Book Character Costumes

"I Need a Costume for School Tomorrow. And It Has To Be from a Book."

Helping your child find a book character costume to wear to school is a fabulous opening for you to talk about books and the characters in them. At least, that's what I thought until we sat down with 7 year old Max for this lovely chat. Then we learned the book character had to be a) from a book he had actually read, and b) the costume had to be something he could put on himself in five minutes.

Wow! That cut down the field of possibilities. After a lot of frantic research and questions, we came up with a list of book characters for beginning readers as well as more mature readers who can go with Harry Potter or Peter Pan. A lot of these cosumes can be rigged up with things you have around the house, and some gorgeous ones can be purchased on line.

Books are the stuff dreams are made of. That's why they get written. There are plenty of books written about...superheroes, fairies and princesses.

Superhero Costumes: Double the use you'll get out of those Halloween costumes and send your child off to school as a superhero. Kids love these superhero books. They aren't comic books; they are early readers likeThe Cat in the Hat. Try tutus and tops for supergirls. Froufrou Batgirl, for example, with a gold tee and a black tutu, with maybe some little bats pinned on it. Or Wonder Woman in red, white and blue, and a sprinkle of gold stars.

This is Spider-Man Level 1 Reader (World of Readin...

DK Readers L3: The Avengers: Avengers Assemble!

Serving Pink Lemonade serves up free downloadable templates

Templates for masks and cape emblems.

Fairy Costume

Visit Official Rainbow Magic site for a complete booklisting!

There are over a hundred Rainbow Magic books written by Daisy Meadows, so your child will have a lot of fairies to choose from to match her costume! Give her a stuffed rabbit, and she's a Pet Fairy! A jack o'lantern, and she's the Halloween Fairy! An agenda, and she's the Party Planner Fairy! I kid you not. Plus there's always Tinkerbell, Airy Fairy, and many more.

Fancy Nancy Shopping List: Clean out your closet!

Tiara
Magic Wand
Parasol
Fan
Beads
Scarves
Corsage — wrist or pin
High heels
Some kind of chien
Chances are you have everything you need around the house to send your daughter off looking very fancy and beeeyootiful, but you could stop off at the dollar store and pick up an extra feather boa or so.

The Cat in the Hat

This costume will come in handy again on Dr. Seuss' birthday celebration later in the school year!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Shopping List

Black shorts
White shirt
Black suspenders
Black backpack
Book that says Journal on the cover
A lot of hair gel

See, was that so hard?

Pirate!!!

Captain Hook from Peter Pan? How I Became I Pirate by Melinda Long and David Shannon, or the Pete the Pirate series by Kim Kennedy (my favorites)?

With these accessorites, you can be any kind of a pirate you want to be, pirate king gentleman or a lowly swab. But no one will mistake you for a landlubber.

Pinkalicious: Make It Yourself

Does your daughter own a pink dress? AND pink socks, pink barrettes and pink bracelets and beads? Maybe she’d like to dress up as Pinkalicious this year. Maybe she really is Pinkalicious already!

Pink tutu or swirly skirt
Pink anklets or tights
Pink top
Pink wings
Rouge & lipstick (pink!)
Pink nailpolish
Pink ribbons
Pink barrettes & hairbows

And don’t forget, there’s a Silverlicious, Goldilcious, Purplicious & Emeraldilicious!

Star Wars: Make It Yourself

Sure, there are Star Wars books! Lots of them! So get out your karate outfit, add some boots (or make some with masking tape), and use that light saber I know you have in your closet to be Luke Skywalker for a day.

But maybe you should be worried if your son wants to go to school as Captain Underpants. The funny young son of a good friend of mine was sent to the principal's office recently. He was wearing a pair of underpants on the OUTSIDE of his jeans, claiming to be Captain Underpants.

Captain Underpants

Make It Yourself

Pair of Underpants
Red Towel (for cape)
Plunger (hopefully new)

Stellaluna by Janell Cannon

Poor Stellaluna! Separated from her mother and being raised by birds! This classic tale is a long time favorite -- plus the costume is really great, and who wouldn't want to be a bat at Halloween? Plus there are so many bats in books: Brian Lies' bat series, likeBats at the Beach, for example.

Fly Costume

Gross! Who would want to be a housefly for Halloween? Well, who would want to read a book about a housefly? You would, if you came upon Doreen Cronin's brilliant Diary of a Fly. And don't forget the inimitable Fly Guy books by Tedd Arnold, another series that young guy readers snatch off the shelves. The list of flies immortalized in song and verse just goes on and on: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, by Simms Taback and many other authors and the beginning reader classic, A Fly Went By by Mike McClintock, to name just two.

Make Your Own Costume: Franny K. Stein

Purple wig, white lab coat, a beaker or so and a demented expression, and there you have young mad scientist Franny K. Stein!

Bad Kitty

by Nick Bruel

Know a cute young person going as a black cat this Halloween? Bad Kitty is a natch!

Scaredy-Cat, Splat! (Splat the Cat)

by Rob Scotton

And so is Splat the Cat!

Robot Zot!

by Jon Scieszka

Check out the robot costumes on Filth Wizardry
Filth wizardry uses a ...$1 gift bag. 

Harry Potter or Hermione

Whether your child is six or sixteen, Harry Potter is someone he'd like to be. And don't forget Hermione! The robes make for an easy one size fits all. Everyone will recognize him, and all you'll have to do is draw that lightning bolt on his forehead with a little eyeliner.

 The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

You mean no one has a cape and a walking staff in your house!  A good black cape is everything -- a witch, a wizard, or Darth Vader!

Get These to Add an Extra Touch:

Sherlock Holmes Hat(color black/white)

Sherlock Holmes and Nate the Great both wear deerstalker's caps.

5" x 3" Magnifying Glass

Harriet the Spy, Nate the Great, and Sherlock Holmes all toted a magnifying glass to look for important clues.


Childrens' Book Characters

More book character costumes to explore

I think I'll be Chicka Chicka Boom Boom this year and break with my witchie tradition.

Viola Swamp, Pippi Longstockings and more

Some easy, fun costumes.

Free Downloadable Masks

I don't know how many of these relate to children's book characters, but the site is free.

Pinterest Board of Book Character Costumes

Great photographs!

Elementary School Teacher costumes

Some of these are elaborate, but the Olivia is very cute -- red dress with white (paper?) collar and black and white striped stockings.

Pinterest Board of Children's Book Character Costumes

A nice variety of costumes, most very doable.

Pinterest Book Character Day Parade

Love the Mouse & Cookie pair!

Book characters loaned free to schools and libraries through Costume Specialists.

Book characters loaned free to schools and libraries through Costume Specialists.

We had a great Halloween party this year! Thanks to everyone who came and made ghosts, played Mummy and Don't Say It with us.