Book Week has come around so quickly. You are either a parent who looks forward to this special event, channeling your inner creative goddess to create an epic book week costume or like me, is frantically pulling together an outfit for their kids at the last minute.

We have put together some easy, last minute ideas that take little preparation and that use a lot of materials that you should be able to find around home. We also talk to some busy Mums who offer some tips and tricks for book week costumes.

So what is Book Week?

Each year, the Children’s Book Council of Australia brings children and books together celebrating CBCA book week. This years theme is ‘Reading is my Secret Power’. A pretty cool theme, and if really stuck, it should be easy enough to pull together a superhero costume from your dress ups at home or borrow one from a friend. Below are some awesome ideas, especially if you are pressed for time!

1. Superheroes

2. Alice in Wonderland & Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Annalise from Print & Party has created a gorgeous Alice in Wonderland & Charlie and the Chocolate Factory outfit. Annalise’s tip for the book week parade is simple “Don’t use face paint and hairspray on your child if they have swimming lessons right after school that day“. Love it!

3. The Lorax

Check out this DIY Lorax costume by @kimselbyphotography. Do you have a family member or friend that has a high vis orange shirt? It can easily be converted to a Lorax costume paired with a pair of sunnies decorated for the theme.

4. Pig the Pug

5. Do Not Open This Book

Bec from Eco and Us has put together this amazing costume inspired by the hilarious book ‘Do Not Open This Book’. Bec’s advice is to try and confirm as early as possible what the kids want to wear as searching last minute for the necessary pieces can be a nightmare. 

6. Steve from Minecraft

7. Diary of a 6th Grade Ninja

8. Bananas in Pyjamas

Do you have twins or does you child want to dress up with a friend? This Bananas in Pyjamas costume is super cute! Buy some Mens pyjamas or raid your cupboards or op shop. If you are feeling creative, have a go and sewing the head otherwise a print out template turned into a mask would do the trick.

9. The Hobbit and Lord of The Rings

This Mum’s biggest tip for book week is to look at Op Shops for inspiration, reuse and recycle what you can. This costume has come up amazing!

10. Fancy Nancy

11. Diary of a Wimpy Kid

12. Thelma the Unicorn / 101 Dalmatians

13. Mad Hatter (Alice in Wonderland) & Mario Bros.

So what do you have in your dress ups at home that you can use as inspiration? Another great tip is to pool your costumes together amongst your friends and family as together there would be more costumes that float between you all, therefore greater choice and a lot cheaper. A school mum says they ‘have costumes like Mad Hatter, Mario, Harry Potter, Where’s Wally, a few hats, wigs, etc. as our kids get older the pile builds and all our kids go to different schools which generally means different parade days. We check in with what we have/what we need before heading to the shops. Works well for us’. Great tip!

14. Matilda

15. Pokemon / Rainbow Fairy collection

Mum of Twins and founder of Twinfo helped her kids put together this Pikachu costume from Pokemon and Luna the Loom Band Fairy from the Rainbow Fairy Collection. Naomi’s tips for Book Week is to try and find out what they need to dress up as over the whole year (ie wear orange for anti bullying day, book week, multicultural day, Easter bonnet parades, NAIDOC day, etc) and then order it all in one hit. That way you aren’t scrounging around for a last minute outfit 7-8 times a year! And ordering so far in advance means you can usually pick up things cheaper.

16. Decorate a T-Shirt

Do you have a child that hates dress ups? How about decorating a shirt based on a book they love? I love this Mr Messy Tshirt based on the Mr Men series. All their friends could pick a character and dress up together if they wanted. And all they need is a white shirt and puffy paint.

17. DIY Dr. Seuss Costume

18. The Bad Guys

We hope these have given you some inspiration and ideas for your kids book week costumes. What are some other easy Book Week costumes that you have done? We would love to see them.

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