap
- Dark coat or plain-coloured sweater
- Small box (Willie's gas mask box) tied with string to hang from your child's shoulder (optional)
34. Morrigan Crow from the Nevermoor series
What you'll need:
- Black dress or skirt and top
- Red hairband
- Black boots
- Umbrella
Buy Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow
35. Harry from Harry and His Bucketful of Dinosaurs
What you'll need:
- Small bucket containing toy dinosaurs
Buy Harry & His Bucketful of Dinosaurs
36. Matilda
What you'll need:
- A dress, preferably blue
- White cardigan (optional)
- Red hair ribbon (if possible)
- White socks
- Black shoes
- Small pile of books
Want to go a bit further with your Matilda costume ideas? We've some good suggestions
Buy Matilda
37. The Very Hungry Caterpillar
What you'll need:
- Green card and red card
- Sparkly green paper to decorate
- String
- Feathers
Buy The Very Hungry Caterpillar
38. The Very Hungry Caterpillar – part two
What you'll need:
- An old sheet, painted in butterfly colours
- Ordinary clothes
- Butterfly eye mask (optional)
Buy The Very Hungry Caterpillar
39. One of the Ten Little Pirates
What you’ll need:
- Stripey T-shirt
- Jeans
- Pirate hat made from cardboard or a bandana
More pirate costume ideas
If you've got a pirate outfit, your child could dress up as:
40. Captain Hook from Peter Pan: you can get cheap hooks from online fancy dress shops
41. One of the pirates from Pirates Love Underpants: just remember the underpants, too!
42. One of the girl pirates from The Night Pirates
Pic: Getty
43. Snow White
What you'll need:
- A white shirt
- A long skirt
- Blue hair ribbon
- A red apple
Buy Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
44. Jonah And The Whale
What you'll need:
- Wig and beard wig – or lots of brown wool
- A white sheet or white T-sheet and trousers
- A large scarf – to make a sash
- A whale, made out of a large drinks bottle with googly eyes and big flappy cardboard tail and fins
Read Jonah and the Whale
45. Daddy Fox from Fox And The Ghost Hunt King
What you'll need:
- Red hoodie
- Plain or white T-shirt
- Some cardboard, paint, scissors and string – for the mask
- A fox soft toy, if you've got one
Buy The Fox and the Ghost King
46. An English dictionary
What you'll need:
- Old T-shirt
- Old leggings
- Fabric/marker pen for writing words
47. A Welsh dictionary
What you'll need:
- Large piece of folded card or a cardboard box with 1 side removed
- Coloured pens todecorate it with words from the dictionary (it doesn't have to be a Welsh one!)
Buy the Welsh-English Picture Dictionary for Children
48. Riley from Riley Can Be Anything
What you'll need:
- School blazer or jacket
- White shirt
- Tie
49. A Smed or a Smoo
What you'll need:
- Red or blue clothes
- Red or blue face paint
- Green wig or washable, spray-on hair dye (optional)
- A paper cup — paint it red or blue, cut the bottom out and attach to string
50. Charlie Bucket from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
What you'll need:
- Scruffy clothes or just a sleeveless vest
- A golden ticket – just colour some card yellow
Buy Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
51. Mog
What you'll need:
- Grey top and leggings
- Grey or white socks
- Hairband with grey cardboard cat ears
- Grey scarf tied round waist for a tail
52. The Boy In The Dress
What you'll need:
- A dress
- A football
53. A Roman from Rotten Romans
What you'll need:
- A white sheet, wrapped like a toga (check out this WikiHow). And do put something under it, like a long-sleeved top and leggings, or it could get chilly!
Buy Rotten Romans
54. Pippi Longstocking
What you'll need:
- Blue dress or dungarees
- Red T-shirt or bits of fabric, glued on like patches
- Stripey tights
- Hair in piglet plaits – you can plait in some thin, bendy wire to make them really stick out sideways
Buy Pippi Longstocking Goes Abroad
55. Percy the Park Keeper
What you'll need:
- Green cap
- Green jumper or shirt
- Stripy braces
- Light coloured trousers
- Wellington boots
Buy The Rescue Party (one of our favouites from the bestselling Percy the Park Keeper series)
56. Thing 1 and/or Thing 2 from The Cat In The Hat
This is a great one for twins, siblings or friends...
What you'll need:
- Red/orange T-shirt and leggings
- White card – on which you can write 'Thing 1' or 'Thing 2' and then pin it on the T-shirt
- Blue wig or washable, spray-on hair dye (optional)
Child with red hair?
Then your child could dress up as:
57. Ron Wealsey from the Harry Potter books: wear school uniform, with stripy tie
58. Tintin: gel hair up into a quiff and accessorise with a white toy dog, if you have one
59. Anne of Green Gables: wear a straw hat and a pinafore
60. Annie: wear a red dress and smile a lot!
61. Nancy Drew: carry your detective's notebook
62. Freckleface Strawberry: put hair in low pigtails and make freckles (if your child doesn't have them already) with an eyebrow pencil
Pic: Getty
63. Oi Frog
What you'll need:
- Green top
- Green skirt and tights or green trousers
- Green frog mask or hat made of cardboard
Buy Oi Frog!
64. Dr Alan Grant from Jurassic Park
What you'll need:
- Beige trousers
- Denim or blue shirt
- Red neck scarf
- Sunglasses
- Hat
- ID pass (optional) made from card and sticky-backed plastic
Buy Jurassic Park
65. Percy Jackson
What you'll need:
- Ordinary clothes
- Sword made out of cardboard
- Shield made out of cardboard – you could download this shield template from the World Book Day site.
Buy Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters
66. Mollie from The Wishing Chair
What you'll need:
There are (at least) 2 options here because different editions of the book have different outfits for Mollie...
- Blue and white stripy T-shirt with blue denim dungarees OR
- Orange spotty dress
Buy The Wishing Chair Collection
67. One of The Midnight Gang
What you'll need:
- PJs
- Pillow
- Balloon (optional)
Got fairy wings?
Then your child could dress up as:
68. Tinkerbell from Peter Pan: in a green dress, if you want to channel the Disney Tinkerbell
69. Puck from A Midsummer Night's Dream: accessorise with a mischievous grin
70. The Blue Fairy from Pinocchio: in a blue dress, obvs
71. The Wicked Fairy from Sleeping Beauty: wear black
72. Angelina Sprocket
What you'll need:
- Pink dressing gown or adult shirt
- Patches of different coloured material or paper to glue onto dressing gown/shirt as pockets
- Bobbles to put hair in 3 bunches
- Glasses
- Cheese grater (optional)
Buy Angelina Sprocket's Pockets
73. Angelina Ballerina
What you'll need:
- Ballet costume or tutu and pink T-shirt
- Pink cardigan
- Mouse mask or just fingerpaint mouse whiskers
74. Biff from Dogs Don't Do Ballet
What you'll need:
- Ballet costume or tutu and pink t-shirt
- White or pink tights
- Black and white face paint
- Add cardboard puppy ears on a headband (optional)
More tutu costume ideas:
Then your child could dress up as:
75. The Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker
76. Delphie from the Magic Ballerina books: carry some ballet shoes, if you have them, and tell everyone they're magic
Pic: Getty
77. Queen of Hearts
What you'll need:
- A red or black top and skirt or red or black dress, accessorised with hearts if you have them
- Playing cards, glued together in a wide circle to make a ruff or a hat
- A suitably regal hairstyle
Buy Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
78. One of the 101 Dalmatians
What you'll need:
- White t-shirt
- Black marker to create spots
- White and black face paint (optional)
Buy The One Hundred and One Dalmations
79. Malala
What you'll need:
- A pink headscarf
- A pencil
- A notebook for magical ideas
80. Greg from Diary Of A Wimpy Kid
What you'll need:
- White T-shirt
- Black shorts
- Backpack
- Trainers
Got a princess outfit?
Your child could dress up as:
81. Sleeping Beauty: no snozing in claass, mind!
82. Cinderella: glass slippers might be a stretch but you could accessorise with an inviation to the ball
83. The Princess And The Pea: scrunch up some green paper for a pea prop
84. The Princess And The Frog: accessorise wth a toy frog, if you have one
85. Little Princess: make her trademark big yellow pointy crown out of card
Pic: Getty
86. Fantastic Mr Fox
What you'll need:
- Jacket/blazer
- Colourful scarf/bow tie
- Mask or cardboard to make fox ears – attach to a headband
- Brown scarf – attach at the waist for a tail
Buy Fantastic Mr Fox on Amazon
87. Amelia Jane
What you'll need:
- 2 bows to make bunches
- Red (ideally patterned) dress
- Patterned tights (don't have to match)
- A little red face paint or blush for the cheeks
Buy The Amelia Jane Collection
88. Sugarlump and The Unicorn
What you'll need:
- White top
- Tutu
- Pink or white tights
- Unicorn headband — make from adding a paper or cardboard horn to a regular headband
89. Mona the Vampire
What you'll need:
- Red cardigan
- White shirt
- Black skirt
- White tights
- Purple material for cloak
- Pipe cleaners to section and twist up hair
Buy Mona the Vampire and the Jackpot Disaster
More ideas if you have a vampire costume:
Your child could dress up as:
90. Rudolph in The Little Vampire
91. Dracula
92. Ivy in My Sister, The Vampire: accessorise with school books
Pic: Getty
93. Stick Man
Pics: Abi Fields and Louise Dzokoto
What you'll need:
- Brown clothes
- A couple of twigs or leaves to hold
- Leaf-shaped scraps of fabric to thread through belt or glue on brown top
Buy Stick Man
94. Scarecrow from The Scarecrows' Wedding
What you'll need:
- A dress or dungarees
- Colourful tights or leggings
- A hat, preferably straw
- Small bunch of flowers
- Straw or brown coloured yarn
95. Captain Underpants
What you'll need:
- Light-coloured clothes
- A pair of underpants – to go on top
- A red cape or blanket
Buy The Adventures of Captain Underpants
96. Sophie from The BFG
What you'll need:
- Pink dress
- Empty glass or plastic jar
- Piece of paper to write 'Sophie's Dreams' on – and stick to your jar
Buy The BFG
Got a skeleton outfit?
Then your child could dress up as:
97. One of the Funnybones skeletons: add a quirky hat
98. One of the skeleton ancestors in Disney's Coco
99. The Skeleton Inside You: be a fact book in person!
Pic: Getty
100. Goldilocks
What you’ll need:
- Normal clothes
- 3 teddy bears, preferably in different sizes
Buy Goldilocks and the Three Bears
101. The Paper Bag Princess
What you’ll need:
- Large takeaway bag
- Flesh-coloured tights
- Pale pink jumper
- Headband with cardboard crown (optional)
102. Isadora Moon
What you'll need:
- Black dress or black shirt and top
- Black and white stripy tights
- Vampire wings
- Bat hairband (optional)
Buy Isadora Moon Meets the Tooth Fairy
103. Sophie from the Tiger who Came to Tea
What you'll need:
- Dark pinafore dress
- Blue/purple shirt
- Pink or purple tights
- Purple ribbon in hair
- Tiger stuffed toy
104. The Highway Rat
What you'll need:
- White shirt
- Leggings (purple, black, blue)
- Black boots/shoes
- Black cape – or black hoodie/jumper knotted over shoulders
- A pirate hat, if you have one
Buy The Highway Rat
105. Lily Bobtail
What you'll need:
- Headband (add cardboard bunny ears)
- Pink cardie
- Pink/red dress
106. The Jolly Postman
What you'll need:
- Smart trousers (pref navy)
- Smart jumper or blazer (pref navy)
- Shirt and tie
- Smart shoes
- Cap
- Over the shoulder bag
- Some envelopes
107. Lola from Big Hair, Don't Care
What you'll need:
- Pink headband
- Pink vest top
- Shorts
- Trainers
And if you've got a bit more time to do a bit of paper mâché...
108. The Gruffalo
We've put together a how-to video for this papier mache Gruffalo mask, which is super-quick to make – although you'll need to remember to factor in some drying time.
What you'll need:
- PVA glue
- Masking tape
- Cardboard
- Balloon
- Paints and marker pen
- Newspaper
- Tissue paper
Watch the full Make a Gruffalo mask video tutorial
Buy The Gruffalo
109. Aslan from The Chronicles Of Narnia
We've put together a how-to for this easy-to-make papier mache lion mask.
What you'll need:
- PVA glue
- Masking tape
- Cardboard
- Paint and marker pen
- Newspaper
- Balloon
Watch the full Make a Lion mask video tutorial
Buy The Complete Chronicles of Narnia
Additional research by Emily Longman Wall
About the author Helen Brown
Helen is Deputy Editor of MadeForMums, the author of Parenting for Dummies (Wiley, £17.99). She has been a judge for the Bookstart Awards and written about parenting for Mumsnet, Pregnancy & Birth, Prima Baby, Boots Parenting Club and She Magazine and she's also been Consumer Editor of Mother & Baby. She has 3 boys and a heavy-duty washing machine.
Read more:
Authors
Helen is author of the classic advice book Parenting for Dummies and a mum of 3. Before joining MadeForMums, she was Head of Community at Mumsnet and also the Consumer Editor of Mother & Baby.
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