Parenting hacks: 5 inclusive World Book Day costumes that don’t cost the earth!

Tip 1. Omar from the Planet Omar series (ages 6–11)

Omar, the relatable, quirky protagonist from Zanib Mian, Nasaya Mafaridik and Kyan Cheng’s Planet Omar books, is a fantastic choice for WBD. 

To easily create Omar’s look, your child can dress in black jeans or joggers and a stripy T-shirt with a zip-up hoodie if it’s chilly.

Add a notebook or magnifying glass as a prop to highlight Omar’s love of doodling and super-sleuthing skills.

Bonus tip: if your child enjoys crafts and drawing, they could create their own Omar-style notebook from recycled paper, decorating the cover with felt-tipped-pen doodles. Or if there’s time, you could help them make a papier mâché magnifying glass from used newspapers, comics or magazines.

Tip 2. Julian from Julian Is a Mermaid (ages 3–7)

For an eye-catching costume that celebrates individuality and self-expression, consider Julian from the much-loved picture book, Julian Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love. 

For the bottom half use a sarong or flowy skirt as a makeshift merperson’s tail. For the top, use a jumper or a long-sleeved top that roughly matches your child’s skin colour (eg, peach, beige or brown) and add some homemade floral accessories with garden flowers, like a corsage or headdress, for a pop of colour. 

You and your child could decorate the skirt with large 'fish scales' made from used wrapping or tissue paper. Just stick the fish scales on with bits of strong double-sided, fabric tape. 

Bonus tip: encourage your child to get involved in creating their merperson costume. Crafting together using recyclable materials to make a beautiful carnival-themed headdress or fish scales for their 'tail', will make the experience super fun and memorable.

Tip 3. Sam Wu from the Sam Wu Is Not Afraid series (ages 6–8)

Sam Wu, the hilarious scaredy-cat character from Katie and Kevin Tsang’s Sam Wu Is Not Afraid series, is a brilliant choice for an easy and inclusive World Book Day costume.

To replicate illustrator Nathan Reed’s Sam Wu outfit, pair a blue, orange or red top with black or dark green jeans or leggings. Add in some brown or black boots, homemade oversized blue glasses, a wacky black wig, and you’re done! 

Bonus tip: add a prop like a toy spider or shark to showcase Sam’s quirky adventures and fears. If your child wants to accessorise further with Sam’s black-and-white neckerchief, you might prefer to securely fix a triangular piece of material to the front of their top rather than around their neck for school.

Tip 4. Marv from the Marv series (ages 5–8)

Marv, the plucky superhero from the Marv early reader series by Alex Falase-Koya and Paula Bowles, is a brilliant, super-simple choice for a World Book Day dress-up. 

Have your child wear all blue from head to toe: a long-sleeved top with leggings, joggers or thick tights, all in one tone of blue, ideally, with blue or black boots or wellies and a chunky black utility belt fit for a superhero, made using carboard, black duck tape and anything else you have to hand. See here for creative ideas.  

They could then cut out a large letter M from recycled white paper or a cereal box painted white, and stick that on their chest. 

Bonus tip: your child could make Marv’s trademark, blue, superhero eye mask from a scrap piece of blue material or hankie or make a card mask with cut-out eye holes.

Older children might enjoy building their own Marv prop, eg a mini version of his robot sidekick, Pixel, using blue LEGO Creative bricks including googly eyes, or any other construction sets they have at home. 

Tip 5. Rocket from Look Up! (ages 3–7)

Rocket, the star of Nathan Bryon and Dapo Adeola’s Look Up!, is now a popular choice for World Book Day. 

If you don't want to shell out on a ready-made astronaut suit, try pairing an orange top or orange puffer jacket (borrowed) with jeans or dungarees of the same colour.

Then, add black gloves, homemade oversized grey glasses, wellie boots or chunky trainers and a backpack (any school rucksack will do).

If your child has suitably lengthed hair, you could replicate Rocket’s gorgeous iconic hairstyle to finish the look.

Bonus tip: help your child create Rocket’s green telescope from a large cardboard tube and other junk materials, and decorate using paints. Here is an example for more inspiration.

Update: here's a Sam Wu we made earlier. This outfit took 2 minutes to make with the everyday clothes suggested above. The yellow flash and glasses were created using free downloadable templates from Twinkl. The best bit? Sam is instantly recogonisable, and it didn't cost a penny to create.

And finally...

World Book Day is the perfect occasion to celebrate children’s favourite books and a diverse range of characters from across the globe, and it doesn’t have to be expensive or wasteful to create a memorable WBD costume for your child. 

By repurposing clothes and objects from home, shopping second-hand, borrowing from friends/family or crafting together, you can keep things affordable and sustainable while embracing the true spirit of the day.

It's also worth bearing in mind that some children with sensory issues or those who worry about a change in routine might dread having to wear a cumbersome, itchy costume all day, so the option of wearing lightly embellished ordinary clothes can work well for them too!

Looking for more inspiration? Check out the Inclusive Books for Children website, to discover more inclusive books with recognisable characters your child will love.

You can find our expertly reviewed books for babies through to children aged 9 by clicking ‘Search books’ and ‘Search booklists’. All titles are good quality reads, richly diverse in format, topics and representation.

Whether it’s finding the perfect book to read or a character to bring to life, IBC is your go-to resource for World Book Day inspiration.

Make this year’s World Book Day the best time ever — for your child, the planet, and you!