To be irritated by kids dressing up as Buzz Lightyear on World Book Day?

[theoracleofdelphi]

It's World Book Day. Children are invited to go to school as their favourite book character. Why oh why is Facebook full of photos of little darlings dressed as Buzz Lightyear & various Disney Princesses?!
For some reason it really makes my teeth itch!

It was a costume they already had? Child wanted to wear it and parent decided to let them? Child doesn't like reading ? Child doesn't like dressing up? Child has the Toy Story picture book? My DC never coped well with dressing up and I eventually decided not to give a damn! It is one of the very least problems in our life.

Tbh most of the kids and parents were most excited by the staff dressed up. Our school gate was opened by an oompah lumpah.... there's a sentence I never thought I'd say.

Hahaha! pointtaken you are a card aren't you!! My kids are in school right now and this is my first day off in 7 days from my very full time nursing job, 12 hour shifts most days for your information I feel I've earned a rest today and I'm certainly not sitting here feeling pleased with myself for judging other parents and calling them lazy. Here have a for being the least lazy parent on here today, well done you!!!

ephemeralfairy this is the 20th one.

Maybe the parents of the Buzzes and Princesses have been so busy reading with their children they didn't have time to make a costume.

Why WHY do some of you even care about this?

I mean seriously - you are bothered by what a little kid goes in to school dressed as.

Just think about it. Really try and think about it.

A book is a book. It matters not whether it is classic literature or a book based on a film.

If a child can produce a book with the character they are dressed as in, then it's a valid costume IMO.

Doesn't really matter, but I agree to a certain extent. My gripe in my dds school was that we used lots of thought and imagination a few years running and the winner for best costume THREE YEARS RUNNING was a boy dressed in a shop bought Pinocchio outfit?! Nothing wrong with shop bought outfits but the children were disappointed that the same outfit wheeled out every year won the prize consistently! Also from what I could tell none of the children were asked about the books...

This year therefore we have gone for the stress free option of dressing up in normal clothes as my girls have chosen 'norman's characters from Jacqueline Wilson novels

Especially as the teachers in my sons school ask the kids to stand up, explain who they are and the storyline of the book to 'prove' they know who they are dressed up as!!

DS has gone as a character from Lord of the Rings. No one wants to hear him relate the plot of that. He'd never shut up.

He hasn't actually read the book (he's 7) but he's been listening to the audiobook version. We just finished the two towers. He's totally obsessed but probably won't read the book for some years.

Also, I find the idea that there's some sort of moral failing in buying an outfit in Tesco ludicrous. There's always (at least) one on an MN thread, isn't there?

Has anyone seen the boy in the internet yet who has gone dressed as the Argos Catalogue?

normal characters I don't know who Norman is....

I used to insist that the kids brought the actual book into class. Apart from that I didn't care.

Yabu. My son is dressed as a character from one of his favourite tv programmes, though he does have one of their books as well. I asked him which of his books was his favourite, and that's what he chose. He's happy, the costume wasn't too expensive and he'll enjoy dressing up in it at home.

Meh I have one 6yo dressed as Roald Dahl from his autobiography flying solo (which was read to him) and a 4yo dressed as spiderman. Which they chose themselves. We have lots of books, they're both read to every night. Both positive and enthusiastic about learning to read. It's enough surely?

I secretly agree with you but DD went as Belle from Beauty and the Beast today and DS is going as Batman tomorrow. I pointed out that B&tB and Batman aren't books and just got, 'I don't mind, mummy, don't worry' from 4yo DD and 'Yes it is mummy, I have a book upstairs with Batman in it' from 7yo DS I could try to make them go as something worthy but they're little kids so meh.

I also asked about the Where's Wally, always a popular costume choice, the other day. That's a bleddy puzzle book.

It's still a bloody book though. It isn't world worthy fiction day; it's world book day.

You could turn up dressed as one of the characters from Final Fantasy 15 and clutching the game guidebook and still fulfill the brief. Sure, that book is mostly full of tedious statistical info about weapons and things but it is objectively a book.

Call it dressing up day, then. I don't care what children wear, by the way, but I prefer cobbled together costumes than something the parent has been able to spend hours sewing (these usually win best costume) or an expensive bought costume. Most parents, in my experience, do just find something from the dressing up box and make it fit (nothing wrong with that). I don't blame the parents anyway, it's the way it's done by the schools.
Some schools do WBD better than others I think. Though I'm also sick of Roald Dahl as the default themed author. I'm not talking about the centenary but any given time.

Some of you who think Disney characters etc aren't books should maybe visit a library and have a look around. It is World Book Day after all.

I made my son's costume. Couldn't give a toss what other parents do. The competitive smuggery about what counts as a book is deeply harmful to the cause of promoting a love of reading (all books) to children.

Does it matter if the outfits are store bought, quickly put together with existing items in the house or highly elaborate home made outfits from parent who have the skill and time to do so? Does it matter if the character is from a literature classic, a comic book or a book based on a movie?
No, all that matters is that WBD was thought up as a fun way to encourage more children to read and even better when they do it out of enjoyment rather than because they have to.
So why do people seem to think they can judge others because they choose to do things differently

DD's school asked them to write a book review. There were some really inventive costumes, and the only princesses I saw were in reception.

My top tip is to think backwards - in about November. Choose a costume you already have, then help your child to realise that their new favourite book character is the one you have the outfit for. oh look at this lovely story all about ballet sorted.

MIght have to tell the people at world book day that Wally isn't a book as they released it as one of their £1 books this year.

It's still a bloody book though.

A puzzle book though Isn't WBD intended to be about children's reading and literature? I'm afraid I won't be convinced about Where's Wally.

DD(5) has gone as a dinosaur. Her favourite book is a non-fiction encyclopedia of dinosaurs. Good enough for me.

A puzzle book though grin Isn't WBD intended to be about children's reading and literature? I'm afraid I won't be convinced about Where's Wally

A book is a book is a book. If its all about reading and literature, what are they doing dressing up at all?

Thank god I live in a relaxed sort of area where anything will do so long as it's vaguely related. It's more a bit of fun for one day, to remind us all that there's more to life than the bloody government fronted adverbials or whatever.

I do think the idea of either making costumes in schools or schools having a 2nd hand supply for poorer kids / those whose parents just forget is a good idea though. I've seen some younger kids without costumes feeling a bit left out today.