It’s World Book Day! All over the country children will have been off to school this morning dressed as their favourite fictional characters – and a few grownups might have been off to work doing the exact same thing! We thought we’d take a look at some quick, low effort and yet highly effective World Book Day Costumes.

Avery from Spot the Difference by Juno Dawson

What better idea for World Book Day than to dress up as a character from a World Book Day book? Avery featured in Dawson’s WBD publication last year and, as the author herself said in the book’s notes, all you need is your school uniform and a paper bag to put over your head! Trust us, it will make sense if you’ve read the book.

Where’s Wally? Created by Martin Handford

Just grab a red and white stripy top, a matching hat, blue trousers and glasses. Done! Maybe organise a group of friends so that everyone can try and spot the ‘real’ Wally.

Matilda from Matilda by Roald Dahl

This one is a real must for true book lovers; you’ll be dressing up as one of the biggest bookworms of all! You’ll need a big blue dress, white tights and black shoes. Grab a large book and perhaps a small plastic lizard to act as your ‘newt’ and you’re good to go.

Tom Long from Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce

You can really take it easy with this one. You just need a pair of stripy pyjamas and one slipper. For a little extra detail, perhaps take along a pair of ice skates as a prop or a stack of postcards as Tom is constantly writing to his brother.

Peter Pan from Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

For this one you’ll need a lot of green clothing! A large green shirt that you don’t mind cutting into shape, some green leggings and a green cap with a feather stuck in it. Add a brown belt around the waist and grab a set of panpipes for a finishing touch.

Of course, you could just buy a costume from the supermarket, but that’s not really entering into the spirit of things, is it?