158 Book Week Ideas – The Best Book Week Costumes for Kids

Six words. Six little words that we all here every year from our school (or preschool) aged kids.

“Mum, it’s Book Week next week.”

Followed by, “What am I going to wear?” “Who should I be?” “When will you make me a costume?” “Can we go Book Week shopping?” 

Or any combination of the above.

Now, ladies and gents, I will be the first to admit I am not the hugest lover of Book Week. But my children are. It’s a fun reason for them to ditch the itchy school uniform for the day and dress up in an itchy costume instead. Probably one that drops feathers or leaves a trail of glitter behind.

Over the years I’ve seen several colourful characters emerge from my house – a bee, a cat, Wolverine, Sleeping Beauty, a witch, Dogman, Elmo, Little Red Riding Hood and a monkey.

Did they always stick to the “theme” of the year ..no?

Were they always characters from specific books? Also…no.

But, hey, the kids love parading around the school and I love having a yearly collection of Book Week pics to add to the kids’ scrapbooks that I will one day get around to making.

If you’re after some Book Week ideas, we’ve got nearly 160 costumes ready to inspire you. Some are homemade, some are store-bought, some are put together last minute and some are pretty elaborate.

Check out all of our Book Week ideas below:

47 Out-of-the-Box Book Week Costumes 

Check out these incredible Book Week costume ideas, most from our very own Mum Central audience, that get a shiny gold star for awesomeness. We’ve got some great ideas here too, from Donald Trump to Treasure Island. 

Stick to the traditional choices like Where’s Wally and the Wizard of Oz, or go for something unique with The Day the Crayons Quit, Where the Wild Things Are and The Gumnut Babies: Snugglepot and Cuddlepie (so cute!).

Check out all the ideas right here. 

29 Homemade Book Week Costumes

Anyone can buy a cute costume but these mums have gone above and beyond with a homemade Book Week costume! Fingers crossed they can recycle them for Halloween, or at least pass them down to a younger sibling.

Here are some of the Book Week costume ideas that definitely deserve a trophy for creativity and an A+ for effort, featuring Toy Story 4, Bad Guys, the Princess and the Pea, and, our favourite, Room on a Broom (how easy to replicate is this?!).

Check them all out right here. 

33 Book Week Ideas featuring Dr. Seuss and plenty more! 

Here you’ll find the Cat in the Hat, the Lorax, and plenty more kooky Seuss characters, but we’ve also got some great book week ideas featuring robots, ladybugs and, of course, a very hungry caterpillar.

Check out a few book week ideas for older kids too – Billie B. Brown, Fly Guy, Anne of Green Gables and Goosebumps.

Check them all out here. 

11 Super Simple Book Week Ideas 

For the time-poor parents, this list is just for you – some easy peasy book week costumes to put together last minute. Many can be knocked together in just an hour or two (definitely in a weekend). Let the inspiration begin!

Featuring Captain Underpants, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Paper Bag Princess and Matilda, plus more.

Check them all out here. 

23 Classic and Aussie Book Week Ideas

We love these costume ideas because they feature some of the coolest Australian authors and classic Aussie tales like Piranhas Don’t Eat Bananas, Do Not Open this Book, Pug the Pig, and even some Aussie legends like Steve Irwin and Michelle Payne.

There are a few British classics too – the Stickman and Paddington Bear costumes are awesome!

Check them out here. 

15 Book Week ideas for 2022 

If you’re after specific ideas for the Book Week 2022 theme – Dreaming with Eyes Open, we’ve got a few cute ones here.

Including Where is the Green Sleep (he’s dreaming of course!), the ultimate dream story, Alice in Wonderland and ideas from the very dreamlike world of Peter Pan, plus heaps more.

Check them all out here. 

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