Thinking up book character costumes for teachers and librarians can be tricky. But those who work with young children will undoubtedly have to dress up at some point whether it is for a book character day, Halloween or a classroom unit.

Over the years I have dressed up as Where’s Wally, Piggie, Tough Boris, the Grouchy Ladybird, The Lunch Lady and many more. I worked in a wonderful Kindergarten team that would make out costumes from scratch. We wished to encourage our students to reflect on their own costume and not just to wear a store-bought outfit.

Once you have decided on a character, you can raid your school dress-up box or have a rummage in your own wardrobe for costume ideas. So many book characters are regular people but have something distinctive about them. A hand make prop will highlight the essence of the character and make the costume recognisable to everyone.