To think this is ridiculous for world book day??

[Applescruffle]

Not the day but some of the ridiculous costumes. It's supposed to be a celebration of books and authors but aalli keep seeing every year is kids in superhero costumes or a character from their favourite film.
There's so many characters to choose from, why can't they choose an actual book? Something written as a book that the child has read and enjoyed.
I've just seen a costume that really takes the biscuit. A young, primary aged child dressed as.... Del boy. Yep, Del boy from only fools and horses.
Come on!!
I'm sure it's very funny and clever but it's not only a sitcom and very much not a book, it's an adult sitcom and very much not for kids.

As a book lover and children's author, I just find it a bit sad.

DS (year 2) has gone as Spiderman the last two years as we already had the costume. He takes a Spiderman book with him in case of questions.

This year the school are doing pyjamas for the 'cuddle up with a book in bed' reason, and I am delighted. If you're creative, dress up days are brilliant, but if you are a creativity-free zone like me and also too tight to keep forking out on costumes, they are the stuff of nightmares.

Although I did turn DD out as quite a good oompa loompa one year without spending any money. Total one-off though.

Literature is all things written, not just a copy of Jane Eyre. Just read. Read anything but read. Ps It’s ditchwater

@DaBlackCatsAreDaBestCats
"read anything".....
So graphic novels/comic books then?
You've basically contradicted yourself.

No I haven’t. Comics aren’t books are they. Dress as a character from a book not a comic but yes, read. If you don’t read you can’t spell

@DaBlackCatsAreDaBestCats I mean this looks like a book to me....
and that's just one of 100s of Superman books published.

@DaBlackCatsAreDaBestCats also they are called Comic BOOKS or Graphic NOVELS.

@Needmorelego I think you know exactly what I mean. You’re just being facetious

@DaBlackCatsAreDaBestCats no.
I don't know what you mean actually.

My son went in as Gandalf in year 1. Unfortunately I got the wrong day and WBD was the day after. Little Gandalf got to wear his costume two days running and was thrilled that he was the only kid in school in costume on WDB-eve

They had to take the book in with them and tell the class about the book. I guess that would have excluded little Del boy.

@Waspie ..... there's plenty of OFAH books 😂

I sort of agree and sort of don’t. Yes it should be a character from a book; but it is a bit much to expect mums (and lets face it, it’s always mums) to magic up a home made costume in their very sparse marginal time. If the kid already has a ready made dress up outfit I totally get why this is used - time, money and hassle.

Because Money. And Time.

I reckon if there is a book then it's ok even if it was originally/mainly TV/film.
My DD is going as miffy this year - blue dress, white cardboard bunny ears, done!
She was Spot (from where's spot) last year - yellow t shirt with a brown felt spot on it, and I made her a tail.

We are being words this year I am dressing up as 'shiny' so I can wear my gold DMs!

Del Boy is silly but the superheroes have never bothered me. They’re from comic books, which are, by definition, books. I’m not saying every child who turns up as Batman has read The Long Halloween or whatever, but they’re still characters which originate in books.
Ideally we’d have them all on the classics from a young age but when I taught Y2 I used to always have a load of cruddy Lego superhero books in my book corner because it was the only thing some of the boys would read. I figured as long as I factored in plenty of time reading them ‘real’ books at story time and in Literacy, it wasn’t for me to police what they enjoyed.
It bothers me more when children are sent in really complicated onesies that they can’t get off in time when they need the toilet and end up weeing all over. Happens to at least one ever year!

@Needmorelego I was going to Google an OFAH book too. If a child likes the annuals and tie-ins of a television programme that's great. Telling children that World Book Day is just about a narrow category of literature that they mightn't be interested in will put them off reading.

@RosyCheekedandRobust when my daughter was in Nursery her teacher came as Dennis the Menace and bought a copy of one of his childhood Beano annuals with him to show the children 🙂

I don't think it really matters 🙂

Comics are such a great introduction to art as well. You can be sure that some of little World Book Day Spidermen will try their hands at drawing their own comics sooner than they'll be painting watercolours.

Well colour me surprised! 😂

I know a teacher who dresses as Wally (from Where's Wally) every year. She just likes the outfit!

It is more than a bit farcical. Fun when the kids are tiny and want to dress up but as they get older it's a bit painful.

Mine loves reading, always has, although we've insisted on it daily since he was tiny which is what makes the difference, I think - not days like this.

Some kids will always go all out and we have tried over the years but this year DS can't be bothered (Y6). The sheer number of Elsa's, Harry Potters and Spidermen suggests most parents just go with what's easiest or what they already have, which I fully applaud. The price of the WBD costumes in eg Sainsbury's for one day is madness.

I just came on here to do a little world book day search....because our school is asking years 7,8 and 9 to dress up 😫Year 9 ffs! My ds is in year 7 and wants nothing to do with it, but in the letter from school it says "pupils must be dressed as an identifiable character from a book or a musical, not just in non-uniform." Christ alive. Do any other secondary schools take part? It seems insane to me. It's not the best in primary either, and in fact I got my primary school (as a governor) to change WBD to optional.costumes as there are so many kids who do not want to dress up when they assumption was that all kids love this kind of thing.

@WinkyTinky my daughter's SEN secondary school is doing dress up (if the children want to - it's not compulsory).
I assume it's not compulsory at your child's school but for those in Year 7-9 who are creative this could be a lot of fun for them.