📚 World book Day 📚
A day to celebrate the joy of reading and to encourage our younger generation to explore hidden magical lands, discovering tales of adventure and courage.
Thursday will see some amazing costumes, from the extraordinary ten pound ready-made costume from Amazon, to the parent who has delicately crafted a costume from scratch (hats off to those folk).
Any dress up occasion for Rhys is a challenge. The fussy material, the added weight and inconvenient additions to his clothing. He won’t have it. He is uncomfortable in any abstrusity or difference to his normal comfort, and that’s when I actually manage to get him into something for a few seconds.
These small events, like costumes for World Book Day, are the memories that us parents of children with special needs miss out on. I just want to be like everyone else for once. I don’t want people thinking, “Oh that poor child, their mummy forgot about today” not realising the fuller picture and challenges we face.
But I have found ways to make Rhys part of the day and hope that these tips can mean your children can too.
- Accessorise
Choose a book/character that is just an everyday boy/girl. Then add the accessory.
Charlie Bucket: Normal clothes with bar of chocolate.
Dennis the Menace: Jeans with a red and black stripy t-shirt and added slingshot
Harry and his Bucket full of Dinosaurs: Normal clothes with a bucket packed with all the dinosaurs you can find. - Top it Up
Find a T-shirt with the book character. Amazon is great for this or some supermarkets have the rights to specific books/characters.
Last year Rhys was perfectly happy to go in his Gruffalo t-shirt, purchased from Sainsburys.
Search Amazon for “T-shirt World Book Day” there are amazing t-shirts for Marvel Characters and many other books, including Diary of a Wimpy Kid. - Customise
Rhys will happily wear some items but the fussiness of others are a bit too much. If you have a costume you think will work but the hood gets in the way, or a piece of material is a bit scratchy, carefully cut it off. Use the costume as a starter for 10 and make it your own. - Create Your Own
If you are feeling creative and have the time there are so many options with this one. A plain tshirt can be the foundation of many costumes.
101 Dalmatians: white t-shirt painted with black spots.
Stickman: brown t-shirt with black lines in the shape of tree indentations.
Funny Bones: black top and bottoms with a skeleton painted in white. - Keep Your Hat On
Rhys has a love/hate relationship with hats, but it is a great option for a costume.
Wearing some plain clothes, add a hat with the book character.
The Velveteen Rabbit: buy a brown, bunny hat, and dress in plain brown clothing.
Room on a Broom: Witches hat and dress plainly in black and purple.
Where’s Wally: white hat with red bobble coupled with red-white t-shirt and jeans. - Onesies are for all Occasions
Rhys loves to feel snug and comfortable. Onesies are amazing items of clothing, and with the variety on offer, there are loads of ideas for World Book Day. From animals to famous book characters, or just simple printed onesies with no fuss, only comfort. - It is not just Fiction!
Last year my eldest went dressed as a dinosaur with his 101 facts about the Triassic period under his arm. Books are not just the fairy stories we love, they are also the reference books and encyclopaedias we dip into from time to time.
If your child already has a favourite outfit or t-shirt/jumper, use that as your reference, then find a book to associate with it.
The Wonder of the Solar System (Brian Cox): wear their favourite space t-shirt
Seven Worlds One Planet (David Attenborough): Enjoy while wearing their favourite monkey onesie
Counting to 10: Wear t-shirt with a number on the back.
Always remember the book and either get them to carry it (good luck with that) or more realistically hold it yourself and wave it around your child in the school playground to demonstrate your efforts. If you don’t have the book, take a visit to the library or do a shout out to friends to ensure you have the ultimate World Book Day item.
The last tip for this day …
The change in dress code plays havoc for us in regards to differences in structure and confusion of whether it is a school day or weekend day 🤔
As Rhys gets ready in his World Book Day costume on Thursday, the last item he will put on is his school t-shirt. It will go over his costume defining the day as a school day. In the past his older brother has been amazing and worn his t-shirt on top of his costume in pride, helping Rhys know what day it is. The visual representation of a school day is on display leaving the normal routine of a school morning to progress.
At the last minute, when putting on our coats, we will pull off the school t-shirts, and be ready to go. We will be just like everyone else, because there are times during our challenging lives where we just want to have a moment to fit in and be part of the crowd.
What will you be doing for World Book Day?
