Easy World Book Day costume ideas!

World Book Day 2027 takes place on Thursday 4 March! Whether you’re planning ahead or need a last-minute World Book Day outfit, use these ideas to create the best (and easiest) costume EVER!

What is World Book Day?

World Book Day is an annual charity event that encourages kids to get reading! Schools, libraries and bookshops across the UK and Ireland take part with activities, events and dress–up days.

Special World Book Day books costing £1 / €1.50 are published to celebrate. These can be bought using a free World Book Day token – look out for yours in the March issue of Nat Geo Kids magazine!

How to think of World Book Day characters

The best World Book Day outfit is inspired by a book or magazine YOU care about! Think about your favourite books and imagine the characters inside. Who could you dress up as?

Then ask yourself how you’ll dress up as them. Do you already have clothes that look like theirs? Could you use any of your toys as props? Could you make something extra to wear?

Here are some simple World Book Day clothing ideas you can get ready in a flash…

Five-minute World Book Day costume ideas

• – Pyjamas for kids in Peter Pan or a pink nightie for The BFG‘s Sophie
• – Football kit for Football Academy‘s Jake or Jaz from Jaz Santos vs. the World
• – Blue top and toilet-paper bandages for Mr Bump
• – Witch or wizard’s hat for Mildred from The Worst Witch or a Harry Potter character
• – Polo shirt, shorts and Winnie the Pooh toy for Christopher Robin

Classic World Book Day character ideas

Roald Dahl costumes

The world of Roald Dahl is packed with fun characters. Here are a few that you can dress up as in a hurry, without buying anything new!

• – Charlie Bucket from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – wear scruffy clothes or an old or oversized jumper. Carry a golden ticket, made by writing ‘Golden Ticket’ on some yellow card.
• – Miss Spider from James and the Giant Peach – wear all black, then stuff three pairs of black tights with newspaper to create extra legs. Drape these around you or attach them with a belt.
• – Miss Trunchbull from Matilda – tie your hair in a high-up bun and wear smart clothes with a big belt.
• – George from George’s Marvellous Medicine – wear a red top and carry a wooden spoon wrapped in tin foil as well as an old plastic bottle with ‘George’s Marvellous Medicine’ written on it.

Characters wearing stripes

Are you a fan of Where’s Wally?, Dennis The Menace or Pia’s Pet Club? Then good news, all you need is a stripy top!

• – Grab a red-and-white top and a bobble hat for Wally, plus some old 3D glasses if you have some lying around.
• – For Dennis, you’ll want a red-and-black top and black shorts, plus a cuddly dog for Gnasher!
• – If Pia‘s your fave, find a pink-and-white striped top and grab a toy animal to join your club. What’s the weirdest ‘pet’ you can find?!

Costumes using school uniform

Perfect for kids who want an extra-simple costume! Lots of book characters spend most of their time at school – think Greg from Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Matilda from Matilda. Can you come up with any others from your favourite books?

For characters like these, just wear school uniform or dark bottoms, smart shoes and a white shirt. Level up by styling your hair like the character. You could add a book or toy as a prop, too!

Book series costume ideas

Think about your favourite Harry Potter characters; Skandar and friends from Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, or the heroes from Percy Jackson. What do all these characters have in common? They belong to a specific group – an allied element, house or cabin!

To dress up as these characters, wear simple, plain clothes, then add an accessory to bring it all to life.

Skandar costumes

Dress in everyday clothes and add a jacket or jumper in your character’s allied-element colour (blue or white for Skandar, green for Flo, red for Mitchell and yellow for Bobby). If you’ve got time, use face paints or hair spray to add their mutations, too!

Harry Potter costumes

For Harry Potter, wear school uniform, then add a scarf or hat in your character’s house colours (red and gold for Gryffindor; black and yellow for Hufflepuff; green and silver for Slytherin; blue and bronze for Ravenclaw). Plus carry a toy owl, rat, frog or cat.

Percy Jackson costumes

For a character from Percy Jackson, wear adventure-ready clothes suitable for Camp Half-Blood and add a (fake!) weapon or accessory in the style of the god or goddess who’s their parent. Or you could wear an orange t-shirt with ‘Camp Half-Blood’ written on it in black!

These ideas are also great for group World Book Day costumes for friends and siblings. You could come as a combination of your favourite characters!

Non-fiction costumes

Celebrate your favourite fact book by dressing up as the most brain-boggling fact – or making yourself look like the front cover! You could even make a cardboard version of your most-loved issue of Nat Geo Kids to wear.

On the simpler side of things, you could wear a t-shirt patterned with dinosaurs or carry some binoculars to look like a biologist. If you’re into Horrible Histories, you could dress up as a person from the time in history that your fave book is set in!

Animal costumes

Whether you want to be Baloo from The Jungle Book, Julia Donaldson’s Zog, Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon, or even Roald Dahl’s Enormous Crocodile, the key is making a simple mask.

Then wear clothes that are all one colour – like green trousers and a green top for a crocodile, orange for Zog, or brown for a bear – to complement it.

For your World Book Day mask, all you need is a big bit of cardboard, colouring pens, pencils or paints, and a ribbon or lollipop stick. Follow these steps…

• 1. Draw an outline of the animal’s face on the cardboard. It needs to be about the size of your face.
• 2. Inside this shape, draw your animal’s face and colour it in! Think about its pattern and expression.
• 3. Ask a grown-up to help you cut it out. Add eye holes, if you like.
• 4. With an adult’s help, cut two small holes on the sides and thread a ribbon through to tie it around your head, or stick a lollypop stick to the bottom so you can hold it up in front of your face.

Make World Book Day eco-friendly

Finding a costume for World Book Day can be so much fun – but buying lots of new stuff that you may never use again isn’t great for our planet. Many costumes are made of plastic fibres which pollute water when they’re washed or thrown away.

The simple solution? Use what you have! Costumes can be created by adding to clothes already in your wardrobe, using recycled materials or reusing clothes that someone else no longer wants.

Here are our tips to create a cool costume that’s planet-friendly:

Shop your wardrobe – or second-hand

Use the amazing ideas above to put together an outfit using the clothes and accessories you already have. Or if you really, really want a particular costume, ask an adult if you can look for it in charity shops or by browsing second-hand retailers online.

Get crafty!

Fancy spending World Book Day dressed up as a mysterious robot, enormous fruit, or even the cover of your favourite Nat Geo Kids magazine?! Then make it out of cardboard!

Ask an adult to help you get creative with clean, recyclable materials like packaging and plastic bottles, and fashion yourself something extraordinary. Then recycle it afterwards!

Swap with friends!

When you’re done with your outfit, offer it to a friend or save it for a younger relative. You could ask if anyone’s willing to swap, so you’ll both be prepared for the next dress-up party or World Book Day.

What will you wear for World Book Day 2027? Tell us in the comments below!

Images: Matlida © Maryana Husak / stock.adobe.com. All others © Adobe Stock.