Cunting World Fucking Book Day.

[EssieTregowan]

I thought I was doing so well this year. DS2 wanted to be Newt Scamander so I found an awesome (and not cheap) costume. DD has a proper wand from the Harry Potter tour so she was lending him that and we have the original book. He was prancing around tonight trying it on.

I double checked the email just to make sure it is actually this Thursday (I have form for getting dates completely wrong, in fact just this week we turned up to the dentists a month early...)

'Come as your favourite Roald Dahl character' it says. Fuckers.

I am so so shit at this.

It kind of works as Willy Wonka if you squint a bit.

Anyone else as fucking shit as me? I hate World Book Day anyway. Still, this beats the time incompletely forgot so ds1 went as Charlie Bucket, ie wearing normal clothes.

One brilliant and easy costume a child wore one year: blue gingham summer dress, red shoes, cardi, toy dog in a basket, hair in plaits. Dorothy

I have just found out about World Maths Day, this second, on this thread. I'm furious that maths is getting bumped for this nonsense!

On threads like this you always get people saying "it's not about the money, it's about proving your ingenuity in being imaginative with brown paper and string." Which is still a fucking arseache. Whether it's money, or: look at me, I have three evenings spare to do fancy things inspired by pinterest AND I have smiling docile children who will happily go along with them instead of just wanting something plastic and shiny like everyone else.

and I agree with the person who pointed out that days like this obviate all the usual reasons for having school uniform.

Presumably the point of it is to create a sense of fun and enthusiasm around books and reading. Well call me old fashioned, but isn't that best done by exciting the children about actual books, and reading?

Let's unpack this. Suppose you are an 8 year old kid who loves sport, hates sitting still, grew up in a house with no books and you were never read to at home. Books have never seemed interesting or exciting. You don't have a favourite book because you just don't really like books. None of them speak to you.

How on EARTH is being FORCED to dress up as something you don't care about going to change that?

That's changeable. It is possible to change this, because books CAN speak to EVERYONE, whether you come to them late or early. Good teachers can do something about this. But I absolutely defy you to find me a teacher who did it by making a child dress up as Charlie Bucket.

As a teacher, this post just goes to show that schools can never win. Ask children to dress up and half the parents whinge. Say no dressing up and the other half whinge! Constant criticism and opinion can be very demoralising after a while.

Make it optional then in a laid back way. And stop with themes.

Pud2 - "whinge" is a very contemptuous, infantilising word that clarifies that the sense some parents have of schools is correct - that they do not respect us and perceive every difficulty we may have with adhering to their increasingly baroque and time-consuming demands as being "bad behaviour". We aren't children! just because you deal with children every day from a position of authority doesn't mean you can characterise every objection from someone who doesn't agree with you as a "whinge".

My son said he wants to go into dressed as The Iron Man or a tadpole. Neither of which I can achieve.

I reckon it would be quite easy to construct a tadpole costume out of a black bin liner and some of that black tape that's like gaffer tape. Not sure how he'd walk in it though, and can't think of any books with tadpoles in.

This sounds like the biggest pile of crap ever. Have schools forgotten that their primary purpose is to educate?

Good job DSS is 26. He'd have gone as Mowgli every wear, wearing a loincloth made out of whatever's in the rag bag.

DS1 has to go as a tiger, as they are going to be reading tiger themed books in school on the day. He's nearly 9, and doesn't want to go as a tiger - he loves books and there are a hundred different costumes he would like to go in - but not a bloody tiger.

We are lucky. Last year our school did wear a onesie and bring a bedtime story. This year they are doing "dress as a muggle day" genius.

We tried a few years with no dressing up for world book day- just book activities in school and family book activities after school- oh the moaning from parents' but why can't they dress up' ' all the other schools dress up, why can't they.

The PTA brought it back in as a fund raiser last year and became the heroes of the hour !

My point exactly missmap!!

My favourite times of past are when DH is aware of looming days like such, at the last minute I'm making an array of costumes. My best being Sherlock. I best check if they're dressing up this year. The school do paperless notes so they all gobby email to DH. Which is a good idea, but I enjoy reading the termly updates.

ds's school is doing world book day with a vengeance - dressing up, taking their favourite book to school but wrapped up and decorated with five clues as to what the book inside is, that they can discuss while they sit on a cushion they have taken into school, a bedtime story they can go back to school for to listen to stories for an hour and drink hot chocolate (except it's at 5.30pm so more of an interruption to supper time), a book swap and a book sale...

I hate them having to take things into school - they invariably come back damaged or worse, they don't come back. The more loved the item, the higher the risk so taking a favourite book is asking for trouble. And who has books just to give away? The whole point about having books is that you buy ones you think you'll like or people who love you give them to you, and even if you don't particularly like them now, that might be because you are too young for them or you haven't had a need to read them or it might be that you don't like them but your sibling will. I still have books that I had as a child that I was given - I read and hated them but could articulate why but they were given with love and now my dc are older, they might enjoy them (they're famous classics that many people do love). And I have books passed down from my mother, my grandmothers, even a great uncle - they're all treasured. I realise that some people might think this is strange and think it a great excuse to clear out a couple of books - but then you'd be giving away books that your dc is well clear of so they'd be too young for his contemporaries at school for the most part.

Well, the kids in my son's class are STAYING THE NIGHT AT SCHOOL!!! hearing stories, eating pizza, parents are invited to read stories in other languages etch. They are sleeping on mats on the classroom and, this is the bit that totally irks me, they do not have school the next day!!!! We are to collect them at the time school usually starts! WTAF....

Due to our half term dates, it's not even on world book day, it's a private school. I work from home and now I will have a tired 12 year old lolling around and as I have clients coming to the house, it just not look good...

Would you complain about this or let it go?

caffelatte I would definitely be complaining about that.

If they want to have a sleep over then it should be an extra, not in lieu of a day's lessons. If they want to have it and have classfuls of sleepy tired grumpy kids to look after the next day, that's their look out. They certainly shouldn't abdicate responsibility for looking after the children the next day. I can't believe that they would have a day during term time where they spent the time telling stories and eating pizza and sleeping - so why on earth would they spend those hours during a night doing it?

I'm guessing it will be a massive pain for many parents who work or who are SAHP but don't want tired grumpy dc around.

What would happen if you said you didn't want your child to participate but attend lessons normally?

oh god I found out about this an hour ago when I looked in the book bags (was away this week). Last year I made so much effort and dd was the very hungry caterpillar and other dd was matilda. (can't remember what ds was).

this year? I'm thinking the little princess. Ds wants to be wimpy kid. what does Wimpy Kid look like? I have 3 days to plan, while I am at work full time. So Amazon Prime needs to provide. (or my cupboards, ha).

DD is going to pre school as one of the Mr Men. We are making a tabard type affair. She is enjoying it but I'm worried she will turn up to a sea of Elsas and Superheroes and feel massively left out. I may put her supergirl costume in her bag just in case.

Our school haven't even bothered with the whole dress up shenanigans. They are being asked to write a creative story based on a title. Brilliant. Gets into the spirit of WBD but ds can't even write yet let alone sentences. But I get your bollocks I'll be asked for a pound and cake donations. Bah humbug.

Can anyone suggest easy ideas for ROALD DAHL characters pls?
(first world book day and stressing... 2 days time, no spare £ and no sewing skills...)

(I agree about Schools infantilising of parents, kids and themselves frankly, by all this dressing up rubbish, mine are in Middle School and still doing it)

Worship
For a boy, scruffy/old clothes and a golden ticket - Charlie and the chocolate factory

Normal clothes and a plastic bottle with a label saying medicine - George

For a girl, dress, ribbon in her hair and a couple of books - Matilda

Witches costume left over from halloween, from Witches.

I love it and I'm a teacher! It's a welcome day of activities and a break from relentless Sat's drilling. We don't expect / dictate expensive costumes, by year six we mostly have a roomful of Wimpy Kids or Jacqueline Wilson characters anyway. When I've been lower down the key stages there's always been plenty of clothes to dress up in if kids come in without and want to. It's not compulsory to dress up.

I love our activities too. We have author and poet visits, we pair lower and high key stages together for shared reading, and we all write a class story collaboratively.

My own kids disagree. One loves it and goes as Molly Molly Mandy every year ( easy, pink stripy dress and a basket) and the other hates dressing up so goes as Roderick with a Loded Diper t shirt and jeans. But even he likes the activities.

I do think we are between a rock and a hard place as teachers. We would get slated if we didn't do anything as well!

Mine is going as a character from a library book we had which he loved. The book isn't well known however. Fortunately the costume will involve normal clothes and props.

I don't think they should dictate the author and I bet if you asked they won't mind you using the costume you have bought - he can explain why he loves the book and that''s good enough.

However, and as costumes with props are quite handy here are a couple of suggestions for Roald Dahl:

Charlie Bucket: scruffy clothes (and if you can manage it - a shade too small) and a sheet of golden car with golden ticket invitation writing on.
Mike Teevee: cowboy hat, toy gun (if allowed) bandana
Violet Beuregarde: All blue clothes and a small box made into a giant gum packet.

Or George from George's Marvellous Medicine: big soft drink or water bottle with Marvellous Medicine label and coloured water and glitter mix or a cardboard bottle painted and glittered with label.

But honestly, I 'd go with wearing the costume you've bought and your child wants to wear.

Sorry I didn't read the posts above with some of the same suggestions. I also remembered Fantastic Mr fox - yellow t- shirt and home made fox cardboard mask (I bet you could even find one to print onlline).

We have done Mr Gumm, Billy William the III (loved that one), Greg from Diary of a Wimpy kid, Wally from 'Where's Wally' (bought that one) used the glasses for Harry Potter too and the top for Moon Face from The Faraway Tree (made the face on a stick and gave him a big paper bag with Toffee Shocks written on it), oh and Voldemort.

I have to say I am kind of glad my eldest has now gone onto secondary. I LOVE the muggle idea and I might use it next year for a break

Urgh, I hate world book day.

My sister on the other hand, has beautiful perfect hand made costumes for her two girls every year, without fail. They always look adorable.

Last year my dd1 (6) went as a witch from The Witches. All black, with boots, and she borrowed a purple scarf from me that we tried to turn into a cape and failed abysmally. She walked out of school looking like a minature goth with her purple scarf wrapped around her neck looking very rock chick and anything but witchy

This year dd2 has also started so she's going in with pony tails and a toy phone, as little miss chatterbox. Well if the shoe fits ...

I've ordered dd1 the queen of hearts costume from eBay this morning and am praying it arrives in time.

My sisters girls on the other hand have brooms as part of their costumes that she picked up at Halloween time, and has put away for world book day. I hate her. not really

I'm used to schools doing something round a specific author - but last school always picked one with lots of choice - Shakespeare, Alice in wonderland, CS Lewis. They usually did a whole lot of events and book reading round this theme for most of the week across the school.

But I'm annoyed this year with this school because it has to be a very specific character - one character across whole school. I can't make it without spending money - so have had to order the bare minimum I can get away with - because I need two lots as have two children. The events seem to be a picture and face painting.

I can not see the fucking point - it's not encouraging anything to do with reading and it's cost me money .