Camilla discusses the importance of World Book Day
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World Book Day is a fantastic occasion to encourage children’s love of reading, and kids can be really excited to join in with dressing up as book characters. However, you don’t need to spend any money on a costume, or give up hours of your time to stitch a masterpiece. A West End costumer shares four ideas for some of the most popular children’s book characters, and how to make them without threading a single needle.
It might be a fun day for the little ones, but many busy parents dread having to add ‘make a World Book Day costume’ to an already-crammed to-do list.
However, with some clever hacks, and a bit of help from the little ones, making costumes based on their favourite book characters doesn’t have to be a chore.
Express.co.uk is joined exclusively by West End Costumer Emma Hollows who shares her tricks of the trade to tell you how to make easy, effective and fun costumes for your kids on a budget.
A word of advice for parents, Emma said: “Start with a specific idea and try to stick with it.
“When I’m designing something and I haven’t pinned down what I’m doing, I spend ages going round and round thinking of different things.
“I would add that for parents, ask your kids what they’d like to dress as, but steer them away from more complicated ideas.
“If they have a favourite book whose characters you’re confident you could recreate, point them to the book and ask who their favourite character in that book is.”
If you’ve left the costume to the last-minute, you’re going to be up against the clock anyway, but Emma reassures this is a good thing.
Emma said: “Setting a time limit means you have to be realistic and get things done.
“If you want to turn the costume into a craft activity with your child, set aside an hour or two and make clear you have to finish within that timeframe.”
If you’re short of ideas, try one of these four costumes based on the most popular children’s book characters – with the help of Emma’s expertise.
Paddington Bear
Paddington has always been one of Britain’s best-loved bears, but since the Peruvian bear got a reboot in recent films, his star has been on the rise.
Emma said: “Paddington’s blue coat and red hat are instantly recognisable, so if you’ve got those at home, or can borrow them or pick up cheap ones at a charity shop you’re halfway there.
“Using cardboard, you or your child can make Paddington’s ‘Please look after this bear’ label.
“For the full look, you could quite easily craft a suitcase using an old shoebox and some brown paper.
“Add the finishing touches with some bear face paint – it doesn’t have to be too complicated.”
If you have any old teddy bears, you could even perform an ear transplant and stick them onto the red hat for extra effect – but you may want to do this out of view of the kids!
Gangsta Granny
David Walliams’ story of the Gangsta Granny has made millions of children giggle, but the Gangsta Granny also gives parents a very easy-to-execute costume idea for World Book Day.
Emma said: “On a fairly small child, a big flowery or pastel-coloured blouse of mum’s will work to create a little dress.
“Pop a cardigan on top and add plastic pearls if you have them. Because they’re all mum’s clothes, they’ll create the look of being a bit big and granny-like.
“If you’ve got a grey permed wig then great, but if not you can use dry shampoo or talcum powder to make your child’s hair look grey.
“To make Gangsta Granny’s eye mask, you can just use a piece of black card, carefully cut out eyeholes (if you want your child to do this step, make sure you’re supervising them) and attach the mask with string, ribbon or elastic.”
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Mr Bump
Thanks to the bold illustrations of Mr Men characters, they make for easy cartoon-style costumes.
Mr Bump is a perfect costume to create in a hurry – you probably already have everything you need.
Emma said: “All you need is blue leggings, jeans or trousers; a blue top and a roll of masking tape.
“Wrap masking tape around the outfit to recreate Mr Bump’s bandages. Masking tape doesn’t leave any sticky residue so you won’t risk damaging the clothes.”
You could even add blue face paint for the full effect, and wrap masking tape bandages around a blue swimming cap for a convincing head bump.
The Cat in the Hat
Dr Seuss’ iconic character also gives parents a convenient World Book Day costume idea.
Emma said: “Dress your child in all black for the cat, and if you can put a white vest over a black long-sleeved top this can create the appearance of the cat’s white belly.
“The hat can be really easily made with card or paper, just add on red stripes with paint or with red paper and roll the hat round to create the top hat look.
“Finish the look with some white gloves and a red bow tie if you have any spare ribbon at home.
“Add a little bit of face paint to give them whiskers and a nose, and you’ve got a Cat in the Hat!”
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