World Book Day is almost upon us, which means that many schools around the country will be calling for pupils to dress up for the occasion.
The annual event has been on the go in the UK and Ireland since 1997, with its main goal to encourage a love of reading among youngsters.
Part of that mission is to help inspire enthusiasm among more reluctant readers - for example, by hosting costume days - as well as providing children with the opportunity to own their own books by distributing more than 15 million World Book Day tokens each year.
As World Book Day aims to be as inclusive as possible, the organisation offers a number of alternatives for dressing up such as wearing pyjamas, but for parents hoping to help their child figure out a last-minute costume, we can help.
1. Author
If your child isn’t sure which book they want to base their costume on, or are struggling to narrow down their options, why not suggest they dress up as an author instead. This idea is open to your own interpretation, whether that’s choosing one specific author or instead keeping things general with equipment such as a notebook and pen. | Canva
2. Skandar
Fans of the Skandar book series by A.F. Steadman – one of which has been selected as a £1/€1.50 this year – can keep things nice and simple this year. Following the tutorial over on World Book Day’s website, you can create an elemental badge which you can then either attach to a costume or use as a costume by itself to become a unicorn rider. All you need is a sheet of paper, scissors and tape. While a printer would make things extremely simple, you can also just draw the elemental badge. If you are attaching the badge to a costume, the charity recommends a plain black top and bottoms, with an accessory the same colour as your chosen badge. Alternatively, if you want to be a specific character, try adding some of the following elements. | Simon & Schuster
3. Dork Diaries
If your child is a fan of Rachel Renée Russell’s Dork Diaries book series, then why not suggest this as an easy dress up option? They could easily use items from their existing wardrobe to become protagonist Nikki Maxwell, and could even select their favourite book from the series to base their World Book Day costume around, with themes ranging from pop music to ice skating. If you would like to go a step further, there’s even the option to create a mask of Nikki’s face, using a paper plate and lollipop stick. | Simon & Schuster
4. Matilda
Matilda is always a popular World Book Day choice, and there are a few options on how to pull this idea off - even at the last minute. You can choose to base their costume on the book, the 1996 film or Netflix's more recent musical adaptation, which sees all the characters wearing a school uniform. Otherwise, regular clothes would work just fine especially if you add a red ribbon. Alternatively, this same idea will work for characters such as Bruce Bogtrotter, who was famously forced to eat Miss Trunchbull's chocolate cake. | DAN SMITH/NETFLIX