Working mother’s World Book Day survival guide

[BeesAndChiscuits]

Posting in AIBU for traffic. But also because I know IABU not to want to devote hours of my time to crafting costumes for my precious dc.

What I want is costume ideas which optimise the effort to results ratio: good costumes, looking like the family has made a modicum of effort, which minimally tax my time and finances.

Dibbler thank you. My DS loves Harry and the bucket of dinosaur but it hadn't even crossed by mind!

LandOr - wow, that's even worse than our school. I was peeved that they gave us 6 days notice that, for the first time in living memory, it was no costumes for World Book Day (I had been pretty organised - for me -and ordered bits from Amazon less than 12 hours previously which, due to the wonder of Prime, had already arrived) - I think I would be shoving the book-themed cake up their arses. As an alternative you could check out the fabulous (but sadly now defunct) blog howtobeadomesticdisgrace.blogspot.co.uk for her amazing digger-themed cake

I bought DS a Harry Potter outfit which he has worn from Y3 to now Y6. Imo the dressing up is missing the point. Does that really get kids reading more? If everyone put aside a tenner a year they spent on costumes in primary they could buy a fuckton of books or a kindle.

landor I smell parental complaints - a last minute change of plans usually means the ht’s Inbox has been flooded at our school.

Book themed cake? That is the most ridiculous thing ever - just take a book in!

Buy one off Amazon. I made costumes for my son, took a couple of hours max, look round charity shops at the weekend. Ask them what they want or suggest to go as something. Not much effort involved

Sainsburys by me have got some in for world book day, so other shops might have. Where's Wally, Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter, Queen of Hearts, etc.
I sent my son as Oliver Twist, £5 jacket from charity chop and flat cap owned by brother. £2 red scarf from charity scarf, watered down mascara smudged on face.

Rabbit from ‘I want my hat back’ - brown/beige top and trousers and an Alice band with cardboard ears and a red triangle hat on it (cello tape works fine if you give the cardboard a tag).

Little My from The Moomins - Red dress, high ponytail, black tights and shoes/bootswith a pink bow on collar.

Any of the Pevensie children or a lion to be Asian. (You can get ww2 children’s costumes from amazon)

Matilda, George, and Sophie from Dahl.

Little red riding hood and Alice in Wonderland always pop up frequently at DDs school.

Over the years I’ve also made a quick pinny and fox ears for Mrs.Fox and used a green table cloth to make a hobbit cape over brown rolled up trousers and a white shirt. Just had to make a leaf badge to pin it in place!

Stick Man - brown t shirt and trousers, add a few leaves.
Princess Smartypants - dungarees
Fern from Charlotte's web: dungarees, toy pig, plastic spider
paper bag princess - brown paper bag
Captain underpants - big y fronts over leggings and t shirt, skin coloured swimming hat, cape

Sophie from The BFG- pjs and dressing gown. My DS's have been George from George's Marv Medicine and various boys from Tom Gates' books. Easy. DS2's fav book when little was Stuck by Oliver Jeffers so we drew a tree, stuck in on cardboard and he drew pics of all the things stuck in it.
DD is more into dressing up and I avoid the wasteful buying of fancy dress just for World Book Day. She is Paddington this year-teddy onesie, brother's old duffel coat and Pudsey ears plus a box made into a suitcase and marmalade butties in her packed lunch 😀

PomBearWithAnOFRS Scuse my ignorance, are your kids being characters from a book that refers to 'Vitae Lampada'? Or do you just mean the poem itself IS the book?

It makes me cry whenever I think of it, especially when I think of my own sons too, so I'd probably be a blubbering mess before we even got to the school gate!

Shorts, a woolly jumper and plimsolls and you have yourself one of the famous five. Except perhaps Timmy.

One word: “muggle”

School uniform - there are loads of books about school kids.

OFGS.

I thought we'd escaped all this by secondary, but no: just seen the email from kids' school to say they are expected in costume next Friday.

Any recognisable-yet-wearable ideas for grumpy teenagers, anyone? All our primary-age Harry Potter robes have long gone to the charity shop.

They are NOT the sort of teens who would wear anything flamboyant.

My DD is going as the badger from The Disgusting Sandwich.

*Black and white striped tshirt
*Black trousers
*Badger mask for 3 quid (for 4 different animals) from Amazon
*Red neckerchief - which Is actually a dog neckerchief that got from a dog grooming shop

I like that this is technically a home made costume yet I have put in pretty much zero effort. She will be going as this for ever more.

It's all in the accessories! Dark jumper + trousers + toy pheasant (dog toy) + bag of raisins = Danny, Champion of the World
Blue jumper+ brown trousers + white dog toy = Tintin
Any old clothes + bottle with different coloured paint sloshed in = George's Marvellous Medicine

We are doing billionaire boy, have a packet of those £10 note tissues and am going to see onto a t shirt 😁

We have some parents who will LOVE the cake idea and relish the opportunity to show off! Apparently dressing up for the sake of it doesn't get the children thinking about books and reading. Obviously making cakes does.

Another vote for Harry Potter characters.

Any old black cape would do, plus a stick.

If you get an actual specific Griffindor (etc) robe and tie from Amazon, you can keep re-using them for years and years because they're very forgiving on size. Underneath they can wear normal school uniform.

It's also the kind of thing they can have fun dressing up in on other days if they're a Harry Potter fan.

Ring in sick to work and phone in sick to school on behalf of your dc.

Go outside and play in the snow or go for a walk, return home, bake a cake and make hot chocolate. Watch favourite movies back to back then have pizza for tea.

They can read a book before bed.

Why are schools so unreasonable about this? Lots of teachers are mums so surely they get that short notice costume/cake () requests are very unhelpful?

I've got one going as a Wolf, and the other as a Fox. They already own the onsies!

Tesco have a great mary poppins outfit in which dd is wearing.

DS1 is going as The Fat Controller. He’s a massive Thomas fan, and they were books before they were a TV show! Grey school trousers, school shoes, white shirt, black tie. Cheap hat bought from fancy dress shop. Black coat and yellow waistcoat to be fashioned by my wonderful mother out of old clothes, gawd love her.

Oh Fucking Hell! THIS Thursday???