Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Bastarding World Book Day

115 replies

SinkGirl · 23/02/2021 16:10

Sigh. My twins started at their specialist school in October but have barely been since Christmas due to COVID. They are 4 and autistic. They don’t have a favourite book or have any concept of dressing up. Just had the email of doom re: dressing up.

AIBU to say fuck world book day? I’m hanging on by the skin of my teeth and the thought of finding two sensory appropriate book related costumes without parts they will just rip off is tipping me over the edge.

Or if I don’t make the effort will I be marked as that parent who can’t be arsed?

OP posts:
tsmainsqueeze · 23/02/2021 20:47

I love books , every day should be a book day ! but why the need to dress up , i can't see how 1 day in 365 will have any influence on whether a child becomes a reader or not.
I have 3 kids and i stopped spending money on days like this a long time ago , its a chore .
At my youngest child's school they wore pyjamas and took a book in .
If disney or superhero is what you already have , who cares ? same to no dressing up also .

Ginlovingmumof4 · 23/02/2021 20:47

I’m a primary school teacher and confess that I absolutely hate world book day and always have. There. I’ve said it.

Sevensilverrings · 23/02/2021 20:48

They like raisins and biscuits?
Ok, you could use book “if you give a mouse a cookie” and tie a string tail to their trousers. Or hold a toy mouse. Mouse ears if they’d like, if not, doesn’t matter, but they could take in some raisins and cookies for snack? (Depending on allergies/rules).
Or you could just say, they don’t like dress up, and we’re not into books yet, so we thought we’d enjoy what others have done this year! That’d be fine. Not all kids dress up.

Theunamedcat · 23/02/2021 20:52

My son hated dressing up year after year of hating it meltdowns screaming fits total refusal im glad he is at high school and out if it now my youngest is a bit easier Charlie bucket or James and the giant peach (until he found out about the spider) he took a spoon and a bottle of goo one year for georges marvellous medicine

AllFrightOnTheNight · 23/02/2021 20:53

Send them as Julian and Dick from the famous five. (normal clothes) or something?

SusannahSophia · 23/02/2021 20:58

@ipswichwitch

DS2 struggles with costumes - has asd also, and can’t wear any of the shop bought ones. One Halloween I made him a werewolf costume using some old trousers and a T-shirt that I stuck some fake fur patches on so it looked ripped and the fur was sticking out. He wore that with a mask. He’s insisted on having the same costume every Halloween since, and just declared he wants to wear the same for WBD. Now I just need to find a kids book with a werewolf in!

I know what you mean by it being something else he can’t engage with. He’s been invited to birthday parties before where they’ve asked him to wear a superhero costume or whatever, and he just can’t do it. He ends up a screechy, sweaty mess within 5minutes.

@ipswichwitch There’s The Werepuppy by Jacqueline Wilson.
Bastarding World Book Day
Crockof · 23/02/2021 20:59

@SinkGirl

I guess I just feel a bit sad about it. I love books - I would love them to have a favourite and be excited enough about a character to want to dress up, and it just feels very forced and stupid to do it anyway. But then I feel crap for not putting in the effort anyway.

Will try to bodge something from what we have so at least they’re not just in uniform I guess.

Just want to send you Flowers
SusannahSophia · 23/02/2021 21:02

@SinkGirl My DS with ASD was fine with dressing up, hypo sensitive mostly. But you can always tell the school that they’re upset by dressing up days as it’s out of routine for them.

If they get into it eventually, The Spiderwick Chronicles feature twins. Even if it’s over their heads, it’s a book they could carry in the future.

JustSaying101 · 23/02/2021 21:19

I absolutely detest World Book Day! Every year it seems to get worse 🙄 If your children have sensory issues and don't really like dressing up, just let them take a book they enjoy or a prop. With everything going on right now, I really wouldn't worry or feel pressured to take part.

camelfinger · 23/02/2021 21:34

I took it really seriously for my first born, every night asking him what he wanted to go as. I felt really bad as we only used to read the school books with him at a young age so he didn’t really know any characters. Sad I didn’t even think he’d have the language skills at age 4 to explain what he was dressed as so wanted to send him in something obvious rather than normal clothes.
For DC2 he would use it as an excuse to dress up in a polyester costume. He wanted to go as a specific animal so I fashioned something out of existing clothes - he was not impressed at all. It doesn’t help when everyone else is dressed as Disney princesses and superheroes in shop bought costumes.
It’s a shame as it would be lovely to encourage a love of books, but just focusing on what someone wears or what they look like misses them oojt of reading imo.

camelfinger · 23/02/2021 21:35

*Them ooijt - the point.

Original poster
SinkGirl · 23/02/2021 21:52

Thank you everyone. Indeed, not even a pandemic is enough to rid us of this albatross. If there were a zombie apocalypse we’d be dressing our undead kids as Harry Potter, I’m sure.

The sad thing is that a) as a kid I never had my head out of a book and b) I am quite crafty and thought I’d be all over this shit as a parent. The concept of World Book Day is great, anything for more reading, but the dressing up is a lot for lots of parents for lots of reasons.

At the moment both boys want the same Hey Duggee book every night... I can’t figure out how to dress them as characters without things like hats / extra bits they would just pull off (and eat).

I thought the kids were supposed to share stories this year, not dress up?

That’s very possible in mainstream schools. Not so much in schools where lots of the children are non verbal / can’t read.

The irony is that (totally non verbal) DT1 seems to be learning to read and is definitely learning to spell (shocked me recently my spelling all the numbers 1 - 10 with magnetic letters, and spelling out mummy, daddy and Hey Duggee after looking at photos). So maybe next year he will have a favourite book. DT2 will still only want Duggee books I suspect. But I’ll start planning Duggee costumes now for next year!

OP posts:
SmileyClare · 23/02/2021 21:55

What about this?

Bastarding World Book Day
PracticingPerson · 23/02/2021 21:55

Oh just skip it.

As for being 'that parent' - no one nice will give a shit and anyone who does give a shit is an idiot. Anyone who would judge another parent for skipping a dressing up day is not worth a second's thought.

Phineyj · 23/02/2021 21:57

There is a rather sweet kids' book with only the words 'banana' and 'please' in, about sharing. We sent DD in a yellow t-shirt and drew a Fyffes' logo onto a sticker.

It's always called Wild Book Day in our house after a mishearing a few years ago.

SmileyClare · 23/02/2021 21:58

If you're quite arty, you could draw Duggee onto a plain t shirt with felt tips? You may as well go with a character they recognise.
Anything goes really, don't put unnecessary pressure on yourself Smile

AlwaysLatte · 23/02/2021 22:06

Amazon is your friend! No craftiness required!

Original poster
SinkGirl · 23/02/2021 22:18

@SmileyClare

What about this?
I think they need these anyway 😂

Will buy a couple and send in their battered Duggee books. And stop worrying about it.

OP posts:
crummyusername · 23/02/2021 22:24

I thought the ONE advantage of home school and lockdown was escaping this but no no no, they're doing WBD on zoom, as if it's some kind of grand shite finale.

DS has almost grown out of it (at age 10) but I suppose I'll have to do something token. I think an accessory is a good idea rather than a costume. Like a mask they can put on for a few seconds, or a cardboard cut-out of something from a book or tv programme. How about finding a couple of sticks, then they can do Hey Duggee? Sticky sticky stick stick...

ipswichwitch · 23/02/2021 22:38

Smurf123 he’s 7 so I’ll give that a look thanks. And Thankyou SusannahSophia, I’ll be ordering that book too.
Another costume that worked for him was the black jogger and hoodie set I got from H&M a few years ago with a skeleton printed on. He wore it one world book day and went as Funnybones

CinnamonStar · 23/02/2021 22:39

For Hey Duggee, just dress them in brown/khaki normal clothes and paint the tip of their nose black for a dog nose.

My Dc always liked animal characters, so we have done all the same colour of their normal clothes and a little bit of face paint quite a few times.

Dd was once oi frog in green t shirt and leggings, green face paint green baseball cap and some swimming goggles with eyes drawn on paper inside then stuck onto the cap.

Original poster
SinkGirl · 23/02/2021 22:44

Tempted by these but they can’t wear normal PJs so they probably wouldn’t be used again

Hey Duggee Boys Pyjamas 18 Months to 5 Years www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B075JFMGWL/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_VXSGNYX4NDQYMB8XJ5E2?psc=1&_encoding=UTF8&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Or perhaps a Duggee towel 😂

Bastarding World Book Day
OP posts:
SmileyClare · 23/02/2021 23:08

Love the pjs!

WitchesBritchesPumpkinPants · 24/02/2021 00:04

@JesusInTheCabbageVan

It does raise the interesting question of just how bad things have to get before they stop doing World Book Day.
😂😂🤣🤣
Swipe left for the next trending thread