Our idea is to make a simple costume to represent a character from a story or book. Materials can range from fabric to cardboard to things that you have around the house. Our only rule: Whoever wears the costume from a book must be able to summarize the story.
Below are some suggestions for costumes that go with books and can be easily assembled. These ideas are just a starting point. We trust that our readers will improve upon our simple suggestions. There is a universe of wonderful books and a multitude of ways to make costumes ranging from the simple to the spectacular. Grownups can join in the fun.
Costume Ideas From Books
“Oh, The Places You'll Go,” by Dr. Seuss
Summary: This book celebrates beginning a new phase of life.
Outfit: Pin pictures of places around the world to an outfit the child is wearing.
“The Empty Pot,” by Demi
Summary: An Emperor announces that he needs a successor and will pick someone who grows the best flower. He gives each child one seed. On the day of the competition, only one boy grows nothing, while everyone else comes with lush plants. The emperor has played a trick on the children and cooked the seeds. He picks the boy with the empty pot because he was honest.
Outfit: Child carries an empty flowerpot, has makeup on face and hands to represent dirt, and wears a crown.
“Blind Men and the Elephant” (There are different versions of this book.)
Summary: This book is a retelling of the fable from India where six blind men each feel part of an elephant and get a limited understanding of the whole animal.
Outfit: One to six children wear sunglasses and carry a long stick for a cane. They carry a picture of an elephant or a stuffed animal.
“There Was a Crooked Man,” by Russell Punter
Summary: A crooked man lives in a crooked house with his crooked cat.
Outfit: Child walks in a crooked way holding a picture of a crooked house in one hand and a crooked cat in the other hand. Child can make his clothes or a stuffed cat look crooked.
Nursery Rhymes
"Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe"
Summary: An old woman lived in a shoe with many children.
Outfit: Use a mop head for a white wig. Put as many shoes as you can get into a child’s cart or wagon. You can decorate the cart with shoe pictures. Put a sign on the child asking people to guess which shoe the old woman lives in.
"Hickory Dickory Dock"
Summary: A mouse runs up the clock at 1 o'clock.
Outfit: Use a headband with attached mouse ears made from felt or paper. Have the child carry an alarm clock set to go off at 1 o'clock.
Fairy Tales
“Princess and the Pea,” by Hans Christian Andersen
Summary: A girl proves that she is a real princess by feeling a pea through 20 mattresses and 20 featherbeds.
Outfit: Child carries blankets and wears one draped around her body. In one hand, she carries a can of peas.
Book-Based Films on DVDs
“101 Dalmatians,” by Dodie Smith
Summary: Two Dalmatians go in search of their puppies stolen by the evil Cruella De Vil.
Outfit for bad guy: The child carries a pillowcase stuffed with toys and wears a simple mask.
Outfit for Cruella De Vil: Child wears a string-type mop head with one side plain and the other side sprayed with black paint. A nice dress and shoes and a cape made from a white towel or cloth that has been sprayed with black dots complete the outfit.
Outfit for Dalmatians: Child wears something white with large, solid-black circles attached. The circles can be made from black felt or black construction paper. Draw the nose with black eyeliner. For ears, cut out dog ears from felt and hot glue them to a headband or sew big floppy ears to the hood of the sweat suit.
“James and the Giant Peach,” by Roald Dahl
Summary: A boy enters a gigantic peach and has adventures with a group of insects he meets.
Outfit: Child wears a large orange basketball cap with the words “Still Growing” and pins cutouts or drawings of insects on his clothes.
Biographies
No authors are named for this section since there are several authors who have written about the people we list.
Amelia Earhart
Summary: Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set other records as well and disappeared while attempting a flight around the world.
Outfit: Have your child wear goggles, rubber gloves and a cape. She could also carry a map and a paper airplane.
Bill Gates
Summary: He is the well-known businessman who was instrumental in the development of personal computers.
Outfit: Child wears a box designed to look like a computer.
Jackie Robinson
Summary: The first black man to play professional baseball, Jackie Robinson helped break down the walls of segregation.
Outfit: Child carries a bat and baseball and wears a baseball hat.
We hope that you enjoyed reading our suggestions. Even if you don't celebrate Halloween, you can always enjoy dressing up like a character from a favorite book. This costume tradition can be started for birthday parties, theme days, even play dates.
Beloved childhood books, which might otherwise be forgotten, will stay alive when reading is combined with fanciful dress-up. Let your imagination soar!
Linda Wiegenfeld teaches in Somerville, Mass. Michael Welch is a special education teacher currently focusing on math intervention.
