World Book Day 2015: what to wear

Great costume ideas here for World Book Day on 5 March. Share your best costumes and how you made them by emailing childrens.books@theguardian.com– we’ll add them to this gallery (and the best costume idea will win £50 in National Book Tokens)

Also find step-by-step ingredients guides on how to dress up as well known characters and more from Book Aid

More inspiration in our what to wear on World Book Day dressup guide for 2014

  • From site member Joshiey

    I dressed up as Hilda from the fab graphic novel series by Luke Pearson. All you need is A pair of red wellies, A yellow scarf, A red top, A black beret. We found an old piece of blue foam and attached it to the hat for Hilda’s iconic blue hair!Share your dress up ideas by emailing childrens.books@theguardian.com headline “World Book Day dressup”. We’d like a photo and a sentence on how you made it. The best idea and photo (as judged by our editorial team) will win a book token for £50, generously donated by National Book Tokens. Under 18s only please!
    Hilda

  • From site member Twilight Vi

    Last year my school decided we could only make headresses or hats for World Book Day and still had to wear uniform underneath. How rubbish is this? But anyway I thought I’d make a Hetty Feather (Jacqueline WIlson) headress. This is what happened: I got some bird feathers from the park and painted them red. BUT it looked like road kill so I changed my costume and went as Katniss from The Hunger Games instead (just drew some Mockingjays on cardboard for this). Weirdly I ended up winning the prize! So be adaptable if your costume goes wrong!
    Katniss

  • Ethan from Palmers Green as Fantastic Mr Fox last year. Really simple costume if you have a jacket, shirt and tie lying about! Add some orange and white facepaint and an eyebrow pencil, et voila!
    Fantastic Mr Fox

  • Family reviewer The Hitchcocks: Nicki (mum): My idea is for Luke to go as Tom Gates. We have decorated a T-shirt in Tom Gates images with fabric pens. I will gel his hair and he will wear jeans and trainers. Good idea for boys who are not keen on dressing up and parents with limited time. Quite practical for a school day too.
    Tom Gates

  • Family reader, Helen Britton: My son Noah loves the book The Day The Crayons Quit, by Drew Daywalt. It is illustrated by Oliver Jeffers and Noah is going to dress up as Blue Crayon....
    Crayon

  • Site member Georgina AKA BritishBiblioholic:My Hermione Granger costume is a combination of old school/work clothes (black shoes, black trousers, white shirt), a Gryffindor tie (bought on eBay for £4 - all house colours available), a grey v-neck jumper (£12 from Matalan), and some official Harry Potter merchandise - Gryffindor robes, a wand (not Hermione’s - Professor Lupin’s - nobody needs to know) and a Gryffindor prefect badge. The robes and badge aren’t necessary additions to the look, and toy wands are everywhere, so you should always be able to make something work! Mischief Managed...
    Georgina as Hermione

  • Are you pretty in pink? If so, Angelina Ballerina is the costume for you!
    Angelina Ballerina

  • Get the full Angelina Ballerina worksheet here.
    Angelina

  • Where’s Wally? See if you can spot the stripiest kids in school! And girls can go along as Where’s Wenda, too!
    Where's Wally

  • Get the full Where’s Wally and Where’s Wenda worksheet here.
    where's wally

  • Which witch is which? It’s always confusing, but make sure everyone knows you’re the Worst Witch about, pointy hat and all!
    Worst Witch

  • Get the full Worst Witch worksheet here.
    Worse Witch

  • Are you a bit of a wuss? Then Wimpy Kid is the costume for you!
    Wimpy Kid

  • Get the full Wimpy Kid worksheet here.
    Wimpy Kid

  • Mr Strong and Little Miss Sunshine
    Mr Strong and Little Miss Sunshine

  • Get the full Mr Strong and Little Miss Sunshine worksheet here.
    Mr Strong Miss Sunshine

  • Don’t try this one at home! But Horrid Henry’s pirate hat makes a great costume
    Horrid Henry

  • Get the full Horrid Henry worksheet here.
    Horrid Henry

  • Don’t you know, there’s no such thing as a Gruffalo… Well there is now!
    Gruffalo

  • Get the full Gruffalo worksheet here.
    Gruffalo

  • Add a bit of bling to your life and head in as Gangsta Granny
    Gangsta Granny

  • Get the full Gangsta Granny worksheet here.
    Gangsta Granny

  • Could you talk in rhymes all day? That would be a great challenge! And going as the Cat in the Hat might just give you an edge
    Cat in the Hat

  • Book Aid International

    Get the full Cat in the Hat worksheet here.Thanks to for sharing these brilliant dress-up ideas. Every year Book Aid International provides over half a million new books donated by UK publishers to libraries in sub-Saharan Africa. Two thirds of these books are for children, many of whom do not own a single book and may never have seen a picture book before a delivery from BookAidInternational to their library or school.
    Cat in the hat

  • Or how about Elmer, the most colourful elephant in the world! Get the full Elmer worksheet here.To celebrate World Book Day in 2015, Book Aid International is encouraging schools to ask pupils to pay £1to either dress up as their favourite book character or dress down and hold a non-school uniform day. There are lots more fundraising ideas and educational resources for UK schools and libraries at bookaid.org/worldbookday. Last year, children and schools from around the world raised over £137,000 to help get more books into libraries in Africa.
    Elmer

  • And now it’s time for you to share your dress up ideas.

    Only one little boy rivals Horrid Henry for mischief and that’s Dennis the Menace! But where’s Gnasher? Get the full Dennis the Menace worksheet here.Do it by emailing childrens.books@theguardian.com with the headline “World Book Day dressup”. We’d like a photo and the ingredients for your costume plus how you made it - just a sentence or two will do! The best idea and photo (as judged by our editorial team) will win a book token for £50, generously donated by National Book Tokens.
    Dennis the Menace

  • Don’t forget

    And finally, if you’re feeling a bit peckish then try the Very Hungry Caterpillar! Get the full worksheet here. to include your name, age, and postal address. Entrants should be under 18, or entering on behalf of a child; if you are under 16 please also include the name, contact telephone number and email address of your parent or guardian.National Book Tokens are an inspiring gift for booklovers of all ages and tastes, accepted in thousands of bookshops, online and on eBooks, and they now come with Caboodle - rewards like free books and exclusive competitions.
    Very Hungry Caterpillar

  • Holly from Dublin, dressed as the lovely Elmer. The whole outfit is handmade. What a beautiful costume!
    Elmer

  • Eve, Monkton Prep reading group. Here I am dressed as Polly from Andy Stanton’s Mr Gum books. My Mum thinks she’s not very creative with costumes but once we had a picture this was easy and no sewing!
    Polly

  • Matthew, Monkton Prep reading group.I’m Mr Gum by Andy Stanton. So, I made my costume by grabbing my Mum’s shawl and then cutting off one side of the buttons and cutting off the cuffs. Next, I ripped up my Grampa’s old jumper and cut off the arms. Then I wore black trousers and shoes. Lastly I got some black card, cut and stuck it to make my hat. The very best bit was rolling in the mud!
    Mr Gum

  • Mattie, Monkton Prep reading group.I’m Horrid Henry. Easy, to make my costume I bought a Horrid Henry t-shirt from Amazon and I already had some jeans I could use!
    Horrid Henry

  • Hannah, Monkton Prep reading group.I am dressed as Goth Girl from CHris Riddell’s amazing books. We had to think hard for Goth Girl and scoured the vintage shops. We kept spotting things I didn’t like but then found something just right, if I wear my t-shirt underneath! The most precious thing was wearing Mummy’s wedding tiara.
    Goth girl

  • Isobel Mair: This is me flying to school last year dressed as Mildred Hubble. I have on a normal grey school dress and white shirt with a red sash cut from a piece of jersey fabric and cape cut from black jersey fabric. We made badges from cut out paper and stuck them on hat and cape. My mum painted a white tie with black fabric paint to make it stripy and she had stripy tights. Tabby is my own toy cat and the broomstick was left from Halloween. I can’t decide who to dress up as this year!
    Mildred Hubble

  • I’m Elizabeth Thomson, and this year I am going as Lucy Pevensie from the Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian. My dress was helped to be put together by my aunt, And I made the accessories and did my hair! I just used red fabric for the skirt, with a white underskirt. Then for the top I used a starch type material and stamped a leafy design on it. The sleeves are a velvet material trimmed with a gold ribbon along with the top. I just braided two sections of my hair and tied it together just like Lucy! She has always been my favourite character of literature.
    Lucy Pevensie

  • Alfie from Brighton, aged 5: Last year, I went as George from Roald Dahl’s George’s Marvellous Medicine. I wore a red t-shirt and blue trousers, then we printed a label and stuck it to a big plastic medicine bottle, covered a wooden spoon in foil and I wore those around my neck. This year, I’m going to be Paddington
    George

  • Adam has dressed for world book day for the last three years. This year he is going as Private Peaceful from Michael Morpurgo’s book. Here he is as The Perfect Monster by Sally Grindley: Painted red stripes on a white t-shirt, made perfect monster badge and horns from cardboard, cut up fur stole to make tail, hairy arms, and hair piece
    Adam

  • Here’s Adam as Snick Snack Sniffle Nose: Painted orange stripes on blue trousers, yellow squares on red shirt, made cap & hair from felt
    SNICK SNACK SNIFFLE NOSE

  • And here’s Adam as The Monkey With the Bright Blue bottom: we ssed blanket to make top, trousers, and tail. Made a padded blue bottom from felt and attached to trousers. Made monkey mask from felt.
    THE MONKEY WITH A BRIGHT BLUE BOTTOM

  • This is Evie dressed up as Astrid from How to Train Your Dragon, with our attempt at Stormfly the dragon! We made Stormfly out of two cardboard boxes that were painted and attached to a broom handle, and used two Pampers bed mats (left over from toilet training our puppy!) as the wings, as they had a really good pattern on them which looked liked scales when painted green. We plaited Evie’s hair to look like Astrid and made an axe as well, and then thoroughly enjoyed walking down the road to school!
    Astrid from How to Train your Dragon

  • Here is Louis, aged 5, as Hairy Maclary. We used our dog’s (who’s also a doppelgänger) black flokati rug (washed of course but suitably manky) and cut it up and stapled and stitched! For the head we used a black visor and stuck and stitched on the hair eyes nose and tongue! Louis/Hairy barked all the way to school this morning.
    Hairy Maclary

  • Millie, aged 7, dressed as Cruella De Vil from 101 Dalmatians. Black dress and tights, old white beads, black handbag. Spotty dog (snow leopard). Eyeliner for eyebrows, old winter fur coat. Lots of back combing and hair spray finished with hair spray colours!
    Cruella De Vil

  • Site member TwilightViHere I am this year. Today. I’m dressed as Lucy Pevensie from The Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe. I really wanted to go an an evacuee so it was a choice between Carrie from Carrie’s War and Lucy. So I got this dress from a charity shop, that’s my mum’s old cardi (make do and mend!), I’ve got an evacuee label and my suitcase is the best thing. It might look real in this photo but it’s not, I MADE it out of cardboard and in it I’ve got a gas mask, an old nighty and a perfume bottle which looks like the one Aslan gave Lucy. I love this costume!
    Lucy Pevensie
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