We need your costume ideas for World Book Day

Thanks for some good ideas - I've got 2 boys who don't really like dressing up. Pied Piper and Horrid Henry with Nits sound great.

Last year I sent one of the boys as Burglar Bill which was quite easy. Ordinary trousers, striped top & flat cap borrowed from Grandpa. Swag bag & torch. I made the eye mask from a sleep mask we'd got off the plane on our holiday. Cut holes in so he could see & roughly stitched to stop the wadding going into his eyes. He looked great but unfortunately not many of his friends knew who Burglar Bill was!!!
I'll have that!

Great idea for the boys....robber from allan alhberg's 'cops and robbers'. Basically draw with perm marker pen black stripes on an old white tee-shirt, make a robbers mask from cardboard/fabric then I stapled a 'swag' sign to my son's black ruck-sack and he wore dark jeans, trainers and a flat black cap! Alternatively go as a skeleton from the 'funnybones' book by the same author - easy if you have an old halloween costume!

I've just ordered a jumper from Next for our Horrid Henry costume I was so desperate, it only cost £5 and I have a yellow top I can cut up and sew on the stripes. Perfect colour jumper though so quite pleased and got free delivery. Just need some ideas as to how to make him look more like the character who is only an ordinary looking kind of boy. Might stick his hair up messy and thought of attaching fake spider by a string as in the babysitter story. Feeling a little less stressed about it now. Just got to think of something for next year now early!

Anyfucker, our kids had to dress up as world war 2 evacuees last year, they all looked like just william

Just William is easy

Just scruff up some school uniform (must be shorts with knee socks), cap on head, smear some dirt on the face and knees and make a catapult out of some twigs.

I had two other ideas but couldn't get ds to agree

1. bloke from 118 118- running vest and shorts, trainers, draw on 'tache, mad curly wig (which we already have) and stick or draw on the numbers on the vest. I suppose this isn't strictly a book though unless you count the telephone book!

2. Captain Underpants- pair of DH's Y-fronts worn over clothes, make a red cape out of summat and tie a white scarf on head to simulate bald head

Grimma - how about Pippi Longstocking?

I'm still no nearer a solution for my 10 year old DD who has to go as a 'goodie' or 'hero'.

Yeh they love it, but they don't have the stress of making it. I have asked my DS three times over the week-end what he thinks he will go as, I have got the answer "dunno" three times. I have decided for him, that he will go as Horrid Henry. If I left it up to him he will wake up Thursday morning and say oh by the way we have to dress up today!

ooh Daphne - you big ole spoil sport!

The kids love it and the whole day is lots of fun!!

Dd is going as Lola this year. So pinafore dress and long sleeved top and tights and clips with bows on in her hair.

Plastic glass with pink card inside nad a pink straw for pink milk and she has made a book called 'beetles, bugs and butterflies'.

So that was pretty easy.

rainbow fish template for crumpet. If it were me I would transfer it to a cheap white T-shirt and paint it/ colour it with fabric paint pens.

Do they think we have nothing better to do than make bloody fancy dress costumes Grrr

Oh God crumpet no???!!!

Actually - maybe not too hard. Draw a fish shape. Colour in like a rainbow and pin to a t-shirt.

this year the school has mandated "the rainbow fish" ffs.

I am now off to raid DS wardrobe to see what I can find, please oh please let me find a blue t shirt I had forgotten he had !!

I have a yellow t shirt but it has a bit of red on it, I will have to look for a blue one or something blue to sew on. I expect it will be about 11pm Wednesday night ready for Thursday, it is usually something like that. Last year he went as captain Hook, but we had most of the costume and I only had to buy a hat. We are under a bit of financial strain this year and I really don't want to have to go and buy anything. Would someone please draw up a petition to ban this ridiculous farce. Why can't they just take in their favourite bloody book, why do they have to bloody dress up, it is always keeping up with the other kids too. Some rent whole costumes FGS!!

Do you have/would you be prepared to buy a plain blue long-sleeved T-shirt which you could then tack the yellow stripe onto (and then remove it afterwards to return blue T-shirt to normal use)? Jeans are valid - then he just needs messy hair.

What age group is Burglar Bill?

I absolutely hate World Book day. Every bloody year we have the same problem. It always stresses me out. They say dress as your favourite book character, does this mean then your favourite book character changes on a yearly basis. I am really not sure what to to this year, it just gets worse and worse. my DS also wants to go as Horrid Henry, but I really don't want to go out and buy anything. Horrid Henry just wears Jeans and a yellow and blue top. I dread this time of year

stealth - thanks! Horrid Henry is a hard one! Think I would prefer him to go as the hero of a one of his football books!

Don't have and am not buying purple trousers. Don't have and am not buying a blue and yellow striped jumper!

Hobbit - khaki board shorts, school shirt, waistcoat and cloak recycled from previous use on Roman Day. Will admit to not allowing bare feet at school though!

Violet Baudelaire - black dress (an old Halloween one) and black cardigan of mine, black boots and hair ribbon.

Both these creations known as the working parents' version....

Year before last I handmade a blue jacket for dd to go as Peter Rabbit. This year, I'm back working fulltime so she's going as Sleeping Beauty. Didn't help that I only found the letter from school about it this morning so wasted weekend when I could have made more effort.

Buda - what raw materials do you have available? horrid henry would appear to have 'interesting' colour sense (although I found other pictures with jeans instead of purple trousers)

Angelina Ballerina - stuck some ears on a headband and sewed a tail on a dress. Dd wants to go as the Easter Bunny this time - longer ears, different tail. No problem.

Ds wants to go as Lancelot. Spent yesterday making cardboard shield.

Lady Godiva.

Minimal effort required but not really suitable for winter.

Well DS has decided he wants to go as Horrid Henry - any ideas how I do that?