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The next World Book Day is on Thursday 5 March 2026. Costume ideas…
Since 1995, children in the UK have been celebrating World Book Day by dressing up as their favourite literary characters.
There are plenty of characters you can buy a costume for online, such as:
- The Gruffalo
- The Cat in the Hat
- Thing One/Thing Two
- Animals, such as a tiger (Who Came to Tea, Tigger or Shere Khan)
- Frodo Baggins
- Pirate (Long John Silver, Molly Rogers, Captain Pugwash etc)
- Mary Poppins
- Fairy tale characters like Snow White, Cinderella, Rapunzel and Little Red Riding Hood
Photo credit: daynurseries.co.uk
Below are some book characters whose costumes you can largely make from normal clothes.
Popular World Book Day costume ideas
Willy Wonka
Willy Wonka is the eccentric chocolate maker in Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Items needed:
- Top hat
- Long purple or red coat
- Waistcoat
- Bow tie, the bigger the better
- Cane
Photo credit: daynurseries.co.uk
Dennis (The Boy in the Dress)
Dennis is the hero in David Walliams’s The Boy in the Dress. He has a talent for football but finds comfort and confidence in sometimes wearing a dress, eventually having the courage to do both.
Items needed:
- One dress
- Football socks and boots
Photo credit: BBC
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a very popular costume.
Items needed:
- Black robe
- Round glasses
- Lightning scar (use red face paint)
- Wand
Gangsta Granny
Showing that older people have lived full lives and may be a whole lot cooler than you’d expect, Gangsta Granny is about a boy’s adventures with his grandmother as they try to steal the Crown Jewels.
Items needed:
- Grey wig
- Old lady-style clothing
- Burglar mask
- Swag bag
Photo credit: daynurseries.co.uk
Alice in Wonderland
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is one of the most beloved children’s books of all time and its heroine is a very popular costume.
Items needed:
- Blue dress
- White apron
- Alice band
The Mad Hatter
One of the many oddballs Alice meets in Wonderland, the Hatter enjoys tea, riddles and nonsensical debates.
Items needed:
- Top hat
- Waistcoat and jacket
- Anything tea related
- A watch that tells the day of the month, not the time o’clock, if you want detail
Violet Beauregard
Violet Beauregard is one of the children in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory who is punished (or was it really just an accident?) by Willy Wonka. The serial gum-chewer swipes a gum he is developing despite warnings not to and ends up a giant blueberry.
Items needed:
- Blue face paint
- Blue clothes
- Something to stuff under clothes to look more spherical
- Bubble gum (if allowed)
Wally
We don’t know much about the elusive character from the Where’s Wally? books because he’s very secretive. Why is he always hiding? Is Waldo one and the same person? We may never know.
Items needed:
- Red and white stripy jumper
- Red and white bobble hat
- Glasses
- Walking stick
Princesses
Disney princesses are technically from books as most are based on old stories, such as the Brothers Grimm fairytales and Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid and The Snow Queen (inspiration for Elsa from Frozen).
They are also very popular costumes for World Book Day.
Items needed:
- Princess costume
Photo credit: daynurseries.co.uk
World Book Day costume ideas from classic stories
Peter Rabbit
Beatrix Potter’s wide range of woodland characters provide a lot of options for sweet costumes.
Items needed:
- Brown clothes
- Light blue jacket
- Rabbit ears and tail
Mr Toad
The original dangerous driver, Mr Toad is the eccentric tearaway in The Wind in Willows who escapes prison by dressing as a washer woman.
Items needed:
- Bow tie or scarf
- Waistcoat
- Baker boy cap
- Driving goggles if possible
- Green face paint
Photo credit: daynurseries.co.uk
Arrietty Clock or Peagreen Overmantel
Peagreen and Arrietty are children in Mary Norton’s book series The Borrowers. They are tiny creatures who borrow things from ‘human beans’.
Items needed:
- Oversized clothes
- Enormous button/pin/cotton bud that can be made from cardboard, cotton wool etc
Wendy Darling
If your child would like to wear a nightie to school/nursery, look no further than Peter Pan’s Wendy Darling. An alternative is John Darling, who wears a long nightshirt and a top hat.
Items needed:
- Long nightdress (blue if going for the Disney look)
- Hair ribbon
- Thimble (optional)
Tom Long
Another pyjama option, Tom’s Midnight Garden is the story of a boy goes to stay with his aunt an uncle in a converted Victorian house. When the clock strikes thirteen each night, Tom travels to the house’s vast garden – in the nineteenth century. Adventures ensue.
Items needed:
- Pyjamas (traditional looking)
- One slipper (he uses the other to prop open the door)
Pauline, Petrova or Posy
Ballet Shoes is a 1936 novel about three adopted sisters exploring their interests and ambitions.
If your child takes ballet lessons and has an outfit handy, this could be a way to use what you’ve already got and enable them to show their hobby to their classmates.
Items needed:
- Ballet shoes
- Ballet outfit
Modern World Book Day costume ideas
Isadora Moon
A shining example of individuality, Isadora Moon is half fairy, half vampire.
Items needed:
- Pink collared dress
- Back and white stripy tights
- Bat wings
- Fairy wand
- Fangs
Eddie and Charlie
For younger children, Malorie Blackman and Dapo Adeola’s We’re Going to Find a Monster follows two siblings harnessing the power of imagination and their outfits are pretty great.
Items needed:
- Either a red cape, saucepan for a hat (a carboard saucepan is more practical) and a wooden spoon
- Or an aviator hat and goggles, and a teddy bear rucksack
Captain Pugwash
The bravest buccaneer, Captain Horatio Pugwash heads the Black Pig ship. His outfit is quite general, useful if you already have a pirate costume.
Items needed:
- Pirate hat/ bandana and coat
- Toy sword
- Red and black striped top/ pirate themed top
- Pirate beard and moustache
Captain Pugwash
The bravest buccaneer, Captain Horatio Pugwash heads the Black Pig ship. His outfit is quite general, useful if you already have a pirate costume.
Items needed:
- Pirate hat/ bandana and coat
- Toy sword
- Red and black striped top/ pirate themed top
- Pirate beard and moustache
Photo credit: daynurseries.co.uk
Mr Men and Little Miss characters
There are many Mr Men and Little Miss characters to choose from, many with their own catchphrases (“Mischief, mischief, glorious mischief, I do love it” – Mr Mischief). They’re easy to draw on card and pin to clothes, though maybe unlikely to survive the day intact.
Items needed:
- Large sheets of coloured card
- Scissors, glue, pens, something to stick your character to clothes with e.g. safety pins
Severus Snape
There are loads of Harry Potter characters to choose from but all Snape really requires is a cloak and a sneer.
Items needed:
- Black clothes and black cloak
- Centre-parted hair, greased down
- A stick to act as a wand
- Pen to draw on a Dark Mark and/or an ‘Always’ or ‘Lily’ tattoo, should you so please
Dobby
Dobby is the loyal house elf in Harry Potter who celebrates his freedom by wearing a lot of socks. This costume may be suited to smaller children who can comfortably wear a pillowcase.
Items needed:
- One pillowcase with arm and a neck hole cut into it (to be worn over clothes)
- Multiple socks all worn at once
- Pointy ears if possible
Chaya
Chaya is the heroine of Nizrana Farook’s The Girl Who Stole an Elephant. She regularly steals to help the poor and ends up on an adventure through the Sri Lankan jungle on a stolen elephant.
Items needed:
- Yellow t-shirt
- Orange skirt
- Jewellery and/or elephant (stolen of course)
Elaine the Pain
Not that modern anymore but Elaine the Paine was the social worker in the Tracy Beaker stories and she’s pretty easy to dress up as.
Items required:
- Blazer or cardigan
- Smart shoes
- Clipboard
Ruby Lee the Bumblebee
Ruby Lee is a resourceful little bee who teaches children that where there’s a will, there’s way, if you have a little faith.
Items needed:
- Bee costume or yellow and black striped top
- Wings
Photo credit: daynurseries.co.uk
Villain costume ideas for World Book Day
The Queen of Hearts
The Queen of Hearts is the axe-happy baddie in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Items needed:
- Red, white, black and yellow clothes
- Red hearts
Dolores Umbridge
The most passive aggressive character in fiction, Harry Potter’s fifth-year ‘Defence Against the Dark Arts’ teacher/ Ministry sycophant is as hateful as they come.
Items needed:
- Pink clothes, as twee as possible
- A hair bow
Bill Sikes
Sikes is a villain from Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist. He’s an all-round nasty who is loyal to no-one, not even his dog Bull’s-Eye.
Items needed:
- Shabby, Victorian-looking clothing, including black coat and long grey socks
- Handkerchief round neck (a dirty one)
- Stick
- Toy dog (bull terrier ideally)
Burt
Burt is the dodgy burger-maker from The Ratburger.
Items needed:
- Red and white stripy top
- Shaggy black wig
- Sunglasses
- Stubble
